The EcoAngler Report
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Little Kern Golden Trout
The Little Kern golden trout appears brightly colored with profuse spots on the back and tail. The belly and cheeks are bright red to red-orange, the lower sides are bright gold, the lateral band is red-orange, and the back is deep olive green. Little Kern golden trout typically retain up to 10 parr marks (vertical dark oval spots) on each side as adults. The picture below illustrates the color and markings of the Little Kern golden trout underwater.
The Little Kern subspecies is distinguishable from the California golden trout found in the South Fork of the Kern River primarily by spotting characteristics and parr marks. Unlike the South Fork population, the Little Kern golden trout typically has many spots on the head and below the lateral line. This spotting is evident in the photo below.
The parr marks are arranged vertically on both sides of the body with an intermediate row of smaller ones often occurring just below the main row.
Distribution
The Little Kern golden trout native habitat is the Little Kern River (above the falls on the lower river) and the accessible reaches of its major tributaries in Tulare County. The Little Kern drainage occurs predominately within the Golden Trout Wilderness of Sequoia National Forest. A portion of the Little Kern drainage occurs in Sequoia National Park. Transplants and introgression with coastal rainbow trout have drastically altered this range. Later transplants of nonnative trout into the Little Kern River basin displaced the species from many of its historic habitats.
Taxonomy of Little Kern Goldens
The Little Kern golden trout was first described as Salmo Whitei in 1906 by the biologist Barton Warren Evermann in his book, The Golden Trout of the Southern High Sierras.President Roosevelt sent Everman to the Kern Plateau, after Roosevelt's friend Stewart Edward White expressed concern that the brightly colored trout of the region were at risk of being fished into extinction. Everman named the fish in honor of White's role in its recognition. This led later to the classification most commonly accepted today - Oncorhynchus mykiss whitei.
