A sea-going native of streams, rivers and lakes draining into the Pacific Ocean around North America and Siberia, it was introduced to Australia in the 1890s and is available wild and farmed; it is the main trout farmed in Australia. Self-sustaining populations are found in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, the Adelaide Hills and a few streams in southwestern WA.
When grown out in sea cages, it is marketed as ‘Ocean Trout’. The skin colour ranges from silvery, in saltwater, to olive-brownish in brackish water, becoming darker towards the top with spots over most of the body and on the tail fin, distinguishing it from Atlantic Salmon and brown trout which have plain tail fins. It usually has a pink-orange patch on the gill cover becoming a broad stripe along the middle of the sides.