Trivia question for Aug-02-2011

Carter is up today and after our exciting night last night helping record data on the Brown Bats in North Carolina, Carter wanted to do his trivia on another bat but in the end he decided to keep mixing things up.  So here goes.  This fish is native to eastern North America, it now thrives in streams throughout the U.S. and the world.

The current world angling record for this fish was caught by Dr. W. J. Cook on the Nipigon River, Ontario, in July 1915. The 31 inch trout weighed only 14.5 lbs because, at the time of weighing, it was badly decomposed after 21 days in the bush without refrigeration. This is the longest-standing angling world record. A 29 inch fish was caught in October 2006 in Manitoba, but is not eligible for record status since it was released alive. These fish prefer clear waters of high purity and a narrow pH range in lakes, rivers, and streams, being sensitive to poor oxygenation, pollution, and changes in pH caused by environmental effects such as acid rain. Its diverse diet includes crustaceans, frogs and other amphibians, insects, molluscs, smaller fish, invertebrates, and even small aquatic mammals such as voles. It provides food for seabirds and suffers attack by lampreys. They are a short-lived species, rarely surviving beyond four or five years in the wild.

So here are Carter’s questions: Tell us what kind of fish this is and why their size can be stunted to a mere 8-inches in some streams.  Also, tell us how many eggs they typically can lay?

Good Luck 😉

Answer:

Congratulations to Tom from Fairfax VA for being the first to identify the fish we featured.  The fish is the Brook Trout.  The brook trout, (sometimes called the eastern brook trout) is a species of fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. In many parts of its range, it is known as the speckled trout or squaretail.

Brook trout have a tendency to overpopulate, and the resulting crowded conditions can hold their size to less than 8-inches in length.  Brook trout will typically lay around 5,000 eggs each year which is why they are so prevalent.  Here is more on these hearty fish: Brook Trout

Thanks for playing along 😉