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valleysentinel.com SeVenTy-FiVe CenTS
October 2012
SPOTLIGHT
Alamo Teen wins in Italy By Staff Writer
On August 7th, 14 year old Zachary Scherman of Alamo traveled to Nettuno, Italy on behalf of the Northern California Travel Ball Association and the USSSA to participate in the World Baseball Classic Mundial Hit 2012. Zach represented the U-15 team of the USA that had representatives from all over the country. He was the only one from Alamo. Teams in the tournament were from various parts of Italy, Spain, Slovakia, Czech Republic and China.
ECRWSS
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PRESORTED STANDARD US POSTAGE PAID DANVILLE, CA PERMIT NO. 70
See BASEBALL page 5
Over 1,000 beautiful hand blown glass pumpkins will be a feature of the upcoming 21st annual Fall Craft Festival, coming to Danville on October 20 and 21. Hosted by the Danville Area Chamber of Commerce, the festival will have something for the entire family. For more information, visit the festival website at www.mlaproductions.com..
Steelhead and Rainbow Trout make their way to Walnut Creek By James M. Hale
The rainbow trout is California’s most abundant and diverse trout, occupying many of the state’s cold streams and lakes. Its dominant visual characteristic from which the name “rainbow” is derived is the light red lateral band along its sides. Except for a few inland subspecies, the distinctiveness of the varied rainbow populations has been largely diluted through widespread intermingling among the respective strains and the extensive plantings of hatchery-reared fish. Johann Julius Walbaum first described the species from an individual collected in 1792 from Kamchatka. In 1836 John Richardson named an anadromous fish Salmo Gairdnerii from the East Bay Area.
Anadromous adult fish spawn in freshwater, then the young fry migrate to saltwater to mature. In 1855 Dr. H. Gibbons of the California Academy of Natural Sciences (Steinhart Aquarium) described a new trout species, Salmo iridia, based on some five-inch fish caught in San Leandro Creek. This became the official description of rainbow trout, which were assumed to live in streams. In 1855, Ayres described Salmo rivularis, a form he believed was a “distinct” species from specimens he collected in either Mt. Diablo or Walnut Creek. Recent genetics and taxonomy have shown that all these fish are conspecific (the same species), Coastal Rainbow Trout -Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus,
with both resident rainbows and anadromous Steelhead. Rainbow trout and Steelhead have been transplanted and introduced worldwide to the eastern United States, New Zealand and other countries for first class sport fisheries. Between two and four years of age the Steelhead and the Coastal Rainbow Trout become sexually mature and spawn for the first time. In the Walnut Creek Watershed, Steelhead enter the creek and its tributaries to spawn from October through March. Unlike salmon which die after spawning, Steelhead may return in successive years to spawn. Except for the difference in the number of eggs they lay (up to 12,000 for the Steelhead versus about 1,000 for creek
-resident Coastal Rainbows), spawning is essentially the same. The female scoops out a redd or nest with her caudal fin (tail) in the streambed of gravel with good water flow
This month’s Special Sections:
Sentinel Newspapers, Inc. 390 Diablo Road, Ste. 145 Danville, CA 94526 925-820-6047
Home & Garden Health & Wellness pages 7-9
pages 10-11
See TROUT page5