Description
The Dolly Varden: Salvelinus malma
These are western trout ranging from Northwest Alaska to Northern California and are our only native char. These fish can get as long as three feet and weigh twenty pounds. They are great sport fish, putting up a good fight. They live in fresh and salt water but cold water is important for their health especially when spawning. The dramatic colour and crimson spots of the bottom fish come with the hormonal change that occurs during spawning. Unlike other trout, Dolly Varden may live to reproduce a second and sometimes (though rarely) a third time. Dolly Varden is a Dickens character who was known for her bright and colorful dresses. Pictured within the trout on the left are small crabs which are one of their foods. The small fish at the top left and the stylized ones within the bottom Dolly are:
Threespine Stickelbacks: Gasterosteus aculeatus
These fish live in marine estuarine and fresh water, ranging here in the West from the Bering Sea to N. Baja California. They are small fish about 10 inches long. These shore fish enter brackish water or ascend to freshwater streams to spawn from April to July. The female deposits 75 to 100 eggs in a nest built by the male, which guards the eggs and remains with the fry until they can fend for themselves.
