Brook trout
Scientific name: Salvelinus fontinalis (Mitchill, 1814)
Overview
The brook trout is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus Salvelinus of the salmon family Salmonidae native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada. Two ecological forms of brook trout have been recognized by the US Forest Service. One ecological form is long-lived potamodromous populations in Lake Superior known as coaster trout or coasters. The second ecological form is the short-living predaceous anadromous populations which are found in northern lakes and coastal rivers from Long Island to Hudson Bay, which are referred to as salters. In parts of its range, it is also known as the eastern brook trout, speckled trout, brook char, squaretail, brookie, or mud trout, among others. Adult coaster brook trout are capable of reaching sizes over 2 feet in length and weigh up to 6.8 kg (15 lb), whereas adult salters average between 6 and 15 inches in length and weigh between 0.5 and 2.3 kg. The brook trout is characterized by its distinctive olive-green body with yellow and blue-rimmed red spots, white and black edged orange fins, and dorsal vermiculation. The diet of the brook trout is restrictive to the season and location of the fish, but will typically consist of terrestrial and aquatic insects, fry, crustaceans, zooplankton, and worms.
From the Wikipedia article “Brook trout”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Conservation status
Least concern on the IUCN Red List, as recorded on Wikidata, citing www.iucnredlist.org.
Common names
Also known in English as brook charr.
Names in other languages (8)
- Arabic
- لفاشة الينابيع
- Chinese
- 美洲紅點鮭
- French
- omble de fontaine, saumon de fontaine
- German
- Bachsaibling
- Japanese
- カワマス
- Persian
- قزلآلای جویبار
- Russian
- Американская палия
- Spanish
- salvelino, trucha de arroyo
Related animals
Sources
-
Catalogue of Life — scientific name, classification, common names.
Version 2026-09-11, CC BY 4.0.
This species in the Catalogue of Life.
Citation
Bánki, O., Roskov, Y., Döring, M., Ower, G., Hernández Robles, D. R., Plata Corredor, C. A., Stjernegaard Jeppesen, T., Örn, A., Pape, T., Hobern, D., Garnett, S., Little, H., DeWalt, R. E., Miller, J., Orrell, T., Aalbu, R., Abbott, J., Aedo, C., Aescht, E., et al. (2026). Catalogue of Life (Version 2026-09-11). Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgz5n Source database: FishBase.
- GBIF — species page and recorded occurrences.
- Wikidata — conservation status, names in other languages. Q723654, CC0 1.0.
- Wikipedia — overview, from the article “Brook trout”, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Photo — Engbretson, Eric, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. File page.
Last updated: 4 October 2026