Rainbow trout: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the rainbow trout lives – recorded in 16 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Oncorhynchus mykiss
Group	Bony fish
Found in	16 countries
Continents	Africa, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America
Diet (main food)	shrimp, fish, grasshopper, Trichoptera, beetle, algae, Gryllidae, Tipulidae, Formicidae, Teuthida, Palinuridae
Class	Ray-finned fish
Order	Salmoniformes
Family	Salmonidae

Where does the rainbow trout live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the rainbow trout in 16 countries and territories across Africa, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America. Wikidata gives its range as: People's Republic of China. In Austria, Australia, Belgium, Switzerland, Colombia, Germany, Denmark, France, United Kingdom, Italy, Norway, Sweden, South Africa it is listed as introduced (GRIIS checklists via GBIF).

United States
Canada
France (introduced)
Sweden (introduced)
United Kingdom (introduced)
Australia (introduced)
Switzerland (introduced)
Germany (introduced)
Denmark (introduced)
Réunion
Norway (introduced)
Italy (introduced)
Colombia (introduced)
South Africa (introduced)
Belgium (introduced)
Austria (introduced)

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

What does a rainbow trout eat?

Wikidata lists the main food source of the rainbow trout as: shrimp, fish, grasshopper, Trichoptera, beetle, algae, Gryllidae, Tipulidae, Formicidae, Teuthida, Palinuridae.

What kind of animal is the rainbow trout?

The rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is a ray-finned fish in the order Salmoniformes and the family Salmonidae, genus Oncorhynchus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the rainbow trout

The rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coastal rainbow trout (O. m. irideus) or Columbia River redband trout (O. m. gairdneri) that usually returns to freshwater to spawn after living two to three years in the ocean.

Adult freshwater stream rainbow trout average between 0.5 and 2.5 kilograms (1 and 5 lb), while lake-dwelling and anadromous forms may reach 9 kg (20 lb). Coloration varies widely based on subspecies, forms, and habitat. Adult fish are distinguished by a broad reddish stripe along the lateral line, from gills to the tail, which is most vivid in breeding males.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Rainbow trout (revision 1377023016), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q187986 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).