brook charr

Open encyclopedia reference

The brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus Salvelinus of the salmon family Salmonidae native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada. Two ecological forms of brook trout have been recognized by the US Forest Service. One ecological form is long-lived potamodromous populations in Lake Superior known as coaster trout or coasters. The second ecological form is the short-living predaceous anadromous populations which are found in northern lakes and coastal rivers from Long Island to Hudson Bay, which are referred to as salters. In parts of its range, it is also known as the eastern brook trout, speckled trout, brook char (or charr), squaretail, brookie, or mud trout, among others. Adult coaster brook trout are capable of reaching sizes over 2 feet in length and weigh up to 6.8 kg (15 lb), whereas adult salters average between 6 and 15 inches in length and weigh between 0.5 and 2.3 kg (1 and 5 lb).

Wikipedia contributors, Brook trout; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:53:58.038143+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Salvelinus fontinalis (Mitchill, 1814)

Name authority

(Mitchill, 1814)

Common name

brook charr

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Teleostei

Order

Salmoniformes

Family

Salmonidae

Genus

Salvelinus

Extinction status

Not supplied by this source

Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. gigaclassActinopterygii
8. superclassActinopteri
9. classTeleostei
10. orderSalmoniformes
11. familySalmonidae Cuvier, 1816
12. subfamilySalmoninae Cuvier, 1816
13. genusSalvelinus Richardson, 1836
14. speciesSalvelinus fontinalis (Mitchill, 1814)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Salvelinus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 141 records assigned to Salmonidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=154241 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:6XG35. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.