This fish has sparsely scattered, very distinct round spots over its upper body. They are clothed in subdued colors of silver-gray to charcoal, the upper body having subtle hues of pink on the flanks during spawning. These fish, particularly the Bear Lake strain, often lack the bright crimson jaw slash that, at times, may be yellow. Cutthroat and rainbow trout differ in that cutthroats have basibranchial (hyoid) teeth in their throat between the gill arches and behind the tongue.[1] They also typically have longer heads and jaws than the rainbow and often can be distinguished from the rainbow by their larger spots The Bonneville cutthroat is known to be more vulnerable to anglers because of a general lack of wariness and can be caught on a wide variety of bait. As the only native salmonid of the inland west, cutthroat trout suffered intense fishing pressure for commerce and sustenance from the 1850s through the 1920s. At one time they were so numerous they were considered a nuisance, but today they are on the Utah Sensitive Species List. They are threatened by predation and competition by non-native fish, hybridization with non-native fish (in particular the rainbow trout, resulting in cutbows), and loss of habitat. The Bonneville cutthroat has recently been designated the official state fish of Utah. It was important to the Indians and the Mormon pioneers as a source of food.
