Rainbow Trout Species Identified

The name on the bronze did not last. Gibbons's Salmo iridia, soon corrected to irideus, lost out under the rule of priority: a fish Johann Walbaum had described from Kamchatka in 1792 proved to be the same species, and since about 1990 rainbow trout have been Oncorhynchus mykiss, Gibbons's word surviving only as a subspecies name. The creek kept something rarer than a name. When the Lake Chabot dam closed off the upper watershed in the 1870s, it sealed this population away from later hatchery stock, and these undiluted fish have been used to restock other East Bay streams.

What the plaque says

Rainbow Trout Species Identified The naming of the rainbow trout species was based on fish taken from the San Leandro Creek drainage. In 1855, Dr. W. P. Gibbons, founder of the California Academy of Sciences, was given three specimens obtained from the creek. He described and assigned them the scientific name Salmo iridia. Rainbow trout are now worldwide in distribution and are highly prized game fish. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 970 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with East Bay Regional Park District, April 29, 1987.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Muir Woods National Monument — 24 mi
  A redwood canyon saved from a reservoir by a gift, and named for a man who had been there once.
• Muir Beach Overlook — 24 mi
  A cliff edge on Highway 1, and the concrete dugouts where two-man crews watched the sea after Pearl Harbor.

More markers nearby

• Site of Blossom Rock Navigation Trees — 1.8 mi
• Mills Hall — 2.6 mi
• Joaquin Miller Home — 2.7 mi
• Joaquín Moraga Adobe — 2.9 mi