Salmons: Salmoniformes - Behavior And Reproduction, Conservation Status, Chinook Salmon (oncorhynchus Tshawytscha): Species Accounts, Atlantic Salmon (salmo Salar): Species Accounts - PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS, GEOGRAPHIC RANGE, HABITAT, DIET, SALMONS AND
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
The salmon group includes salmons, trouts, whitefishes, and graylings. These fishes can be more than 5 feet (1.5 meters) long and weigh more than 100 pounds (45 kilograms). Salmons have streamlined bodies that are covered with small, smooth scales. Salmons have a small adipose (AE-dih-POS) fin between the dorsal (DOOR-suhl) fin, or the fin along the midline of the back, and the powerful tail fin.
GEOGRAPHIC RANGE
Salmons live in the Northern Hemisphere.
HABITAT
Many salmons spawn, or release eggs, in freshwater and migrate (MY-grayt), or move, to the sea to mature. Some salmons spawn near the ocean shore and have no real freshwater phase. Others never leave freshwater.
DIET
Some salmons eat plankton, or microscopic plants and animals drifting in bodies of water, and bottom-dwelling invertebrates (in-VER-teh-brehts), which are animals without a backbone. Other salmons eat other fishes.
SALMONS AND PEOPLE
Salmons are important commercial and sport fishes.
Additional Topics
Some salmons are fiercely territorial and protect their living or breeding area. Others form schools soon after hatching and start their trip to the sea. The most remarkable characteristic of salmons is their strong swimming ability. Some can leap over obstacles, such as waterfalls, as high as 10 feet (3 meters). Salmons also are famous for returning to the stream of their birth after migrating th…
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) lists four salmons as Extinct, four as Critically Endangered, five as Endangered, and eight as Vulnerable. Extinct means no longer in existence. Critically Endangered means facing extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future. Endangered means facing very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future. Vulnerable means facing high risk…
Physical characteristics: Chinook salmon weigh 20 to 30 pounds (9 to 14 kilograms) and are about 4 feet (1.2 meters) long. The record weight is 136 pounds (62 kilograms), and that fish was 59 inches (1.5 meters) long. The body is streamlined and narrow from side to side. There are small black spots on the back and on the tail fin. In freshwater, chinook salmon are olive brown to red or purple. At …
Physical characteristics: Atlantic salmon weigh 7 to 12 pounds (3 to 5 kilograms) and are about 30 inches (76 cm) long, although the record is 4 feet, 5 inches (1.3 meters), 79 pounds (36 kilograms). The body is covered with black spots. In saltwater Atlantic salmon are blue-green overlaid with a silvery coating. They lose the silvery coat to become greenish or reddish brown mottled with red or or…
Physical characteristics: Brook trout are 7 to 10 inches (18 to 25 centimeters) long and weigh less than 1 pound (0.45 kilogram), although the record is 14.5 pounds (6.6 kilograms), 31 inches (78.4 centimeters). These trout have a combination of dark green marbling on the back and dorsal fin and red spots with blue halos on the sides. While migrating, brook trout are dark green on the back, silver…
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