Feb 10
25

What is the difference between a salmon, rainbow trout, steelhead. Aren't all these from the same species?

3 Comments

Aren’t thеѕе аll ?

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Posted in Trout by Pond Manager 3 Comments

3 Responses to "What is the difference between a salmon, rainbow trout, steelhead. Aren't all these from the same species?"

  • Artie says:
    February 25, 2010 at 12:34 am
    Reply

    Start here and never stop learning about the fish you want to catch.

  • redheat says:
    February 25, 2010 at 12:34 am
    Reply

    They all do share some similar traits but they are distinct species. All of these fish belong to the salmondiae family. If you look at the physical charactertics of salmon compared to trout, they are much larger and well built, breeding salmon develop a distinct protruding jaw.Trout on the other hand will develop it when they get very large. Steelhead is just a form of rainbow that went out to sea and got bigger than the average rainbow. If you do some research you will notice that they both have the same scientific name

  • dave b says:
    February 25, 2010 at 12:34 am
    Reply

    Well, its an interesting question to say the least. Firstly, I’ll say that Rainbow trout are a species of pacific salmon, much like chinook, chum, coho and pink salmon. There is one distinct difference though. When most species of pacific salmon enter the rivers in the fall to spawn, they die soon after they do so. Rainbow trout/Steelhead on the otherhand don’t die. They usually return to the ocean or lake from which they came, and they’ve been reported to return many years in a row before dieing of old age.

    Now, its also worth mentioning that there is a difference between rainbow trout and steelhead….to some degree anyways. Rainbow trout can be known as resident fish. That is, they spend their entire lives in a particular water body such as the mountain lakes in british colombia, or in various streams as well. The name steelhead comes from the west coast migratory rainbow trout species. The change colour in the fall when they begin to migrate from the ocean up the rivers and into the mountains to spawn in small mountain streams.

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