| Ohrid trout | |
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Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Salmoniformes |
| Family: | Salmonidae |
| Genus: | Salmo |
| Species: | S. letnica |
| Binomial name | |
| Salmo letnica (S. Karaman, 1924) | |
Ohrid trout[2][1] or theLake Ohrid brown trout[3] (Salmo letnica) is anendemic species oftrout inLake Ohrid and in its tributaries and outlet, theBlack Drin river, inNorth Macedonia andAlbania. Locally, the fish is known as охридска пастрмка (ohridska pastrmka) inMacedonian andKoran orKorani inAlbanian.
Ohrid trout is part of thebrown trout complex, so its taxonomic status is controversial.[3] It has, however, been deemed to be genetically sufficiently distinct to be regarded as a distinct species for conservation arguments.[4]
Within the Ohrid trout, up to four intralacustrine forms have been separated, which are treated as distinct species in theFishBase and by theIUCN. Morphological or molecular data so far do not support this division, though.[1][3][4] These forms are characterized by different breeding areas and different breeding times, by which they are thought to be reproductively isolated from each other. The four forms or species include:
In addition to the Ohrid trout, Lake Ohrid has another endemic and truly distinctsalmonid,Salmo ohridanus.[3]
The Ohrid trout is a specialty in Macedonian and Albanian gastronomy; it is used for soups and other dishes. It tastes like abrown trout crossed with anAtlantic salmon.
In recent years, extensive fishing has driven the Ohrid trout to the verge of extinction,[5] though several conservation activities are going on. A fishing ban has been imposed by the government of Macedonia, since 2004 and until 2014. In Albania, since 2003, the state law on fisheries prohibits fishing during the spawning period only,[6][7] but no restrictions exist for the rest of the year, and the fish population is still dwindling due toillegal fishing andoverfishing.[8]
The Ohrid trout is depicted on thereverse of the Macedonian 2denars coin, issued in 1993.[9]
The Ohrid trout has been successfully translocated to and bred in theVlasina Lake inSerbia, during the 1950s and 1960s; their current population status is unknown.[10] The first lots of Ohrid trout were introduced in the newly formed Vlasina reservoir in 1953, when around 500,000 fish were transferred. The Ohrid trout was the dominant species in the lake at the time, but then lost its position during the 1980s, because the breeding program was discontinued, and because of failure of natural spawning due to water level variations related to working schedules of the hydroelectric plant, Vrla. Some fish still spawn successfully in the flooded tributaries of the lake. During the 1990s,bleak (Alburnus alburnus) androach (Rutilus rutilus) from Lake Ohrid were introduced into Vlasina as food for the Ohrid trout. Also a yearly program of artificial spawning and conservation efforts started.[11]
As stated in a report by theU.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Ohrid trout was stocked inParvin Lake,Big Creek Reservoir, andTurquoise Lake inColorado, in 1969; seven lakes in northernMinnesota, including Strawberry Lake, Chester Lake, and Big Trout Lake; an unspecified locality inMontana;Watauga Lake Reservoir andSouth Holston Reservoir inTennessee; and a few reservoirs inWyoming, includingViva Naughton Reservoir on theGreen River, lakes nearCasper, and theNorth Platte River.[12][13]
The USGS report states that the trout was brought into the United States by theU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and shipped to a federal hatchery inIowa and a state hatchery in Minnesota. The eggs fromYugoslavia were hatched in the United States; young fish were released into several small lakes in northern Minnesota in 1968 and 1969. The species was first stocked in Colorado in 1969. Introductions into most of these states failed. They have been repeatedly stocked in Tennessee since 1971 with no evidence of reproduction yet, though spawning has been observed.[12]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. This article incorporatespublic domain material fromNonindigenous Aquatic Species - Salmo letnica (Ohrid trout).United States Geological Survey.
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