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Atlantic Salmo•Atlantic salmon fry have 8-12 anal fin rays, and large pectoral fins that can reach to or past the origin of the dorsal fin
•A few large spots develop on the gill cover in parr
•Red spots are visible along the lateral line in between the parr marks
•The adipose fin is clear (compared to brown trout) •Caudal fin of parr can be more deeply forked than in brown trout parr•Atlantic salmon are introduced in BC, and fish found in the wild have resulted from escapees from fish farms •Juvenile Atlantic salmon have previously been captured from a few streams on northern Vancouver Island; however, at this point their occurrence in BC streams is rare
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Brown Trout•Brown trout fry have an orange adipose fin and the pectoral fin is usually not as long as in Atlantic salmon •Similar to Atlantic salmon, 8-12 anal fin rays and red spots are visible along the lateral line in between the parr marks
•The caudal fin in brown trout parr is not usually as deeply forked as in Atlantic salmon parr
•Brown trout were introduced into the Cowichan, Little Qualicum and Adam Rivers on Vancouver Island for sport fishing and they have established self-sustaining populations in these systems
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Bull Trout
•Parr marks are large and irregularly-shaped
•Light spots appear on body in fish >10 cm
•No black spots on dorsal fin or body (compared to trout) •Dolly Varden parr are difficult to distinguish from bull trout parr in the field; however, dollies tend to have smaller, sloped heads and smaller upper jaws than bull trout
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Chinook Salmon
•Large parr marks; tend to be wider than coho
•Anal fin is not sickle-shaped; the leading edge is white but not followed by black
•Dorsal fin has black leading edge and white tip
•Adipose fin has a dark rim and a clear unpigmented window
•More than 100 pyloric caeca 14
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Chum Salmon•Small parr marks (height less than diameter of eye)
•Parr marks are equal in height, and are faint or absent below the lateral line
•Parr mark width is about equal to (slightly <) the light areas in between
•Back is mottled green, sides silvery with faint green iridescence below the lateral line
•Gill rakers are short and stubby (about half the length of the gill filament), with 19-26 on the first gill arch 7
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Coastal Cutthroat Trout•Parr have a red, orange or yellow slash under jaw on both sides
•Upper jaw extends to or past back of eye
•Black spots above and below lateral line, as well as on head, dorsal fin, tail and sometimes anal fin
•There may be dark spotting on adipose fin •Basibranchial (hyoid) teeth are usually present on back of tongue, but may be difficult to detect in small fish •There are < 5 dorsal parr marks in front of the dorsal fin
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Coho Salmon•Parr mark height is greater than the eye, and parr marks extend almost equally above and below the lateral line •Parr mark width is usually greater than the light area in between
•Anal fin is sickle-shaped, and the leading edge is longer than the base
•The leading edges of the anal and dorsal fins have white followed by black
•Large eye in relation to size of head
•Adipose fin has dark edge, centre is opaque (orange)
•Fewer than 100 pyloric caeca
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Dolly Varden
•Parr marks are large and irregularly-shaped
•Light spots appear on body in fish >10 cm
•No black spots on dorsal fin or body (compared to trout) •Dolly Varden parr are difficult to distinguish from bull trout parr in the field; however, dollies tend to have smaller, sloped heads and smaller upper jaws than bull trout
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Eastern brook Trout•Dorsal fin has dark spotting/streaking on yellow
•Pectoral, pelvic and anal fins are edged in white and black
•Reddish spots occur along the lateral line
•As the fish grow larger, light spots appear on a dark background, as well as red spots with blue halos
•Brook trout are an introduced char in BC
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Arctic Grayling
• Juvenile grayling and mountain whitefish have larger scales than the other juvenile salmonids; the 2 species can be easily confused in streams where they both occur
• Juvenile grayling have a larger dorsal fin, larger mouths, well developed teeth and more vertical parr marks
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Lake Trout•Lake trout fry and parr have distinctively forked tails •No light body spots on fry; develop on parr
•The dorsal fin starts about middle of body (excluding tail)
•No dark spots on dorsal fin (compared with brook trout); parr have light spots on dorsal fin and tail
•More than 90 pyloric caeca (Dolly Varden and bull trout have <50)
•In BC, lake trout are found in the interior and are more common in the north
•Lake trout fry move from spawning shoals into deeper areas of the lake as they grow
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Mountain Whitefish• Juvenile grayling and mountain whitefish have larger scales than the other juvenile salmonids; the 2 species can be easily confused in streams where they both occur
• Juvenile mountain whitefish have smaller mouths, a sloped head, larger scales than grayling and rounder parr marks
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Pink Salmon•Parr marks absent
•Sides silvery, back greenish-blue
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Rainbow/Steelhead Trout•No red slashes under jaw
•Sides usually have a pink hue along the midline
•Upper jaw does not extend past back of eye in parr •Black spots are mainly above the lateral line, and sparse on tail
•Adipose fin has a black margin, but is not usually spotted
•There are no basibranchial teeth
•The head tends to be blunter in profile than cutthroat trout parr
•There are 5 or more dorsal parr marks in front of the dorsal fin
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Sockeye Salmon•Small parr marks (height less than diameter of eye)
•Parr marks are irregular in height, and are roughly divided in half by the lateral line
•Parr mark width is much less than the light areas in between parr marks
•No greenish iridescence below lateral line (compared to chum fry)
•Gill rakers are long (almost equal to length of gill filaments), with 29-44 on first gill arch
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Westslope Cutthroat Trout•Westslope cutthroat trout are found primarily in the Kootenays, and their range does not overlap with coastal cutthroat trout
•Westslope cutthroat look similar to coastal cutthroat, however the spotting is confined to the posterior half of the body
