Dolly Varden trout
Encyclopedia
The Dolly Varden trout, Salvelinus malma malma, is a subspecies
of anadromous fish
in the salmon
family
, and is technically a char
. Although many of the fish are anadromous, the fish also exists in landlocked waters.
to the Alaska
Peninsula and into the eastern Aleutians, along the Bering Sea
and the Arctic Sea to the Mackenzie River
. It is known as "Belyi golets" in Russian
.
The back and sides are olive green or muddy gray, shading to white on the belly. The body has scattered pale yellow or pinkish-yellow spots. There are no black spots or wavy lines on the body or fins. Small red spots are present on the lower sides. These are frequently indistinct. The fins are plain and unmarked except for a few light spots on the base of the caudal fin rays. S. malma is extremely similar in appearance to the bull trout
(S. confluentus), so much so that they are sometimes referred to as "native char" without making a distinction.
. This was likely due to over-lapping ranges and similar appearances among members of the two species.
The first recorded use of the name "Dolly Varden" for a fish species was applied to members of S. confluentus caught in the McCloud River
in northern California
in the early 1870s. In his book, Inland Fishes of California, Peter Moyle recounts a letter sent to him on March 24, 1974, from Valerie Masson Gomez:
In 1874, Livingston Stone, a naturalist working for the U.S. government wrote of this fish:
It is currently unknown whether the name "Dolly Varden" was later applied to S. m. malma because of its similar appearance to S. confluentus; the two may have even been believed to be the same species. The name "Dolly Varden" may have also been given to S. m. malma independent of the McCloud River fish.
Ironically, it appears that the original "Dolly Varden" trout (i.e., S. confluentus) likely became locally extinct in the McCloud River in the 1970s, although reports continue of its being caught. Other fish species, typically introduced trout, will out-compete S. confluentus, and can interbreed resulting in sterile hybrids. An attempt to re-introduce S. confluentus to the McCloud was unsuccessful, and no additional attempts are expected.
The "Dolly Varden" name is also applied to the other subspecies of S. malma: S. m. krascheninnikova
, and S. m. miyabei, found on the island of Hokkaidō
in Japan
.
The name has also been applied to S. alpinus
, today more commonly known as Arctic char.
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
of anadromous fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
in the salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
family
Family (biology)
In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...
, and is technically a char
Salvelinus
Salvelinus is a genus of salmonid fish often called char or charr; some species are called "trout". Salvelinus is a member of the Salmoninae subfamily of the Salmonidae family. Charr may be identified by light cream pink or red spots over a darker body. Scales tend to be small, with 115-200 along...
. Although many of the fish are anadromous, the fish also exists in landlocked waters.
Range
The subspecies S. m. malma is found in coastal waters of the North Pacific from Puget SoundPuget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
to the Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
Peninsula and into the eastern Aleutians, along the Bering Sea
Bering Sea
The Bering Sea is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelves....
and the Arctic Sea to the Mackenzie River
Mackenzie River
The Mackenzie River is the largest river system in Canada. It flows through a vast, isolated region of forest and tundra entirely within the country's Northwest Territories, although its many tributaries reach into four other Canadian provinces and territories...
. It is known as "Belyi golets" in Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
.
Description
Bull trout
The bull trout, Salvelinus confluentus, is a char of the family Salmonidae native to northwestern North America. Historically, S. confluentus has been known as the "Dolly Varden" , but was re-classified as a separate species in 1980. Bull trout are listed as a threatened species under the U.S....
(S. confluentus), so much so that they are sometimes referred to as "native char" without making a distinction.
Origin of the name
It appears that the first recorded use of the Dolly Varden name to refer to a species of fish, was to S. confluentus, now commonly known as the bull troutBull trout
The bull trout, Salvelinus confluentus, is a char of the family Salmonidae native to northwestern North America. Historically, S. confluentus has been known as the "Dolly Varden" , but was re-classified as a separate species in 1980. Bull trout are listed as a threatened species under the U.S....
. This was likely due to over-lapping ranges and similar appearances among members of the two species.
