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| NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species |
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Common Name: lake trout
Synonyms and Other Names: (mackinaw, siscowet).
Taxonomy: available through 
Identification: Scott and Crossman (1973); Becker (1983); Smith (1985); Page and Burr (1991).
Size: 126 cm.
Native Range:
Widely distributed from northern Canada and Alaska (missing in southern prairie provinces) south to New England and Great Lakes basin (Page and Burr 1991).
Nonindigenous Occurrences: The lake trout has been stocked in Bull Shoals Lake, Greer's Ferry Lake, and the Little Red River below Greer's Ferry Lake in Arkansas (Robison and Buchanan 1988); Lake Tahoe, and Fallen Leaf, Stony Ridge, Donner, Crystal, Eagle, and Clear lakes, Golden Gate Park, and several lakes in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California (Smith 1896; Shebley 1917; Cordone and Frantz 1966; Moyle 1976a; Lee et al. 1980 et seq.; Sigler and Sigler 1987; Dill and Cordone 1997); lakes in the Flattop Mountains (Colorado headwaters), and in the Clear, Arkansas headwaters, Rio Grande headwaters, Blue, Frying Pan, North Platte, South Platte, and upper Gunnison drainages in Colorado (Everhart and Seaman 1971; Lee et al. 1980 et seq.; Tyus et al. 1982; Wiltzius 1985; Rasmussen 1998; Beckman 1952); the Connecticut and Thames drainage, and East Twin Lakes and Wononskopomuc Lake in the Housatonic drainage, Connecticut (Hubbs and Lagler 1947; Webster 1942; Behnke and Wetzel 1960; Whitworth et al. 1968; Lee et al. 1980 et seq.; Schmidt 1986); Delaware River and Delaware Bay, Delaware (Raasch and Altemus 1991); the Bear, Snake River above and below Shoshone falls, Pend Orielle, Palisades, and North Fork Payette drainages in Idaho (Linder 1963; Simpson and Wallace 1978; Lee et al. 1980 et seq.; Idaho Fish and Game 1996); Rock drainage, Illinois (Smith 1979; Burr and Page 1986); a lake in the St. Joseph drainage, Indiana (Sweeney 1902); West Lake Okoboji, Iowa (Harlan et al. 1987); unspecified areas in Kansas (Breukelman 1946; Cross 1967); Dale Hollow Reservoir and Lake Cumberland, Kentucky (Burr and Warren 1986); Acadia National Park, Maine (Tilmant 1999); Jennings Randolph Lake in the Potomac drainage (Cincotta, personal communication) and the Gunpowder system in Maryland (Ferguson 1876; Pritchard et al. 1976); Wachusett and Quabbin reservoirs in Massachusetts (Lee et al. 1980 et seq.; Hartel 1992; Cardoza et al. 1993; Hartel et al. 1996); numerous Great Lake tributaries in Michigan (Lee et al. 1980 et seq.); the Minnesota drainage, and lakes in central and southern Minnesota in the Mississippi drainage (Eddy and Underhill 1974; Burr and Page 1986); Fort Peck Reservoir, and the Pend Orielle, Missouri headwaters, upper Yellowstone, Marais, and upper Kootenai drainages in Montana (Lee et al. 1980 et seq.; Cross et al. 1986; Holton 1990), and in Glacier National Park (W. Fredenberg, pers. comm.); lakes in the North Platte, upper White, Niobrara, Red Willow Creek in Morrill County, McConaughy Lake and lakes in eastern and northern, Nebraska (Jones 1963; Morris et al. 1974; Cross et al. 1986); Lake Tahoe, Truckee River, Cascade Lake, and Walker, Fallen Leaf, and Tallac lakes, Nevada (Smith 1896; La Rivers 1962; Cordone and Frantz 1966; Deacon and Williams 1984; Sigler and Sigler 1987; Insider Viewpoint 2001; Vinyard 2001); many lakes in New Hampshire (Hoover 1936; Scarola 1973; Lee et al. 1980 et seq.); many lakes statewide including those in the Raritan and upper Delaware drainages in New Jersey (Fowler 1952; Stiles 1978; Soldwedel, personal communication); upper Canadian, Cimarron, Rio Grande, and Rio Chama drainages in New Mexico (Sublette et al. 1990); lakes in Putnam, Sullivan, Westchester, and possibly Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties, New York (Smith 1985); unspecified locations in North Dakota (North Dakota Game and Fish Department 1994; T. Steinwand, personal communication); Odell, Crescent, and Summit lakes in Klamath County, and Big Cultus Lake in Deschutes County, Oregon (Bond 1973, 1994; Lee et al. 1980 et seq.; State of Oregon 2000; Li, personal communication); Harvey's Lake in the Susquehanna drainage in Pennsylvania (Denoncourt et al. 