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[Descriptions
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in the Assabet Watershed
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Brook Trout (“Brookies” or
Brook Char)
Salvelinus fontinalis
Photo credit: Bill Byrne, MA
Division of Fisheries and Wildlife
Habitat requirements and life history:
These native fish, the only trout native to Massachusetts,
live in headwater spring ponds, and clear, cool freshwater
streams. Because brookies require cold water (less than 68
degrees F°) and are intolerant of thermal and chemical
pollution, self-sustaining populations are largely restricted
to headwater streams and a few relatively pristine rivers.
Brook trout spawn upstream in the shallow headwater streams
and feed primarily on aquatic insects.
Assabet tributary streams are inhabited by both
wild and stocked brook trout. Wild brookies rarely reach 10
inches in length, while the MA Division of Fisheries and Wildlife
annually stocks fish 10-12 inches long. (Sources:
Massachusetts Wildlife, No. 2, 2000, Special Fishing Issue
and Fishes of Wisconsin.)
Total length:
commonly 6 - 8 inches (10 -12 inches possible)
Pollution tolerance (US EPA): Intolerant
Classification:
Fluvial specialist
Number of fish captured during Assabet
River surveys*:
| Location |
No. of Fish 1954 |
No. of Fish 2001 |
| Assabet River |
72 |
2 |
| Danforth Brook |
|
2 |
| Fort Meadow Brook |
1 |
|
| Great Brook |
18 |
6 |
| Guggins Brook |
|
1 |
| Hog Brook |
|
14 |
| Hop Brook |
|
7 |
| Howard Brook |
1 |
12 |
| Nagog Brook |
25 |
1 |
| North Brook |
223 |
92 |
| UNT Assabet River |
|
21 |
| UNT to A-1 |
|
19 |
| Total |
340 |
177 |
*Sources:
Schlotterbeck, L.C. and W.A. Tompkins, 1954. "A
Fisheries Investigation of the Merrimack and Ipswich River
Drainages." Bureau of Wildlife Research and Management,
Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Game.
DFW, 2001. Assabet Watershed Fish Survey. MA Department of
Fisheries and Wildlife, Westborough, MA.
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