Montana Symbols, State Fish: Blackspotted Cutthroat Trout

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Blackspotted Cutthroat Trout

(Salmo clarki)
formerly
(Oncorhynchus clarki)

Adopted on February 18, 1987

Trout are the favorite fish to catch in Montana. There are many kinds, but the blackspotted cutthroat trout was chosen as state fish to let people know it was in trouble. Changes in the environment and too much fishing had made the blackspotted cutthroat hard to find. The name comes from the black spots that run down its back and a pinkish-red splotch on its jaw. The cutthroat trout is a favorite food for grizzly bears.

All cutthroat trout have a "cut," a patch of orange or red on the throat and they differ from the rainbow trout because they have basibranchial (hyoid) teeth in their throat between the gill arches, they typically have longer heads and jaws than the rainbow and often times can be distinguished from the rainbow by their larger spots. The cutthroat is known to be more vulnerable to anglers because of a general lack of wariness and can be caught on a wide variety of bait.

Wyoming's rarest cutthroat is the Bonneville cutthroat trout, also known as the Utah or Bear River cutthroat. In Wyoming, it's found in the upper Bear River watershed

While Montana, Idaho and Wyoming simply adopted the cutthroat trout as their state fish, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and New Mexico adopted particular subspecies.