while the Atlantic salmon is a narrow relative of the trouts and both of a common type Salmo belong, the Pacific salmon are among the type Oncorhynchus.
Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)) The life of the salmon happens between sea and freshwater. In the northern part of the Atlantic ocean, it grows up to the sexually mature, about then into the headwaters of the rivers up-immigrates (the salmon is anadrom), where it propagates.
it was earlier in Europe and at North America's East coast with us one very more frequently and everywhere known fish. Industry-settlements along the European rivers dirtied the water, water-structural measures prevented the advancement of the spawn-areas. Today, there are not any more salmon practically in our big rivers; in England, the last salmon was caught in the Thames 150 years ago.
Hikes In the age from one or two years, in northern areas sometimes only with five years, the young-salmon of the spawn-areas hike into the sea downward. they now have a length of 10 -20 cm. In accordance with its Freßlust, they grow extraordinarily fast along, and after three years, they gained already a weight of 9-13 kg with lengths between 90 and 100 cm.
In the age of five to seven years, the germ-glands develop, and the salmon begin its spawn-hike - in some areas only to certain seasons, in others during the whole year. During the winter-months with strict frost, they linger at favorable places, in the spring, they move on upstream. Occasionally, they must overcome rapids and water-cases, with what they can execute 2-3 m high jumps from the water. In the autumn of the second year after beginning of the hike, the animals finally have reached the goal.
Color and shape-changes As soon as the salmon on its hike reached the rivers, they don't eat any more food. The fat-reserves are used up gradually. The color changes from greenish-gray at the back, silvery sides and whitish stomach ("naked-salmon") into the wedding-dress, that is very colorful particularly with the male: The back becomes dark-blue-green, to the sides bluish brightens, the stomach-part shines orange-red with yolk-yellow edge-parts. The body is covered with black spots, stands out stains dark-red at the head. Stronger modifications go on at the head of the male: The teeth become through stronger, however beißunfähige replaces. The top of the lower jaw curves upward ("hook-salmon").
Salmon-wedding Brook-runs with clear become as spawn-places and don't prefer to fast flowing water as well as pebbly underground. Through powerful tail-hits, the female causes a ground-deepening of plentiful 1,50 m of diameter. Several males, who fight severely against each other, are in immediate proximity. Before the spawn-act, with which both partners stand over the ground of the hollow densely narrowly together, a longer prelude takes place regularly. The deposit of the eggs is interrupted several times. During the pauses, rival-fights occur again; if another male emerges from it as a winner, the "partner-change" occurs. Until at most 30 000 eggs, a female can hand over in several thrusts and in different spawn-pits. The salmon-wedding extends up to 10 days. A large part of the fish perishes after spawning at weakening. The few survivors let themselves still drive to the sea in the same winter or in the next spring downriver where they take the naked-salmon-form again and recover. In one or two years, they undertake the next spawn-hike.
Endangering The Atlantic salmon is on the red list of the types threatened by the extinction with us.
Pacific salmon (type Oncorhynchus)) The salmon in the northern Pacific as far as into the ice-sea in differs through essentially smaller sheds and a longer anus-fin from salmon and trouts of the type Salmo. The changes of shape and color during the spawn-hikes are even more strikingly than with the Atlantic relative with the males of the Pacific salmon: Waiter and lower jaws warp so that the mouth open-stands more or less. Also these salmon-types are very important economic-fish.
With the back-salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha), the back arches to the characteristic back. The color shifts into a showy darkness-red. In contrast to the native salmon, the Pacific-salmon spawn in its life only once in principle in order to perish after it.
Besides the only 50 cm long back-salmon, that to the south of as far as to Korea and the USA occurs and the most important is for the fishery, the Ketalachs (Oncorhynchus keta) long until 1 m plays an important role as food-fish particularly in Eastern Asia.
The blue-back (Oncorhynchus nerka), also on both sides of the Pacific at home, stands in America at second place. Kisutsch (Oncorhynchus kisutsch) and Quinnat (Oncorhynchus tschawytcha) are further types of both Pacific-coasts, during which Masu (Oncorhynchus masou) is given a home only before Eastern Asia.
Lenok (Brachymystax lenok)) As outsiders of the salmon-good fish, the Lenok should find mention shortly. As inhabitants of the north - and East-Asian rivers, that an important food-fish is with weights until at most 5 kg, it lives on insects, small animals and the spawn of the Ketalachse. it therefore has the smallest mouth-opening of all the Lachsartigen.
Scientific name: