oquassa

The ancestor was undoubtedly anadromous, dispersing from river to river via the sea, but all historical populations of oquassa have, until recently, been thought to be resident lake populations.

Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

Southward in Labrador, the Arctic char populations show intergrading characters between erythrinus and oquassa.

Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

Yellow and orange colors on the sides and ventral region are common, but in many lakes red is more characteristic of the oquassa group known as Quebec red trout.

Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

It was via this Atlantic Ocean route that, in preglacial times, the ancestor of the subspecies oquassa probably reached North America.

Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

In North America, the characteristics of this subspecies are highly stable, except for areas of Labrador where their distribution overlapped with the oquassa evolutionary line and hybridization occurred.

Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

According to the hypothesis guiding the classification used in this book, the ancestor of the subspecies S. a. oquassa was the first form of Arctic char to become established in North America.

Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

Evidently, at least some populations of oquassa have retained the ability to utilize salt water.

Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

The most abundant populations of the Maine blueback form of S. a. oquassa occurred in the Rangeley Lakes.

Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

The virtual identity of all populations of oquassa in their taxonomic and genetic characteristics confirms that they have not been isolated for a long time in evolutionary terms and that, most logically, all should be classified as a single subspecies.

Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

S. a. oquassa, contains the relict char of northern New England and southeastern Quebec—Sunapee trout, blueback trout, and Quebec red trout.

Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002