brown trout
Salmo trutta Linnaeus, 1758
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The brown trout (Salmo trutta) is a species of carnivorous ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the salmonid genus Salmo, endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally as a game fish, even becoming one of the world's worst invasive species outside of its native range. Brown trout are highly adaptable and have evolved numerous ecotypes/subspecies. These include three main ecotypes: a riverine ecotype S. trutta morpha fario, commonly called river trout; a lacustrine ecotype S. trutta morpha lacustris, also called the lake trout (not to be confused with the lake trout in North America, which is a species of char); and an euryhaline ecotype S. trutta morpha trutta, also known as the sea trout. Sea trout in Ireland and Great Britain have many regional names: sewin in Wales, finnock in Scotland, peal in the West Country, mort in North West England, and white trout in Ireland.
Wikipedia contributors, Brown 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
- Salmo trutta Linnaeus, 1758
- Name authority
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Common name
- brown trout
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Salmoniformes
- Family
- Salmonidae
- Genus
- Salmo
- 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.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderSalmoniformes
- familySalmonidae Cuvier, 1816
- subfamilySalmoninae Cuvier, 1816
- genusSalmo Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesSalmo trutta Linnaeus, 1758
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Salmo. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Salmo pallaryi Pellegrin, 1924 | SalmonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Salmo pelagonicus Karaman, 1938 | SalmonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Atlantic salmonSalmo salar Linnaeus, 1758 | SalmonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Salmo ischchan Kessler, 1877 | SalmonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Salmo rhodanensis Fowler, 1974 | SalmonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Salmo kottelati Turan, Doğan, Kaya & Kanyılmaz, 2014 | SalmonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Salmo stomachicus Günther, 1866 | SalmonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Salmo macedonicus (Karaman, 1924) | SalmonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Salmo tigridis Turan, Kottelat & Bektaş, 2011 | SalmonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Salmo visovacensis Taler, 1950 | SalmonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Salmo rizeensis Turan, Kottelat & Engin, 2010 | SalmonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Salmo carpio Linnaeus, 1758 | SalmonidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
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.
- Linnaeus, C. (1758). Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. Laurentii Salvii. Holmiae [Stockholm]. [iii] + 824 pp. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.542 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:79CZL. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.