Cutthroat Trout Genetics The cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii) is an economically, politically, and ecologically important species of fish in the Western United States that has suffered major declines since European settlement. This polytypic species is divided into 14 subspecies of which 2 are extinct, 3 are federally listed, and most have state protection. Introductions of non-native salmonids have precipitated the extirpation of native cutthroat trout by such mechanisms as displacement (e.g. brook trout) and hybridization (e.g. rainbow trout). I studied the genetics of hybridization between greenback cutthroat trout (O.c. stomias) and rainbow trout in two Colorado streams and discovered that mitochondrial DNA introgression in hybrids is asymmetric and more likely from rainbow trout than from greenback cutthroat trout. I also studied populations of putatively pure greenback cutthroat trout to better understand evolutionary history of the subspecies. Surprisingly, several co-authors and I discovered that many populations of “historic” greenback cutthroat trout were instead Colorado River cutthroat trout (O.c. pleuriticus) likely introduced from the west slope of the Continental Divide to the east slope in the early 1900’s. We are working closely with management agencies such as Colorado Division of Wildlife, US Fish and Wildlife, and Rocky Mountain National Park to incorporate these scientific findings in conservation management efforts to bring back the native trout of Colorado’s Front Range . I am currently working with likely pre-stocking museum samples of cutthroat trout to better determine the native distributions of each subspecies. I am working with cutthroat trout researchers at BYU to determine whether stocking activities from the late 1800’s have resulted in pure populations of greenback cutthroat trout in the Colorado River Basin on the west slope of the Continental Divide. In addition, I am working with Rocky Mountain National Park to identify pure, native populations of cutthroat trout in the Park.
Links to Papers
(coming soon...)
 
Dissertation
 
Hybridization dynamics between native greenback cutthroat trout and introduced rainbow trout
 
Across the great divide: genetic forensics reveals misidentification of endangered cutthroat trout populations
 
 
Greenback cutthroat trout
 
 
Photo by Dan Brauch, CO Division of Wildlife
 
 
 
 
 
 
Stocking Glacier Creek, CO, 1932
Rocky Mountain National Park library