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Wyoming Symbols, State Fish: Cutthroat Trout
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Cutthroat Trout
(Salmo clarki)
formerly
(Oncorhynchus clarki)
Adopted on February 18, 1987
Wyoming adopted two official fishes in 1987. Knightia, a prehistoric herring that left countless fossils in Wyoming, was named the state fossil. The cutthroat trout, the only trout native to Wyoming, was designated the state fish.
While Montana, Idaho and Wyoming simply adopted the “cutthroat trout” as their state fish, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and New Mexico adopted particular subspecies.
Wyoming boasts five subspecies, or varieties, of cutthroat trout, reportedly more than any other state. They include the Snake River cutthroat, which is heavily spotted, and the Yellowstone River cutthroat, whose spots are fewer but larger. The Colorado River cutthroat is found in the headwaters of the Green and Little Snake rivers. The west-slope cutthroat inhabits the northwest corner of Yellowstone National Park.
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
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