Chris Clarke writes about steelhead. It’s a subject I’m on close terms with, too; my father was an obsessive steelhead fisherman, and I grew up spending many memorable weekend mornings chilled and damp on the banks of the Green River, eyes fixed on the tip of a fiberglas rod. I also felt the year-by-year decline, as actually catching a magnificent fish became a rarer event over time. I was interested in the biology of these fish, though, and these are also things my father explained to me:
Steelhead, quite frankly, are confusing.
For one thing, they’re rainbow trout. That’s not a metaphor. Steelhead and rainbow trout are the same species: Oncorhynchus mykiss. In California waters, they’re the same subpecies as the coastal rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus. For some time it was assumed that close study would eventually reveal a significant genetic difference between rainbow trout and steelhead, because there’s definitely a distinct behavioral difference between the two: steelhead spend much of their adult lives in the ocean, while rainbow trout stay in fresh water their whole lives.
But about 15 years ago, a relatively close genetic study couldn’t find enough genetic difference between steelhead and coastal rainbow trout to justify splitting the two groups into separate species, or even to explain the difference in behavior. Steelhead and rainbow trout did show differences in their mitochondrial DNA, but whether those differences were a cause of the behavioral split between steelhead and rainbow trout is hard to say.
It was terrible to be 12 years old and to be already confronted with the difficulties in the species concept, even before I’d learned anything about species concepts. They’re both delicious. They look the same, although the lateral stripe is less prominent in large steelhead…but it’s also less prominent in large rainbows, and the difference seems to be simply that steelhead grow larger during their time at sea. They’re the same animal, genetically and morphologically — their only significant differences are their choices of environments.
Actually, maybe it was a good thing to study biology while already primed to be suspicious of rigid classification schemes.
Actually, the favoured environment for steelhead is under the broiler at 400ºF with lemongrass, garlic, soy, sesame oil and maple syrup.
For the steelhead, but not of the steelhead.
Meh, I’m sure it’ll grow to enjoy it eventually. Maybe it’ll even develop yet another pattern of colours?
I spent many years in coastal Mendocino County, CA. Steelhead fishing there
borders on beingis a religion. The best kind though, due the efforts of the DOW the fishery is doing well and steelhead (still) actually exist, the methods of propitiation and worship of the steelhead god actually work (a truism is that 40 hours of practice are required before bringing in a first fish) and you get to experience a real (sort of) heaven on earth in the beauty of standing on the banks of a pristine coastal stream and as described by kevinalexander in # 1./facetious
Ignorant question here, but could this be the beginning of a speciation event? I imagine even if it is, that it would be hard to tell.
K.Alexander: Sans garlic…Mmmmmmmmm!
@1 I have to heartily disagree. They thrive much more tastily in a hardwood smoker.
This is interesting. It seems to indicate that there is little mixing of females between the two populations, but perhaps there is a greater degree of male mixing? Is it possible some sperm from upstream rainbows is drifting into the steelhead areas and fertilizing some of the eggs?
You think that’s confusing, while I was studying the taxonomy of these fish as an undergraduate, they went and changed their genus from Salmo to Oncorhynchus; citing only the geographical isolation of the two, and ignoring the obvious anatomical distinctions (the number of anal fin rays).
Sorry, I guess I’m still pissed about that, some 30+ years later.
The decline in catch is due in substantial part to a long history keeping large specimens for vittles or trophy, while throwing out the little guys. The practice has backfired by reducing the population of the most effective reproducers.
Evidently, folk ‘wisdom’ in fishing is no more reliable at sustaining a resource than folk wisdom elsewhere in resource management that has not been properly investigated through science.
Okay, looks like the Onion had you biologists pegged all along:
http://www.theonion.com/article/new-delicious-species-discovered-1331
@esmith4102 #6
Sans garlic!?!?! Heathen.
Side note: my tiny English brain is still having trouble wrapping itself around the concept of maple syrup on bacon. Maple syrup on fish has sent it into a right tizz.
@ spamamander #7
On the subject of hardwood smokers, I really want to build myself one of these, but have been told in no uncertain terms by my dad that he’s not having a bloody oil drum in the garden… guess I’ll have to wait until I can scrape together enough money to move out :(
#13, Thumper
It makes a nice component of a teriyaki-style sauce. I’ve had some very nice salmon which had been pan-fried in lime juice, soy sauce and maple syrup. Between the cooking and the lime, the sweetness is toned down somewhat compared to just pouring the syrup right over the top of your bacon or whatever.
Well worth a try.
Lime juice and soy I have tried, and it’s very nice. I can see lime juice and maple syrup working quite well, actually; I may have to give that a go. Thanks anym :)
In the maple syrup and bacon recipe I tried (my girlfriend found it online and decided to try it), the bacon is fried and then the syrup poured on top and the bacon cooked in it for a bit, so the syrup is cooked. Perhaps that’s why it’s not as unbearably sweet as I previously assumed it would be. The problem I always have is the accompanying US-style pancakes. UK pancakes I can do, but I can’t seem to get the right combination of temperature and time for thick, fluffy ones. They either end up raw in the middle and soaked in greasy butter, or burned. It’s very annoying.
Thumper @13
I made my smoker out of my old water heater. It does look rather less industrial than an oil drum and it works quite well. One year our Xmas celebrations were threatened when our oven went west. We worried for about ten seconds then shovelled a path to the smoker where we cooked the turkey. We got a new oven but still make the celebratory bird in the yard, it turned out so well.
Over at whyevolutionistrue, Professor Coyne likes to publish Readers Wildlife Photos. I wonder if my smoker, door ajar and showing gobbets of servus canadensis inside would qualify?