Trout is a popular fish to both catch and eat, and there are many different kinds of trout to look for. Here are the names of several different popular trout that can be found in lakes, streams and rivers.
The Names of Different Trout with Scientific Names and Brief Descriptions
- Brook Trout
Salvelinus fontinalis
Brook trout are popular to both fish and eat. They are a beautiful fish noted by their colorful spotting and patterns. They prefer cold waters and make their homes in smaller streams and lakes.
Brook Trout: Picture source 'American Fishes: A Popular Treatise Upon the Game and Food Fishes of North America by B. Brown Goode.
- Brown Trout
Salmo trutta
Brown trout are noted by their brown to gold coloring. Their spotting is black to brown with rings of lighter colors surrounding the spots.
Brown Trout: Picture source US Dept of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service
- Cutthroat Trout
Salmo clarki or Oncorhynchus clarki
Mainly found in the Western US, this is a long trout with a rounded head. Their coloring varies depending on the regions they are caught. Many different subspecies of this trout can be found.
- Golden Trout
Salmo aguabonita
As its scientific name suggests, it is a trout most noted by its beautiful markings. Golden trout has golden colors on its bottom with reddish with dark large spots on its sides with a darker back of gray to brown.
- Lake Trout
Salvelinus namaycush
This trout is found in the Northern US, including Alaska, New York, Great Lakes and other places including Canada. While the colors vary where the fish is caught, prominent colors include steel to gray blue to copper or bronze to green with light spots all over, heavier on the belly and fading to small dots toward the back.
Lake Trout: Picture source NOAA, Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory
- Rainbow Trout
Oncorhynchus mykiss or Salmo gairdneri (steelhead rainbow trout)
The Rainbow trout is a one of the most recognizable of all the trout found and eaten. The coloring has, as its name suggests, a rainbow of coloring: from reds to blues to greens to yellows, with black or dark spots across its back.
Rainbow Trout: Picture source 'American Fishes: A Popular Treatise Upon the Game and Food Fishes of North America by B. Brown Goode.
