THE COHO SALMON
■ Type: Fish
■ Diet: Omnivore
■ Average lifespan in the wild: 2 to 4 years
■ Size: Up to 38.5 in (98.7 cm)
■ Weight: 5 to 12 lbs (2.3 to 5.4 kg)
■ Group name: Blind or Run
■ Apperance:
■ Diet: Omnivore
■ Average lifespan in the wild: 2 to 4 years
■ Size: Up to 38.5 in (98.7 cm)
■ Weight: 5 to 12 lbs (2.3 to 5.4 kg)
■ Group name: Blind or Run
■ Apperance:
Coho fry live in rivers and streams for over a year. They prefer smaller streams than Chinook and smaller gravel. Coho feed on Zooplankton, insects and small fish while in the river. Oxygen levels and cover are important for survival. Logging close to steams contributes to high mortality, however, now most logging close to streams is controlled. Coho can be found from Russia to Siberia and California up to Alaska.
They spawn from November to January and the eggs usually hatch during the spring. The female will lay between 2500-5000 eggs. The following spring they will make their way to the ocean. At times during their life, Coho can gain up to 1 lb per month. They are ferocious feeders often stuffing themselves so that they can’t fit anything else in their mouths. Fisherman often report Coho salmon biting their lure with their mouth and stomach so full, they can’t see how they can get anything else down.
Mature males that return to rivers after just two years are called “jacks” and help predict the size of the next years 3 year old run return. Coho vary in size depending on where they migrate. “Northern” Coho are usually average larger in size and are known among the fishing community to be larger in size and harder fighting. Most “Northern” Coho come from British Columbia and Alaska. Northern Coho often range from 10 to 20 lbs and once hooked will race around the surface. They are distinguished from Chinook easily as Chinook will usually dive down and stay down until near the boat.
During their ocean phase, Coho have silver sides and dark blue backs. During their spawning phase, the jaws and teeth of the coho become hooked. They develop bright red sides, bluish green heads and backs, dark bellies and dark spots on their backs after they go in to fresh water. Sexually maturing coho develop a light pink or rose shading along the belly and the males may show a slight arching of the back. Mature adults have a pronounced red skin color with darker backs. The eggs hatch in the late winter or early spring after 6 to 7 weeks in the redd. Once hatched, they remain mostly immobile in the redd as the alevin life-stage, which lasts for 6–7 weeks. Alevin no longer have the protective egg shell, or chorion, and rely on their yolk sac for nourishment during growth. The alevin life stage is very sensitive to aquatic and sedimental contaminants. When the yolk sac is completely resorbed, the alevin leaves the redd. Young coho spend one to two years in their freshwater natal streams,often spending the first winter in off-channel sloughs, before transforming to the smolt life-stage. Smolts are generally 100–150 millimetres (3.9–5.9 in) and their parr marks are faded and the adult's characteristic silver scales start to dominate. Smolts migrate to the ocean from late March through July. Some fish leave fresh water in the spring, spend summer in brackish estuarine ponds and then return to fresh water in the fall. Coho salmon live in salt water for one to three years before returning to spawn. Some precocious males known as "jacks" return as two-year-old spawners. Spawning males develop a strongly hooked snout and large teeth.
They spawn from November to January and the eggs usually hatch during the spring. The female will lay between 2500-5000 eggs. The following spring they will make their way to the ocean. At times during their life, Coho can gain up to 1 lb per month. They are ferocious feeders often stuffing themselves so that they can’t fit anything else in their mouths. Fisherman often report Coho salmon biting their lure with their mouth and stomach so full, they can’t see how they can get anything else down.
Mature males that return to rivers after just two years are called “jacks” and help predict the size of the next years 3 year old run return. Coho vary in size depending on where they migrate. “Northern” Coho are usually average larger in size and are known among the fishing community to be larger in size and harder fighting. Most “Northern” Coho come from British Columbia and Alaska. Northern Coho often range from 10 to 20 lbs and once hooked will race around the surface. They are distinguished from Chinook easily as Chinook will usually dive down and stay down until near the boat.
During their ocean phase, Coho have silver sides and dark blue backs. During their spawning phase, the jaws and teeth of the coho become hooked. They develop bright red sides, bluish green heads and backs, dark bellies and dark spots on their backs after they go in to fresh water. Sexually maturing coho develop a light pink or rose shading along the belly and the males may show a slight arching of the back. Mature adults have a pronounced red skin color with darker backs. The eggs hatch in the late winter or early spring after 6 to 7 weeks in the redd. Once hatched, they remain mostly immobile in the redd as the alevin life-stage, which lasts for 6–7 weeks. Alevin no longer have the protective egg shell, or chorion, and rely on their yolk sac for nourishment during growth. The alevin life stage is very sensitive to aquatic and sedimental contaminants. When the yolk sac is completely resorbed, the alevin leaves the redd. Young coho spend one to two years in their freshwater natal streams,often spending the first winter in off-channel sloughs, before transforming to the smolt life-stage. Smolts are generally 100–150 millimetres (3.9–5.9 in) and their parr marks are faded and the adult's characteristic silver scales start to dominate. Smolts migrate to the ocean from late March through July. Some fish leave fresh water in the spring, spend summer in brackish estuarine ponds and then return to fresh water in the fall. Coho salmon live in salt water for one to three years before returning to spawn. Some precocious males known as "jacks" return as two-year-old spawners. Spawning males develop a strongly hooked snout and large teeth.
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⋆All info I took out of here:
- http://www.salmonfishingnow.com/coho-salmon-facts/
- http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/fish/cohosalmon.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.salmonfishingnow.com/coho-salmon-facts/
- http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/fish/cohosalmon.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.