Athabasca rainbow trout is a small salmonid, native to small streams and rivers of the upper Athabasca watershed, in the Upper Foothills Natural Sub-region in west-central Alberta. They exhibit a diverse life history with both stream-resident and river-migrant populations. Athabasca rainbow trout are smaller than non-native rainbow trout and exhibit some phenotypic differences. Recent genetic analyses have been used to identify "pure" Athabasca rainbow trout populations, and those that have been hybridized with non-native rainbow trout.