Researchers save wrong fish

BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 5 (UPI) -- University biologists trying to save Colorado's native greenback cutthroat trout from extinction inadvertently restored the wrong fish.

A new study at the University of Colorado at Boulder indicates five of nine "relic" populations of what biologists had believed were greenback cutthroat trout actually were Colorado River cutthroat trout, a closely related subspecies, the university said in a news release

Eggs and sperm from trout populations were used for several decades to raise new generations in hatcheries, allowing biologists to restock parts of Colorado with what they thought were greenback cutthroats.

"We have to remember that management decisions by federal and state fisheries biologists over the past decades were based on the best reports available by experts at the time," said lead author Jessica Metcalf, "Fortunately, the data is becoming more accurate over time as genetic techniques improve and the peer review process is increasingly incorporated into scientific management strategies."