Fish

There are seven native fish and four exotic fish that inhabit the aquatic system of Rocky Mountain National Park. Due to cold water temperatures and barriers to fish migration, it is probable that many of the waters within the park were originally fishless. However, the distribution of fish was not documented prior to 1923. As with most waters within Colorado, the stocking of native and non-native fish species to establish and maintain harvestable populations of trout probably started in the late 1800s and continued until 1968. The stocking of non-native fish was halted in 1975, but some of the lakes that were originally free of fish have maintained populations of native or exotic fish. One native fish, the greenback cutthroat trout, is federally listed as threatened and a long-range recovery program for it and the Colorado River cutthroat has been ongoing since 1975 in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Fish Reported from Rocky Mountain National Park

Common Name	Scientific Name	Picture
Western longnose sucker	Catastomus catastomus griseus
Western white sucker	Catastomus commersoni suckii
Mountain sucker	Catostomus platyrhynchus
Mottled sculpin	Cottus bairdi punctulatus
Colorado speckled dace	Rhinichthys osculus
Greenback cutthroat trout	Oncorhynchus clarki stomias	NPS Photo
Colorado River cutthroat trout	Salmo clarki pleuriticus	Courtesy USFWS
Yellowstone cutthroat trout	Salmo clarki	Courtesy USFWS
Rainbow trout	Salmo gairdneri	Courtesy USFWS
Brown trout	Salmo trutta	Courtesy USFWS
Eastern brook trout	Salvelinus fontinalis	Courtesy USFWS