Albino Trout

[Jessica Rose]

This is a photo I did of an Albino Trout (click on the link below) at the Lisboa Spring Fish Hatchery in New Mexico. They said it was very rare but they have had a few albinos come through over the years. Notice his eyes are pink. The other photo on this forum found on google, his eyes are black so that is probably a "golden trout", but albinos do exist as well. They are all genetic variances of the trout. I'm posting a video on the ecology page I work for. if you want to see that and the photo of the albino trout (cool page anyway) check it out: www.facebook.com/belongtotheearth
Thanks guys,
Jessica
:albino:

[Ezlivn89]

Ive don research on it, definetely a golden trout ive been after one for three years now after i saw one in the pike place market, it was selling for 5 bucks a pound, i have only talked to one guy who caught one, somehwere up in the hills in some pond, he said it was about a 5mile hike to the pond, pretty neat, told me how to get there but cant remember for the life of me where i was , eastside of snowqualmie pass though somwhere

[zen leecher]

Don't confuse palomino trout with golden trout. The initial post in this thread is a palomino trout, a color variation of a hatchery rainbow.

[Ezlivn89]

I believe the question was about an albino trout and a golden trout?

albino being a white fish more so than the palomino than golden trout

[Bodofish]

Don't confuse palomino trout with golden trout. The initial post in this thread is a palomino trout, a color variation of a hatchery rainbow.

Don't know about any of the made up names but, what the fish is not is a golden or albino trout and a Palomino is a type of horse. An albino would be pure white, devoid of any pigment. A golden has all of it's pigments as is evidenced by their dark spots. The fish in the first post is an amelanistic trout. It's a genetic mutation of double recessives of the melanin or dark (photo sensitive) pigment in their (and our) skin, they have none. It very common in the pet snake trade as designer snakes and lizards. They are the pretty yellow and white variants. There is also another type of limited coloring named Anerythristic which is being devoid or, the of lacking of erythrin (red, yellow, and orange) pigments, which would give a predominantly black or dark coloring. Wish I could help with a picture but I haven't caught a golden trout yet. Here's a pic of a native Golden of the web.




And heres another Golden, don't know if it's Colorado or California or if they're the same, Colorado was the first place I saw one.

[zen leecher]

A palomino trout is a color variation of the rainbow usually found in east coast streams as that's the area it's most popular in. East coast fishermen also call it a "golden" trout as it's yellowish golden in color.

[Bodofish]

A palomino trout is a color variation of the rainbow usually found in east coast streams as that's the area it's most popular in. East coast fishermen also call it a "golden" trout as it's yellowish golden in color.

If you say so and no streach for me to believe any names they come up with on the East Coast. I can't remember what hatchery is pumping out the amelanistic trout but I know a local one, maybe the guys down in Auburn made an aquaintence of mine a heck of a deal on a bunch of them along with some bows that he put in his private lake, in an undisclosed location in the Okanogan. Fun to wet a fly there for about and hour then it's just like shooting fish in a barrel. The ones he got were all bows, just a funny color, they called them golden but they really aren't. He also has some Tigers from his first stocking so lets just say he can't stock fry anymore, they have to be at least 12" or the Tigers just suck them up.

[zen leecher]

I guess I'm wrong as palomino's and golden rainbow trout are two separate, but similar, hatchery strains. Back in 1968 when I left Pennsylvania, the lighter palomino trout was the only strain stocked. Here's the info on the two strains.



Golden Rainbow Trout
Oncorhynchus mykiss

Species overview. The golden rainbow trout is a gold-orange rainbow trout raised under artificial fish culture conditions and stocked as a novelty for angling sport. The golden rainbow was developed from one fish, a single female trout with a genetic mutation that gave her a mixed golden and normal rainbow trout coloration. She was found in the West Virginia hatchery system in 1954. Through selective breeding with regularly marked rainbow trout, an all-gold, golden rainbow trout was developed. In 1963, this fish strain was popularized as the “West Virginia Centennial Golden Trout.” Pennsylvania and other states hybridized the pure strain of West Virginia golden trout with normal rainbows and produced palomino trout, which were true genetic palominos. Palomino trout were first stocked in Pennsylvania in 1967. Since then, the genetic strain in Pennsylvania has weakened, but in recent years the hybrid was selectively bred back closer to the stronger, better-colored golden rainbow trout. Although palominos were stocked as both average-sized and large trout, today’s golden rainbow is raised only to trophy size for anglers and stocked throughout the state.

