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An unusual trout occurs in tributaries of the Rio Baluarte in southern Durango.
The trout was unknown to science until October of 2000, when Lloyd
Findley of the University of Guaymas and Albert Van der Heiden of Mazatlan
collected a small specimen south of the Durango-Mazatlan highway near the city
of La Ciudad. Gorgonio Ruiz-Campos of Ensenada collected additional
specimens from two other tributaries in 2002; and a joint effort by Truchas
Mexicanas found more trout in March of 2004, south of El Salto.
The anterior parr marks of Baluarte trout are unusual for their yellow-green
hue, and the trout have their lateral band broken into a series of reddish
spots.
The high mountains of the Baluarte watershed are dissected
by deep barrancas and arroyos, making most populations of
it's native trout inaccessible to the casual angler.
Until after the turn of the 20th century, the Baluarte
canyonlands and surrounding area remained very sparsely
populated, though the Baluarte drainage was traversed
(through the town of Chavarria) by the Durango-Mazatlan
trail. The population of the region began to increase
in the l920's with the the arrival of the railroad and the
advent of lumber mills in the vicinity of El Salto.
Nothing is known of the biology of this trout, and the range
of the species is unknown. Mexican and American
ichthyologists are just beginning genetic studies on these
trout. Already there is some suggestion that certain
populations may be introgressed (hybridized) with hatchery
rainbow trout. |
