Lahontan Cutthroat

Introduction: The Lahontan Cutthroat is a major subspecies of Cutthroat Trout that are native to the Lahontan Basin of Nevada, California, and Oregon. They were originally native to the ancient Lake Lahontan, which was about the size of present day Lake Erie. These trout became specialized for their environment and attained the largest size of any Cutthroat trout (recorded up to 40 pounds), but as the level of the lake receded after the last Ice Age, these fish became isolated in many parts of the Lahontan Basin. Today Pyramid Lake is all that remains of the ancient Lake Lahontan, although its native trout are also gone. In the early 1900's the only spawning tributary to the lake, the Truckee River was dammed and diverted for agricultural use. The last spawning run of Lahontan in the Truckee River occurred in 1938 and the average trout was 36 inches long and weighed 20 pounds. Although the lake once again holds cutthroat, the are from a broad strock out of Summit and Heenan lakes, and do not attain the weights that they once did. Though Lahontan Cutthroat are not native to Washington, they have been stocked in many alkaline and previously fishless Eastern Washington lakes. A distinctive trait that Lahontans possess is this tolerance for high levels of alkalinty in the water that they live in. This trait most likely arose from being isolated in a basin and the resulting high salinity and alkalinty levels.

Description: The typical coloration of the Lahontan Cutthroat is greenish bronze in the dorsal region and the sides of the body are usually a light yellowish copper color with faint rose colors along the lateral line. Male Lahontan Cutthroat often develop a red coloration on their sides as spawning approaches. Lahontan cutthroat have rather large and round spots that are distrubuted evenly across their body.

Below: A map of the native range of the Lahontan Cutthroat (Click on the map for a larger image)