JasonC wrote:
Just a hypothetical but if introduced to native brook trout waters, would they compete with and push out the brook trout or could they live in harmony? Just a cool looking fish and was wondering is all.
Though superficially different Trout species can exist along side one another, as is evidenced by the many forested freestone streams in PA that have both Brooks and Browns, it's important to remember that only Brookies were native to PA waters. The introduction of Brown Trout, and to a lesser degree, Rainbow Trout, into PA waters has greatly reduced the Brookie's native range. So from that perspective, different Trout species don't really live in harmony with one another. One always has a competitive advantage over another in some regard, whether it be water temperature tolerance, pollution tolerance, acidic water tolerance, etc. Introducing a non-native species has a negative impact on the native species of Trout in that given watershed, period. Though they may be cool looking, we should not introduce Splakes, or any other Trout/Char variant in PA that's not already here. An argument can also be made that we could probably stand to be more judicious about where we stock Browns and Bows currently as is.
Brookies aren't always the victims either. In the Rockies, they are the introduced invaders, who along with Browns and Bows, are displacing native Cutts into the extreme headwaters of their previous native ranges.
Edit: In the specific case of Brookies and Splakes...In the places where Brookies are common in PA (small, forested, mountain freestoners for the most part), my guess is they would have significant adaptive advantages over Splakes for that environment. So, no, I don't think they'd co-exist. I think the Brookies would prevent them from taking hold. Even so, I wouldn't risk stocking them.
