Rediscovery of a lost Cutthroat Trout lineage in the San
Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado

Rediscovery of a lost Cutthroat Trout lineage in the San
Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado

Abstract: The discovery of a distinct lineage of Cutthroat Trout in museum specimens collected from the San Juan basin precipitated an intensive search for any remaining extant populations across the putative native range of this fish. Tissue samples from every known Cutthroat Trout population in the basin were assembled and analyzed with molecular methods. Of these, eight waters harbored Cutthroat Trout with mitochondrial DNA markers that placed them in the San Juan clade (a monophyletic lineage closely aligned with another Colorado River Cutthroat Trout lineage native to the headwaters of the Colorado, Dolores, and Gunnison rivers). Analysis of nuclear DNA amplified fragment length polymorphism markers also suggested they were distinct, with no evidence of introgressive hybridization with Rainbow Trout or Yellowstone Cutthroat Trout. We recommend that morphological studies be conducted on these same fish to evaluate if they can be distinguished with morpho-meristic traits as well. In this report we discuss support for considering these fish as a distinct unit of biodiversity worthy of conservation, as well as the current status of these eight populations.

Rogers, K. B., J. White, and M. Japhet.  2018.  Rediscovery of a lost Cutthroat Trout lineage in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado.  Colorado Parks and Wildlife report, Steamboat Springs

Rogers, Kevin B.

White, Jim

Japhet, Mike

Cutthroat trout

19 p.

2018-01-30

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