Rainbow Trout

(Onorhynchus mykiss)

Rainbow trout are well known for their ability to adapt to different conditions. It is a member of the Salmonidae family and native to the eastern pacific where it's range stretches from Alaska to Mexico. They possess the well known salmonid form. Body shape and colour vary widely and reflect habitat, age, sex and degree of maturity. One of the most distinctive features is the reddish-pink band along each side at about the middle which can vary from faint to radiant.

RAINBOW FACTS:

Rainbow trout are known for their jumping ability. A rainbow can easily leap into the air three or four times it's body length.

A three pound trout can easily break a leader tested to six pounds, or double it's body weight.

They can accelerate from a standstill to about 23 mph in about one second.

The sensory input received by a rainbow is estimated to be 500 to 800 times more acute than that received by a human.

Rainbows are a bit nearsighted but can see quite well up to twenty feet. They are quite sensitive to bright sunlight. The eyes of a rainbow are well designed for seeing colour. They see colour in the red to blue wavelength about the same as humans. However, in the yellow to green wavelengths the trout see colour much better than we do. The reason for this is that yellow to green wavelengths travel better in water than in air.

The senses of taste and smell are very well developed in the rainbow trout. They are better developed than the Bloodhound and are about 500 times more sensitive than these senses in a human. It is believed that along with Steelhead and salmon, rainbow trout use taste and smell to help them locate the waters of their original spawning streams.

Water is 800 times denser than air and carries sensory inputs much better than air. This is one of the reasons trout can hear, smell, taste and see colour so well. The senses of touch and perception are no different. The rainbow can feel and perceive distant objects or movements about 800 times better than we can and may even have a form of echo location.

With it's distant touch sense, a rainbow can detect the slightest movement of an aquatic insect or fly at quite a distance and even on the darkest nights.