"Dolly Varden" in California
McCloud River
The McCloud River is a river that flows east of and parallel to the Sacramento River, long, in northern California in the United States. It drains a scenic mountainous area of the Cascade Range north of Redding...
in northern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in the early 1870s. In his book, Inland Fishes of California, Peter Moyle recounts a letter sent to him on March 24, 1974, from Valerie Masson Gomez:
My grandmother's family operated a summer resort at Upper Soda SpringsUpper Soda SpringsUpper Soda Springs is on the banks of the Sacramento River in Dunsmuir, California, USA. It consists of approximately ten acres of level ground on both sides of the River, the surrounding hillsides, and continues north along the eastern bank of the Sacramento River to the Dunsmuir City Park...
on the Sacramento RiverSacramento RiverThe Sacramento River is an important watercourse of Northern and Central California in the United States. The largest river in California, it rises on the eastern slopes of the Klamath Mountains, and after a journey south of over , empties into Suisun Bay, an arm of the San Francisco Bay, and...
just north of the present town of Dunsmuir, CaliforniaDunsmuir, CaliforniaDunsmuir is a city in Siskiyou County, California, United States. The population was 1,650 at the 2010 census, down from 1,923 at the 2000 census. It is currently a hub of tourism in Northern California as visitors enjoy fishing, skiing, climbing, or sight-seeing...
. She lived there all her life and related to us in her later years her story about the naming of the Dolly Varden trout. She said that some fishermen were standing on the lawn at Upper Soda Springs looking at a catch of the large trout from the McCloud RiverMcCloud RiverThe McCloud River is a river that flows east of and parallel to the Sacramento River, long, in northern California in the United States. It drains a scenic mountainous area of the Cascade Range north of Redding...
that were called 'calico trout' because of their spotted, colorful markings. They were saying that the trout should have a better name. My grandmother, then a young girl of 15 or 16, had been reading Charles DickensCharles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
' Barnaby RudgeBarnaby RudgeBarnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty is a historical novel by British novelist Charles Dickens. Barnaby Rudge was one of two novels that Dickens published in his short-lived weekly serial Master Humphrey's Clock...
in which there appears a character named Dolly VardenDolly VardenDolly Varden may refer to:* Dolly Varden , a character in the novel Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens. The original usage.* Dolly Vardens , a group of Black women baseball players that comprised the first professional baseball team* Dolly Varden , a musical group from Chicago, Illinois* Dolly Varden...
; also the vogue in fashion for women at that time (middle 1870s) was called "Dolly VardenDolly Varden (costume)A Dolly Varden costume is a woman's outfit that was briefly fashionable from about 1869 to 1875 in Britain and America.-Name:Dolly Varden is a character from Charles Dickens's 1839 historical novel Barnaby Rudge set in 1780...
", a dress of sheer figured muslin worn over a bright-colored petticoat. My grandmother had just gotten a new dress in that style and the red-spotted trout reminded her of her printed dress. She suggested to the men looking down at the trout, 'Why not call them "Dolly Varden"?' They thought it a very appropriate name and the guests that summer returned to their homes (many in the San Francisco Bay area) calling the trout by this new name. David Starr JordanDavid Starr JordanDavid Starr Jordan, Ph.D., LL.D. was a leading eugenicist, ichthyologist, educator and peace activist. He was president of Indiana University and Stanford University.-Early life and education:...
, while at Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, included an account of this naming of the Dolly Varden Trout in one of his books.
In 1874, Livingston Stone, a naturalist working for the U.S. government wrote of this fish:
Also called at (Upper) Soda Springs the 'Varden' trout. … The handsomest trout, and, on the whole, having the most perfect form of all the trout we saw on the McCloud. Also, the only fish that had colored spots. This one was profusely spotted over most of the body with reddish golden spots. ... The local name at (Upper) Soda Springs is the Dolly Varden.
It is currently unknown whether the name "Dolly Varden" was later applied to S. m. malma because of its similar appearance to S. confluentus; the two may have even been believed to be the same species. The name "Dolly Varden" may have also been given to S. m. malma independent of the McCloud River fish.
Ironically, it appears that the original "Dolly Varden" trout (i.e., S. confluentus) likely became locally extinct in the McCloud River in the 1970s, although reports continue of its being caught. Other fish species, typically introduced trout, will out-compete S. confluentus, and can interbreed resulting in sterile hybrids. An attempt to re-introduce S. confluentus to the McCloud was unsuccessful, and no additional attempts are expected.
Other uses of "Dolly Varden"
Southern Dolly Varden
The Southern Dolly Varden is a subspecies of anadromous fish in the salmon family....
, and S. m. miyabei, found on the island of Hokkaidō
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
The name has also been applied to S. alpinus
Arctic char
Arctic char or Arctic charr is both a freshwater and saltwater fish in the Salmonidae family, native to Arctic, sub-Arctic and alpine lakes and coastal waters. No other freshwater fish is found as far north. It is the only species of fish in Lake Hazen, on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic...
, today more commonly known as Arctic char.