Eats: insects, small fish, occasionally trout eggs, crustaceans, frogs and earthworms

Lives in: streams and mountain lakes in water from 55 to 62 degrees Fahrenheit

Cutthroat trout get their name from the red slash marks on each side of their throats. It looks like the throat has been cut. Trout can live as long as 7 years. The cutthroat trout is  Wyoming's state fish.

 The Colorado River cutthroat trout is native to the Green River and Little Snake river drainages in Wyoming.  In fact, they were the only trout found in those drainages.  Numbers of Colorado River cutthroats were reduced through hybridization and competition with introduced non-native trout, like the brook trout and rainbow trout.

Colorado River cutthroat prefer small, clear streams and rivers along with small to medium size lakes. Cutthroat are spring spawners. The principal food of the cutthroat is plankton and aquatic insects in lakes, and aquatic insects in streams. Cutthroat over twelve inches, especially Snake River cutthroat, often feed on small fish and crayfish.

News Source: Wyoming G&F - May. 25, 2009