brown trout

brown trout

Brown trout (Salmo trutta)

(credit: Treat Davidson—The National Audubon Society Collection/Photo Researchers)

Prized and wary European game fish (Salmo trutta, family Salmonidae) that is favoured for food. The species includes several varieties (e.g., the Loch Leven trout of Britain). The brown trout is recognized by the light-ringed black spots on its brown body. It has been transplanted to many areas of the world because it can thrive in warmer waters than most other trout. It grows to about 8 lbs (3.6 kg). Oceangoing individuals, called sea trout, are larger than freshwater forms and provide good sport, as do those that enter large lakes.

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brown trout

a common brownish variety of the trout Salmo trutta that occurs in the rivers of N Europe and has been successfully introduced in North America