Scientific name: Salvelinus fontinalis (Mitchill, 1814).
Distribution: North America: most of eastern Canada from Newfoundland to western side of Hudson Bay; south in Atlantic, Great Lakes, and Mississippi River basins to Minnesota and northern Georgia in USA. South America: Argentina. Widely introduced in temperate regions of other continents.
Biology: Occurs in clear, cool, well-oxygenated creeks, small to medium rivers, and lakes. In its native range, general upstream movements have been observed in early spring, summer and late fall; downstream movements, in late spring and fall. Some fish, popularly known as salters, run to the sea in the spring as stream temperatures rises, but never venture more than a few kilometers from river mouths. It may remain at sea for up to three months. Feeds on a wide range of organisms including worms, leeches, crustaceans, insects (chironomids, caddisflies, blackflies, mayflies, stoneflies and dragonflies, mollusks, fishes and amphibians; also small mammals.
