Wildlife Wednesday: Brook Trout

by Zander Hine, Student Board Member

The Brook Trout is the only trout species native to Maryland. They live in cold rocky streams that have very high water quality, which is getting harder to find locally. Brook Trout were once found in both the Antietam and Conococheague Creeks of MD, but recent surveys only found them in small pockets of the Antietam watershed. The “Brookies,” as they are called, feed on anything that they can fit in their mouths, and can live as long as 9 years, usually living to at least 5. Brookies are threatened by the introduction of the invasive brown trout, which is bigger and more aggressive than the Brookies, and competes with them for food. The Brook Trout are also threatened by warming waters, too much dirt getting into the water, and oxygen going down in the streams. These poor water conditions makes it harder for trout eggs to hatch and the production of food organisms would decrease. One cool fact about the Brook Trout is that it is one of the indicators of the health of the watershed, so if its population goes down, the watershed is more threatened. To learn more about Brook Trout distribution in MD, visit MD DNR's Coldwater Mapping Tool online at: https://maryland.maps.arcgis.com/.../webapp.../index.html