ID this fish

[MIKE D]

Can anyone ID this fish? I was in LL Beans lastnight and they have a new 3,500 gallon fish tank with a little info on all of the fish they have except for this fish. Its the one with the Snub nose and spots. Thanks for the help

 

[Notophthalmus]

It's an Oncorhynchus for sure...but beyond that I don't know. Could be an ugly steelhead, I guess.

 

[kimbo3311]

Cutthroat trout?

 

[kimbo3311]

It's a deformed hatchery trout, probably some genetic contamination with salmons, indicated by the jaw... You can tell by the fact that it's adipose fin is cut off... hatcheries cut off the fins to ID them from wild stocks.

 

[MIKE D]

Oh thanks! I did not know that about the fins.

The gray one the one that looks like a whale right.

 

[kimbo3311]

yup... at least from this picture it seems not to have it's adipose fin. It really has got to be a genetic anomaly, or some sort of hybrid, probably some type of salmon with a rainbow or brown trout?

But it really does look more like someone tried to cross a trout with a gray whale hahaha

 

[Danyal]

i was going to say a deformed trout but the salmon hyrbridization is good as well, i was thinking that the fish was maybe kept in a tank that was too small and bashed its head into the sides but i don't see any scars. fisheries explanation is sound as well, i forgot about them cutting off the adipose fin but they do, there are some dams/fish ladders that have machines that scan and count the number of wild and fishery hatched fish that come through them in order to keep track of the populations.

 

[Flaringshutter]

i'd definitely go with a hatchery cutthroat. the bashed in end of his jaw is consistent with a hatchery injury, where hundreds of fish are kept in close quarters and often injure each other in competition for food.
the jaw shape (other than the injured end) is normal for a mature male trout. you can see it in older browns and especially brooks.

 

[MIKE D]

Wow I didnt know that at all. Thanks for the help guys