India, Oct. 18 -- The White Mountains of Arizona are home to a trout species found naturally nowhere else. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 2022 species status assessment places the Apache trout's native range within the White and Black River drainages and the Little Colorado River basin, historically at elevations of about 5,900 to 6,900 feet and above. Biologists did not formally distinguish the species from Gila trout until 1972, in part because Apache trout have larger but fewer spots. During summer, they feed almost exclusively on caddis flies and terrestrial insects, according to a diet study cited in the assessment. Although they can live up to nine years, five years is more typical.

Federal biologists have identified 38 popul...