New records of Salmonids Oncorhynchus mykiss (Walbaum, 1792) from Northwestern Argentina and natural barriers to dispersal

Abstract

Oncorhynchus mykiss is an exotic species invasive and widely distributed in the Andean cordillera. The rainbow trout is reported from two endorreic streams of Catamarca between 3,200 to 3,600 m a.l.s. Both Catamarca (34 species and 5 exotic) and La Rioja (14 species and 4 exotic) show very low diversity of native fishes and the rainbow trout would adversely affect the distribution of aquatic vertebrates in the Andean Cordillera. The results showed that the presence of natural barriers (e.g., waterfall, depth, and water chemistry) could be the main determining factor for the distribution of rainbow trout in the streams of the Puna region.