Do you know what brook trout are? Do you know their life cycle? Well, I will show you! Brook Trout start as eggs, turn into sac fry, then fingerlings, then finally an adult. You will be hearing about some ways with humans, others in the wild.

First, the female lays about 20-400 eggs, these eggs have little black dots on them, which are the eyes. Most of the eggs don’t survive. The eggs are in danger of fungi, predators, and natural deaths. They stay safe under dirt and gravel, mostly unseen. Even if they are in human-hands they still can get a fungi to spread and kill the eggs.

Afterwards, the eggs start hatching, then they have yolk sacs stuck to them, these fish are called sac fry. They are about 1 inch in this part of the life cycle. Because they are small and helpless, they live off their yolk sac. When they are done with their sac, they start to eat other things including insects in the wild, and fish food for when they are with humans.

After, they turn into fingerlings, skinny little fish. They have striped scales for design. They are also called parr. They are more big now, so they start to feed on bigger things, or more food. They are more independent now. There yolk sac has gone away, and they can be more active. They are now 2 to 3 inches now! They can survive more by themselves. Although, they can get a bit too hungry, and start to eat each other.

Then, they finally become a fully independent adult, able to lay eggs for a new generation of brook trout. They now have amazing designs on the backs and sides, and they are about 5 to 10 inches now! Soon after they lay about 100 to 400 eggs, they leave the eggs and keep eating lots of food!

I hope this was helpful, and educational! I had a lot of fun explaining it! It was fun writing about their amazing lives, from just eyes peeking out of the eggs, to adults ready to start a new generation!