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"King Salmon" redirects here. For the census-designated place in Alaska, see King Salmon, Alaska. King Salmon is a Census-designated place (CDP in Bristol Bay Borough in the U
King Salmon

Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Actinopterygii
Order:Salmoniformes
Family:Salmonidae
Genus:Oncorhynchus
Species:O. Chordates ( Phylum Chordata) are a group of Animals that includes the Vertebrates together with several closely related Invertebrates The Actinopterygii (the plural form of Actinopterygius) comprise the class of the ray-finned fishes. Salmonidae is a family of Ray-finned fish, the only living family of the order Salmoniformes. Salmonidae is a family of Ray-finned fish, the only living family of the order Salmoniformes. Oncorhynchus is a Genus of in the family Salmonidae; it contains the Pacific Salmons and Pacific Trouts tshawytscha
Binomial name
Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
(Walbaum, 1792)

The Chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, (derived from Russian чавыча), is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family. Johann Julius Walbaum (1724 &ndash 1799 a native of Lübeck, Germany was a Physician, naturalist and Taxonomist. Year 1792 ( MDCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank. Many types of fish undertake migrations on a regular basis on time scales ranging from daily to annual and with distances ranging from a few meters to thousands of kilometers Fish are aquatic Vertebrate animals that are typically ectothermic (previously Cold-blooded) covered with scales, and equipped with two Salmon is the common name for several species of Fish of the family Salmonidae. In Biological classification, family ( Latin It is a Pacific Ocean salmon and is variously known as the king salmon, tyee salmon, Columbia River salmon, black salmon, chub salmon, hook bill salmon, winter salmon, Spring Salmon, Quinnat Salmon and blackmouth. The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions Salmon is the common name for several species of Fish of the family Salmonidae. Chinook Salmon are typically divided into "races" with "spring chinook", "summer chinook", and "fall chinook" being most common. Races are determined by the timing of adult entry into fresh water. A "winter chinook" run is recognized in the Sacramento River. The Sacramento River is the longest River entirely within the U

Contents

Appearance

The Chinook salmon is blue-green on the back and top of the head with silvery sides and white ventral surfaces. In fields of Anatomy, anatomical terms of location are descriptive terms to help identify relative positions or directions within a species It has black spots on its tail and the upper half of its body; its mouth is dark gray. Adult fish average 33 to 36 inches (840 to 910 mm), but may be up to 58 inches (1. 47 meters) in length; they average 10 to 50 pounds (4. 54 to 22. 7 kg), but may reach 130 pounds (59 kg). The current sport caught World Record is 97 pounds 4 ounces (44. 1 kg) and was caught in May 1985 by Les Anderson in the Kenai River (Kenai, Alaska). Les Anderson (died August 26, 2003) held the record for catching the largest King salmon. The Kenai River is a river in the Kenai Peninsula of south central Alaska. Kenai (ˈkinaɪ is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U The commercial catch world record is 126 pounds (57 kg) caught near Petersburg, Alaska in a fish trap in 1949. [1]

Reproduction

Chinook salmon may spend between one to eight years in the ocean before returning to their home rivers to spawn, though the average is three to four years. An ocean (from Greek, ''Okeanos'' (Oceanus) is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the Hydrosphere. Chinook prefer larger and deeper water to spawn in than other species of salmon and can be found on the spawning redds (nests) from September through to December. Spawning is the production or depositing of large quantities of eggs in water After laying eggs in a redd, adult female Chinook will guard the redd from 4 to 25 days before dying, while males look for additional mates. Chinook salmon eggs will hatch, depending upon water temperatures, 90 to 150 days after deposition. Eggs are deposited at a time to ensure that young salmon fry emerge during appropriate time for juvenile survival and growth. Fry and parr (young fish) usually stay in freshwater from twelve to eighteen months before travelling downstream to estuaries, where they remain as smolts for several months. Spawning is the production or depositing of large quantities of eggs in water Freshwater is a word that refers to bodies of water such as Ponds lakes rivers and streams containing low concentrations of dissolved Salts and other Total dissolved An estuary is a semi-enclosed Coastal body of Water with one or more Rivers or Streams flowing into it and with a free connection to the open Spawning is the production or depositing of large quantities of eggs in water They also turn a bright red before spawning. They spawn in main channels in order to hide from predetors.

