Which is Salmon Fish ?

Smoked salmon is a preparation of salmon, typically a fillet that has been cured and hot or cold smoked. Due to its moderately high price, smoked salmon is considered a delicacy.

That’s because when saltwater fish are exposed to freshwater, it can cause their cells to burst.

Salmon also have an excellent sense of smell. It comes from using two comma-shaped holes on either side of their heads, called olfactory receptors, that enable them to understand information in their environment.

The salmon has long been at the heart of the culture and livelihood of coastal dwellers, which can be traced as far back as 5,000 years when archeologists discovered Nisqually tribes remnants.

And when freshwater fish are exposed to salt water, it can cause their cells to shrivel, due to a process known as osmoregulation. Luckily salmon have some pretty amazing physiological and behavioral adaptations that allow them to survive in both environments.

Most fish live in either salt water or fresh water. But some fish are diadromous (dye-AD-ruh-mus) — meaning they can live in fresh and salt water, at different times in their lives.

Salmon are central spiritually and culturally to Native American mythology on the Pacific coast, from the Haida and Coast Salish peoples, to the Nuu-chah-nulth peoples in British Columbia.

Catadromous fish are born in salt water, move to fresh water to feed, and return to salt water to spawn (lay their eggs)

The salmon is an important creature in several strands of Celtic mythology and poetry, which often associated them with wisdom and venerability.

After living for many years at sea, salmon travel a long distance home to return to the river in which they were born to spawn.
There are many theories about how they are able to do this. Some state that salmon use the Earth’s magnetic field to guide them, while others say they use their strong sense of smell to guide them home.

Anadromous (ah-NAD-ruh-mus) fish begin their lives in fresh water, move to salt water to feed, and return to fresh water to spawn.

Habitat changes and losses can affect the salmon’s ability to return to their native spawning river, posing a threat to the survival of future salmon generations.

Salmon, and their relatives the steelhead, are anadromous fish. This means that they begin their lives as eggs in the cold mountain streams, such as those of central Idaho

The life cycle of a salmon is very interesting and complex. It starts with the young salmon, called alevin (or sac-fry), who begin their lives by hatching from eggs. These inch-long fish still carry a yolk sac which is twice their size.

Alevin remain in the gravel for several more weeks, absorbing their nutritious yolk and beginning to feed on bits of food that float through the gravel.

Salmon have a really strong sense of smell
Salmon change colour
Salmon can be three different colours over the course of their life. For example, check out the picture above: juvenile sockeye salmon are light coloured and spotted, and during their adult years in the ocean, they are silvery blue.

About the time that salmon fry have grown to be as long as your hand, they begin to lose their stripes and take on a sleeker appearance.

When it’s time to spawn, the adult bodies turn a brilliant red and their heads turn green.

Teenage salmon have a strong urge to leave home and begin traveling. The smolts head into the current and begin their long journey to the ocean.

When adult salmon feel the urge to spawn, they know it is time to come home. They are usually about 2 to 6 years old at this time. Some, like Idaho's salmon, must swim as much as 900 miles to reach their spawning sites

Six different species of salmon live in Canada
Seven if you count the Steelhead, which scientists have recently discovered is more closely related to salmon than it is to trout, as previously believed.

The other species are: Atlantic salmon, Chinook salmon, Chum salmon, Coho salmon, Pink salmon, and Sockeye salmon.

Once salmon arrive home again, they begin one of the most impressive displays of energy known as spawning. The female salmon hovers above a bed of gravel, facing into the current while a male hovers above her. She rolls onto her side so that her tail is flat against the gravel.

Salmon are considered keystone species
This means they have a disproportionately large impact on their ecosystem relative to how many of them there are. If a keystone species were to disappear, their ecosystems would change significantly.

Once salmon arrive home again, they begin one of the most impressive displays of energy known as spawning. The female salmon hovers above a bed of gravel, facing into the current while a male hovers above her. She rolls onto her side so that her tail is flat against the gravel.