Beardslee trout

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Beardslee trout
Conservation status
NE
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Salmoniformes Family: Salmonidae Genus: Oncorhynchus Species: O. mykiss Subspecies: O. m. irideus (but see text)
Form
Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus f. beardsleei
Synonyms
Oncorhynchus mykiss beardsleei (but see text) Salmo gairdneri beardsleei

Beardslee trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus f. beardsleei, formerly Salmo gairdneri beardsleei) are a local form of Rainbow trout endemic to Lake Crescent in Washington. By some sources, they are treated as a subspecies.

Known to locals as "bluebacks", Beardslee trout are found nowhere else, and spawn in the Lyre River, near the outlet of the lake. Beardslee are somewhat difficult to distinguish from the Lake Crescent cutthroat trout, which is also endemic to Lake Crescent, as they only take on the Rainbow colors during spawning.^[1]

The spawning grounds of the Beardslee (considered the rarest salmonid in the Olympic National Park) are severely threatened by siltation, and the degradation of logjams in the river used as spawning grounds.^[2]

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