THE CHINOOK SALMON
■ Type: Fish
■ Diet: Omnivore
■ Average life span in the wild: 5 to 10 years
■ Size: 33 to 36 in (84 to 91 cm)
■ Weight: 10 to 50 pounds (4.5 to 23 kg)
■ Group name: Blind or Run
■ Apperance:
■ Diet: Omnivore
■ Average life span in the wild: 5 to 10 years
■ Size: 33 to 36 in (84 to 91 cm)
■ Weight: 10 to 50 pounds (4.5 to 23 kg)
■ Group name: Blind or Run
■ Apperance:
Chinook salmon are easily the largest of any salmon, with adults often exceeding 40 pounds (18 kg); individuals over 120 pounds (55 kg) have been reported. Chinook mature at about 36 inches and 30 pounds.Chinook salmon are very similar to coho salmon in appearance while at sea (blue-green back with silver flanks), except for their large size, small black spots on both lobes of the tail, and black pigment along the base of the teeth.
Adults migrate from a marine environment into the freshwater streams and rivers of their birth in order to mate (called anadromy). They spawn only once and then die (called semelparity). They feed on terrestrial and aquatic insects, amphipods, and other crustaceans while young, and primarily on other fishes when older.
As the time for migration to the sea approaches, juveniles lose their parr marks, the pattern of vertical bars and spots useful for camouflage. They then gain the dark back and light belly coloration used by fish living in open water. Chinook salmon seek deeper water, avoid light, and their gills and kidneys begin to change so that they can process salt water.
The Chinook is blue-green or purple on the back and top of the head with silvery sides and white ventral surfaces. It has black spots on its tail and the upper half of its body. Its mouth is often dark purple. Chinook salmon may spend 1 to 8 years in the ocean (averaging from 3 to 4 years) before returning to their home rivers to spawn. Chinook spawn in larger and deeper waters than other salmon species and can be found on the spawning redds (nests) from September through to December. After laying eggs, females guard the redd from 4 to 25 days before dying, while males seek additional mates. Chinook salmon eggs hatch, depending upon water temperature, 90 to 150 days after deposition. Egg deposits are timed to ensure that young salmon fry emerge during an appropriate season for survival and growth. Fry and parr (young fish) usually stay in freshwater 12 to 18 months before traveling downstream to estuaries, where they remain as smolts for several months. Some chinooks return to the fresh water one or two years earlier than their counterparts
Adults migrate from a marine environment into the freshwater streams and rivers of their birth in order to mate (called anadromy). They spawn only once and then die (called semelparity). They feed on terrestrial and aquatic insects, amphipods, and other crustaceans while young, and primarily on other fishes when older.
As the time for migration to the sea approaches, juveniles lose their parr marks, the pattern of vertical bars and spots useful for camouflage. They then gain the dark back and light belly coloration used by fish living in open water. Chinook salmon seek deeper water, avoid light, and their gills and kidneys begin to change so that they can process salt water.
The Chinook is blue-green or purple on the back and top of the head with silvery sides and white ventral surfaces. It has black spots on its tail and the upper half of its body. Its mouth is often dark purple. Chinook salmon may spend 1 to 8 years in the ocean (averaging from 3 to 4 years) before returning to their home rivers to spawn. Chinook spawn in larger and deeper waters than other salmon species and can be found on the spawning redds (nests) from September through to December. After laying eggs, females guard the redd from 4 to 25 days before dying, while males seek additional mates. Chinook salmon eggs hatch, depending upon water temperature, 90 to 150 days after deposition. Egg deposits are timed to ensure that young salmon fry emerge during an appropriate season for survival and growth. Fry and parr (young fish) usually stay in freshwater 12 to 18 months before traveling downstream to estuaries, where they remain as smolts for several months. Some chinooks return to the fresh water one or two years earlier than their counterparts
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⋆All info I took out of here:
- http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/fish/chinooksalmon.htm
- http://www.wikipedia.org/
⋆All pictures I took out of Wikipedia and Flickr:
- http://www.wikipedia.org/
- http://www.flickr.com/search/
Special thanks to MoonShine to help to found this info.
- http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/fish/chinooksalmon.htm
- http://www.wikipedia.org/
⋆All pictures I took out of Wikipedia and Flickr:
- http://www.wikipedia.org/
- http://www.flickr.com/search/
Special thanks to MoonShine to help to found this info.