 In 1989, morphological and genetic studies by Gerald R. Smith, the Curator of Fishes at the Museum of Zoology, and Ralph F. Stearley, a doctoral candidate at Museum of Paleontology (University of Michigan) indicated trout of the Pacific basin were genetically closer to Pacific salmon ("Oncorhynchus" species) than to the "Salmo"s–brown trout ("S. trutta") or Atlantic salmon ("S. salar") of the Atlantic basin.Thus, in 1989, taxonomic authorities moved the rainbow, cutthroat and other Pacific basin trout into the genus "Oncorhynchus".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.