other Pacific basin trout into the genus Oncorhynchus. Description Freshwater forms of the coastal cutthroat trout are generally dark green to greenish-blue on back, olive-green on upper flank, silvery on lower flank and belly. They display more numerous flank spots below lateral line, irregular spots on dorsal, adipose and caudal fins and the anal, pectoral and pelvic fin bases. The gill covers are pinkish. Sea-run forms while in salt water and shortly after returning to fresh water are silvery with a bluish back, yellowish lower flanks and fins, and display sparse spots. Cutthroats usually display distinctive red, pink, or orange linear marks along the undersides of their mandibles in the lower folds of the gill plates. These markings are responsible for the common name "cutthroat" given to the trout by outdoor writer Charles Hallock in an 1884 article in The American Angler., although the red slashes are not unique to the cutthroat trout and some coastal rainbow trout and redband trout also display throat slashes. The sea-run forms of coastal cutthroat average , while stream-resident forms attain much smaller sizes . Lifecycle Coastal cutthroat trout usually inhabit and spawn in small to moderately large, clear, well-oxygenated, shallow rivers with gravel bottoms. They are native to the alluvial or freestone streams that are typical tributaries of the Pacific Basin. They typically spawn from December through June, with peak spawning in February. Eggs begin to hatch within six to seven weeks of spawning. Spawning begins when water temperatures reach . Depending on temperature, alevins emerge as fry between March and June, with peak emergence in mid-April. Lake-resident coastal cutthroat trout are usually found in moderately deep, cool lakes with adequate shallows and vegetation for good food production. Lake populations generally require access to gravel-bottomed streams to be self-sustaining, but occasionally spawn on shallow gravel beds with good water circulation. Cutthroat trout naturally interbreed with the closely related rainbow trout, producing fertile hybrids commonly called "cutbows" although this is a much rarer occurrence with the coastal cutthroat trout because of reproductive isolation as the coastal cutthroat trout is the only cutthroat subspecies to coevolve through its entire range with the coastal rainbow trout (O. mykiss irideus). As this hybrid generally bears similar coloration and overall appearance to the cutthroat, retaining the characteristic orange-red slash, these hybrids often pose a taxonomic difficulty. Range and habitat The native range of the coastal cutthroat trout extends