The brook trout or Salvelinus fontinalis are colorful fish of freshwater. It belongs to the salmon family Salmonidae. Actually it is a species of char not real trout and belong to the genus Salvelinus.
This genus carries also bull trout lake trout and Arctic char. You call them also speckled trout or squaretail. It is small spirited game fish.
Brook Trout: Where They Live and How They Look
That fish originates from East North America in United States and Canada. You find them in the Adirondacks and in parts of the Great Lakes basin. In Wisconsin they are the only native stream trout.
Maine has very big population and plenty of wild brook trout in its natural area. Here more than 1200 lakes and ponds manage for this species. Around 60 % from those populations depend on natural breeding.
They are the only trout native to the Chesapeake Bay watershed. In Minnesota they populate in small streams and their upper flows.
Brook trout are hearty fishes of cold water. They require pure well-oxygenated water. They like streams with stable flows and silt-free gravel for nest.
Abundant pools and riffles with in-stream coverings as big stones and bushes please them. Also fresh clear water with a bit of plants and sandy or gravelly foundations answer. In north New Hampshire they abound because the cool summer airs help to keep water temperature suitable.
When you go south they depend more on groundwater streams for cool summer water.
Brook trout you recognise by their unique look. They have typical trout-like body. The colors vary but commonly they have olive-green back with yellow spots.
Those spots stretch and like worms. Dark wavy wormlike markings mark the head and back. You call them vermiculations.
White edges notice on the fins and tail. Distinctive is the fat fin little fin on the back right before the tail. By the lateral line they have around 230 scales.
Those scales deepen more than other trout of the genus Salmo. In the Great Lakes they can grow to over 2 feet long and weigh until 15 pounds.