The golden rainbow trout is a different species than the golden trout (Oncorhynchus aguabonita) of some California streams. In fish hatcheries, the rainbow trout has occasionally produced other unusual genetic mutations, such as the blue rainbow trout, whose body color is sky-blue.

[Bodofish]

Here's what the State of CA has to say about their State Fish, Certainly not a hatchery abomination:

California State Fish - Golden Trout
Golden trout, the state fish of California, is a native to the Kern plateau, which is characterized by high altitude and long winters. Read on to know more about Golden trout.
Golden trout (GT), scientific name Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita, was considered as a different species previously, mainly because of its bright, distinctive color pattern. Because of its magnificent color, it is also referred to as 'Fish from Heaven'. It was formerly known as Volcano Creek golden trout. This fish was declared as the state fish of California by the state jurisdiction in the year 1947. Let's take a look at the identification tips, habit and habitats of Golden trout.

Characteristics

Golden trout is a magnificent, small-sized fish with orange or red colored cheeks, olive-green back and golden color in the lower sides. Parr marks are present along the lateral line, larger spots in the fin and tail portion, bright orange color in the pectoral, pelvic and anal fins. The size of an adult may range from 19-20 cm in streams and 35-43 cm in lakes.

Among the several species of trout, Golden trout is the least productive species. This is more evident from the various conditions that are required for spawning of Golden trout. The favorable conditions for spawning include warm temperature (at least 10 degree Celsius, more preferable 16-18 degree Celsius), fine substrate and minimum water velocity. When this fish finds the suitable substrate, it lays many eggs on or under the substrate. However, hatching of the eggs is disturbed by many factors like flooding of habitat and/or drying of water.

Habit and Habitat

The adult Golden trout feeds on insects like mayflies, stoneflies, ants, spiders, worms, beetles and larvae of other insects. It also relies on planktons, plant detritus, small fish and at times eggs of trout for food. These types of food are more abundant in warm climatic conditions. It is due to high altitude and prolonged winter conditions that food is available in less amount.

Golden trout prefers to survive in high-elevation watersheds, as those are basically very clear and cold. The CGT is a native to the watersheds of Sierra Nevada Mountain range. It is believed that the Golden trout once inhabit the upper South Fork Kern River and adjacent Golden Trout Creek.

Various conservation methods have been implemented at the state and federal level in order to preserve the Golden trout, some of which include making the Golden Trout Wilderness of 300,000 acres in 1978, enlisting the Golden trout at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (USFWS) Endangered Species List in 1991 and Forest Services Sensitive Species List.

Though several measures have been enforced to conserve the Golden trout, there is no significant increase in the population. The main reason behind this may be hybridization of Golden trout with the Rainbow trout that is non-native to the habitat. Studies have revealed that Golden trout is very sensitive to breeding with other trout species, especially the Rainbow trout.

The rate of hybridization is increased by poor land management plans, particularly in the Inyo National Forest. In order to minimize the chances of hybridization, a management strategy is implemented whereby the water of the South Fork Kern River is chemically treated to remove other non-native trout species.

Another reason for decrease in the population of Golden trout is destruction and/or modification of the natural habitat and competition of food and territory with the non-native species. Despite the state and federal regulatory activities, the Golden trout population has decreased to such an extent that it is in the verge of extinction. In 2000, the Trout Unlimited filed a petition to the USFWS to include the Golden trout in the list of endangered species.

As a side note, the naturaly occuring Goldens have been introduced in many river systems from Wyoming to Arizona.