Apache trout

noun

: a deep-bodied trout (Oncorhynchus apache) inhabiting cool mountain streams and lakes of Arizona that is yellowish-brown to olive above and golden yellow on the sides and belly and is marked throughout with black spots

The Apache trout, the state fish and one of two trout native to Arizona (the Gila is the other), has recovered enough that it … could soon become the first fish ever removed from the federal government's wildlife-protection list without going extinct.

—Shaun McKinnon, Arizona Republic, 19 July 2010

Note: The Apache trout closely resembles the Gila trout (Oncorhynchus gilae synonym Oncorhynchus gilae gilae) and is often classified as a subspecies of the Gila trout (Oncorhynchus gilae apache).

Word History

First Known Use

1964, in the meaning defined above

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