Ecology Historically steelhead trout (coastal rainbow trout) (Oncorhyncus mykiss irideus) migrated from San Francisco Bay to spawn in Saratoga Creek and its tributaries. An 1877 report in the Sportsman Gazetteer touted the Congress Springs ("Congress Hall") tributary to San Franciscans for trout fishing. J. O. Snyder reported steelhead trout in Campbell Creek (now Saratoga Creek) in 1905. An impassable barrier at the confluence of San Tomas Aquino and Saratoga Creeks prevents salmonid fish passage to both creeks. However, stream resident rainbow trout are still found in Saratoga Creek. Recent genetic analysis has shown that the surviving rainbow trout are of native origin and not hatchery stock. Recently, three of the originally native fish species have been collected from the creek including California roach (Lavinia symmetricus), Sacramento sucker (Catostomus occidentalis occidentalis) and rainbow trout. Physical proof of the historic presence of Golden beaver (Castor canadensis) in south San Francisco Bay tributaries is a Castor canadensis subauratus skull in the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History collected by zoologist James Graham Cooper in Santa Clara, California on Dec. 31, 1855. Cooper lived in Mountain View, California from October to December 1855 and collected most of his specimens on Saratoga Creek (then Quito Creek). The upper portions of the Saratoga Creek watershed are vegetated with broadleaved upland forest, especially mixed evergreen forest, including Coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and Coast Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii), and chaparral. Common riparian tree species along the upper reaches of Saratoga Creek include White alder (Alnus rhombifolia), Big Leaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), and California bay (Umbellularia californica). Native riparian plant species occurring along the lower portions of Saratoga Creek (from Monroe Street to Lawrence Expressway) include arroyo willow, box elder, Fremont cottonwood, western sycamore, red willow, yellow willow, blue elderberry, coffeeberry, coyote brush, and mule fat. Nonnative weedy species are common. See also List of watercourses in the San Francisco Bay Area References External links San Tomas Aquino Watershed (and Saratoga Creek Sub-watershed) Oakland Museum Guadalupe Slough Watershed Map Rivers of Santa Clara County, California Rivers of Northern California Tributaries of San Francisco Bay