1975a; Hendricks et al. 1979; Lee et al. 1980 et seq.; Cooper 1983; Hocutt et al. 1986); unspecified locations in South Dakota (North Dakota Game and Fish Department 1994; Hanten, personal communication); Dale Hollow Reservoir, Tennessee (Burr and Warren 1986; Etnier and Starnes 1993); Flaming Gorge Reservoir, Starvation Reservoir, and Utah, Bear, Provo, St. Mary's, and Fish lakes in Utah (Sigler and Miller 1963; Lee et al. 1980 et seq.; Tyus et al. 1982; Sigler and Sigler 1987, 1996); the New and upper Roanoke (Dan) drainages in Virginia (Jenkins and Burkhead 1994); Mount Rainier National Park, lakes in the upper Columbia, Puget Sound, and Yakima drainages in Washington (Chapman 1942; Wydoski and Whitney 1979; Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife 1997; Tilmant 1999); Jennings Randolph Lake in the Potomac drainage in West Virginia (Cincotta, personal communication); the Fox, Chippewa, Wisconsin, and Rock drainages in Wisconsin (Lee et al. 1980 et seq.; Becker 1983); and Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Flaming Gorge Reservoir, the Green River, Fremont Lake in the New Fork system, and lakes in the Snake and Yellowstone headwaters Wyoming (Sigler and Miller 1963; Baxter and Simon 1970; Lee et al. 1980 et seq.; Tyus et al. 1982; Hubert 1994; Kaeding et al. 1996; Tilmant 1999; Wiley 2003; Dunham 2004).
Means of Introduction: Lake trout have been intentionally stocked as a sport fish. In the Great Lakes, the species was stocked to restore populations within its native range that had been decimated by the sea lamprey. Kaeding et al. (1996) summarized what is known about the illegal introduction into Yellowstone Lake.
Status: Reported as established locally in California, Colorado, Idaho, Massachusetts, North Dakota, South Dakota, Washington, and Wyoming. Extirpated in Connecticut (Whitworth 1996). Scientists have concluded lake trout are established in Yellowstone Lake and are present at such high numbers eradication is probably not possible (Kaeding et al. 1996).
Impact of Introduction: Lake trout often lead to the demise of other trout species where it is introduced. For instance, introductions into Lake Tahoe led to the elimination of the native Lahontan cutthroat O. c. henshawi (McAffee 1966c; Moyle 1976a; Behnke, personal communication). Cordone and Frantz (1966) reported a drastic decline and eventual extinction of native cutthroat in Lake Tahoe after the introduction of lake trout. Lahontan cutthroat were abundant in the lake in 1907, with only an occasional lake trout reported. By 1938, the cutthroat has virtually disappeared, and by 1966, lake trout comprised 70% of angler catch in the lake (Cordone and Frantz 1966). Stocked lake trout have replaced native cutthroats in deep Rocky Mountain lakes (Benson et al. 1961). This trout has also virtually eliminated cutthroat and bull trout in Flathead Lake, Montana, and Pend Orielle Lake, Idaho. The recent introduction into Yellowstone Lake poses a similar threat to the native Yellowstone cutthroat trout O. c. bouvieri. The introduction of lake trout led to the extirpation of three of the four populations of Sunapee trout (Behnke, personal communication). Lake trout introduced into Flaming Gorge Reservoir were found to prey heavily on the Utah chub Gila atraria (Teuscher and Luecke 1996).
Remarks: A recent illegal introduction in Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming, has been of great concern there. Biologists are worried about effects on native Yellowstone cutthroat trout (McCullen 1994; Anonymous 1994a; Kaeding et al. 1996). Although it is found in some surrounding states, the lake trout has not been stocked in Oklahoma (Pigg, personal communication).
Insider Viewpoint. 2001. Fishing Records –
Rasmussen, J.L. 1998. Aquatic nuisance species of the
State of
Tilmant, J.T. 1999. Management of nonindigenous aquatic fish in the U.S. National Park System. National Park Service. 50 pp.
Other Resources:
FishBase Fact Sheet
Author: Pam Fuller
Revision Date: 11/25/2008 Citation for this information:
Pam Fuller. 2009. Salvelinus namaycush. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL.
<http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=942> Revision Date: 11/25/2008
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