Which is Salmon Fish ?

Most species of salmon are anadromous, which mean that they spend part of their life in rivers and other part in the ocean. Some species of salmon spend their entire life in rivers.

Many believe that the word “salmon” comes from the Latin word salmo or salire, which means “to leap”. If you’ve ever seen salmon battling rapids and strong currents as they head upriver to spawn, then you know they are aptly named.

The spawning grounds may be close to the sea, but the king and chum salmon swim more than 2,000 miles (3,200 km) up the Yukon River to spawn in its headwaters. The migrating salmon, impelled by instinct, fight rapids and leap high falls until they reach their spawning grounds. Even landlocked salmon, which mature in deep lakes, ascend tributary streams to spawn.

Certain populations of salmons are reduced to 3% of their original size due to overfishing. Atlantic salmon is one of the most endangered species of salmon.

Salmon are silvery-sided fishes while in the ocean, but during the breeding season a change in coloration occurs that varies from one species to another. The males generally develop hooked jaws. The changes are most striking in male Pacific salmon. Adults run upriver in spring or fall and take no food, although they will strike at fishing lures.

Salmon can reach 20 inches to 5 feet in length and 4 to 110 pounds of weight, depending on the species. Cherry salmon is the smallest and Chinook salmon the largest species of salmon.

Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae.

Salmon can jump up to two metres to cross obstacles in rivers. That is about as high as a female Olympic athlete can jump.

Salmon can be blue, red or silver in color. Some species are covered with black spots and red stripes.

Salmon can migrate more than 3,000 kilometres upstream through freshwater to spawn (Yukon River). That is like driving halfway across Canada.

Young pink salmon descend almost immediately to the sea, while chum salmon leave in a few weeks. Coho salmon remain an entire year in the streams, while young king and Atlantic salmon may remain feeding in streams for one to three or more years. Young sockeye salmon dwell for one to five years in lakes before migrating seaward.

There are seven species of Pacific salmon. Five of them occur in North American waters: chinook, coho, chum, sockeye, and pink. Masu and amago salmon occur only in Asia. There is one species of Atlantic salmon.

Color of the body depends on the age and type of habitat. Salmons change the color of the body on their way from the ocean to the freshwater habitats during the mating season.

Salmon in their saltwater phase travel an estimated 18 miles a day, but they are capable of maintaining an average of 34 miles per day over long distances.

Chinook/king salmon are the largest salmon and range in size from 61 to 91 centimeters (24 to 36 in), but may be up to 1.5 meters (58 in) in length; they average 4.5 to 22.7 kg (10 to 50 lb), but may reach 59 kg (130 lb).

Salmons have soft fin rays and short dorsal fin. Males and females can be distinguished by the shape of head and jaws. Females have streamlined head, while males develop hook-like structure (called kype) in their jaws before spawning.

Adult Pacific salmon die soon after spawning, but many Atlantic salmon return to the sea and after one or two years in open waters may spawn again, some up to three or four times. Most salmon spawning takes place in late summer or fall, and the eggs usually hatch in late winter. Incubation rates depend on temperature, taking from 60 up to 200 days. After hatching, the salmon fry consume the yolk in the attached sac before wriggling up through the gravel to seek food.

Young salmons eat different types of insects, invertebrates and plankton while adult salmons eat small types of fish, squids and shrimps.

Salmon appearance varies greatly from species to species. They can be silvery, greenish covered with black spots or/and stripes.

Salmons have a lot of natural enemies. They are often targeted by large fish, whales, sea lions and bears.

Salmon is the common name for fish in the order Salmoniformes. They live in the northern Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and are anadromous, which means most types of salmon are born in fresh water, migrate to the sea, and return to freshwater to reproduce, or "spawn."

Pacific salmon live most of their life in the ocean, but as adults they return to the stream where they hatched in order to spawn. They use their olfactory senses (their sense of smell) to find their spawning grounds in their home river, and at least one species, the sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), can also sense differences in Earth’s magnetic field to navigate back to its home stream from the open ocean. The female digs a pit in the stream gravel into which she and a male spawn simultaneously, and she then covers up the eggs with gravel.

Typically, salmon are anadromous, meaning they hatch in fresh water, migrate to the ocean, then return to fresh water to reproduce. The journey made by those salmon that survive this quest to reproduce is one of nature’s greatest triumphs.

Salmon is important part of human diet because it contains a lot of proteins, vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids.

Salmon appearance varies greatly from species to species. Species like chum salmon are silvery-blue in color while some have black spots on their sides, like the Atlantic salmon. Still others, like the cherry salmon, have bright red stripes. Most of these species maintain one color when living in fresh water, then change color when they are in salt water.