Range

Chinook salmon range from San Francisco Bay in California to north of the Bering Strait in Alaska, and the arctic waters of Canada and Russia (the Chukchi Sea ), including the entire Pacific coast in between. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. The Bering Strait (Берингов пролив Beringov proliv) is a sea Strait between Cape Dezhnev, Russia, the easternmost point (169°43' Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent Chukchi Sea (Чуко́тское мо́ре is a Marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. Populations occur in Asia as far south as the islands of Japan. In Russia, they are found in Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands. The Kuril Islands (ˈkʊrɪl or /ˈkjuˈriˈl/ Кури́льские острова́ əstrʌˈva ru-Latn ''Kuril'skie ostrova'' or Kurile Islands in Russia

In 1967, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources planted Chinook salmon in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron to control the alewife, an invasive species of nuisance fish from the Atlantic Ocean. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR is the agency of the state of Michigan charged with maintaining natural resources such as State parks, Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, and the only one located entirely within the United States. Lake Huron, bounded on the west by the US state of Michigan, and on the east by the province of Ontario, Canada, is one of the five Great The alewife ( Alosa pseudoharengus) is a species of Herring. There are anadromous and landlocked forms Alewives were then 90% of the biota in these lakes. Biota is the total collection of Organisms of a geographic region or a time period from local geographic scales and instantaneous temporal scales all the way up to whole-planet Coho salmon had been planted the year before and the program was a success. The Coho salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, (from the Russian кижуч kizhuch) is a Species of Anadromous Fish Chinook and Coho salmon grew heavy on alewives and used tributaries to these lakes for spawning. After this success, Chinook were planted in the other Great Lakes. The Laurentian Great Lakes are a chain of freshwater lakes located in eastern North America, on the Canada–United States border. [2]

The species has also established itself in the waters of the Patagonia in South America, where escaped hatchery fish have colonized rivers and established stable spawning runs. The species was introduced into New Zealand waters at beginning of the twentieth century, and it has flourished. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island It has established spawning runs in Rangitata River, the Opihi River, the Ashburton River, the Rakaia River, the Waimakariri River, the Hurunui River, and the Waiau River. The Rangitata River (English Alford is one of the Braided rivers that helped form the Canterbury Plains in southern New Zealand. The Opihi River flows through south Canterbury, in New Zealand 's South Island. Ashburton River may refer to Ashburton River New Zealand Ashburton River (Western Australia The Rakaia River is in the Canterbury Plains in New Zealand 's South Island. The Waimakariri River is the largest of the North Canterbury Rivers in the South Island of New Zealand. The Hurunui River is the fourth largest of the four principal rivers in north Canterbury, New Zealand, with a catchment area of 2670 square kilometres [3] While other salmon were introduced into New Zealand, only Chinook (or Quinnat as it is known locally in NZ) has established important pelagic runs. New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island

The Yukon River has the longest freshwater migration route of any salmon, over 3,000 kilometers from its mouth in the Bering Sea to spawning grounds upstream of Whitehorse, Yukon. The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The Bering (or Imarpik) Sea is a body of water in the Pacific Ocean that comprises a deep water basin (the Aleutian Basin) which rises through Whitehorse (ˈʍaɪthɔrs ( 2006 population 20461 CA population 22898 (formerly White Horse until 1957 - 03-21) is the A fish ladder has been constructed around the Schwatka Lake hydroelectric dam in Whitehorse to allow the passage of Chinook salmon. Fishways, most commonly called fish ladders but also known as fish passes and in Australia also referred to as fish steps, are structures on or around artificial Schwatka Lake is a Reservoir created by the Damming of the Yukon River in Whitehorse Yukon, completed in 1958 Hydroelectricity is electricity generated by Hydropower, ie the production of power through use of the gravitational force of falling water

Ecology

Chinook salmon need five things to survive:

  1. food,
  2. spawning habitat,
  3. ocean habitat,
  4. cold clean, oxygenated water, and
  5. other salmon

First, salmon need to be able to have ample food resources, such as: planktonic diatoms, copepods, kelps, seaweeds, jellyfish, and starfish. Oxygen (from the Greek roots ὀξύς (oxys (acid literally "sharp" from the taste of acids and -γενής (-genēs (producer literally begetteris the Diatoms ( Greek: (dia = "through" + (temnein = "to cut" i Copepods are a group of small Crustaceans found in the sea and nearly every freshwater habitat and they constitute the biggest source of protein in the oceans Kelp are large Seaweeds ( Algae) belonging to the Brown algae and classified in the order Laminariales Seaweed is a loose colloquial term encompassing macroscopic Multicellular, benthic marine Algae. Jellyfish are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. They have several different basic morphologies that represent several different cnidarian classes including the Starfish (also called sea stars) are any Echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea. As with all salmonid species, Chinook feed on insects, amphipods, and other crustaceans while young, and primarily on other fish when older. Amphipoda (amphipods are an order of animals that includes over 7000 described Species of Shrimp -like Crustaceans ranging from 1 mm to 140 mm Structure of crustaceans As Arthropods crustaceans have a stiff Exoskeleton, which must be shed to allow the animal to grow ( Ecdysis or molting Young salmon feed in streambeds for a short period of time until they are strong enough to journey out into the ocean and acquire more food. Chinook salmon are divided into two types of juveniles, ocean type and river type. Ocean type chinook migrate to salt water in the first year of their life. Stream type spend one full year in fresh water before migrating to the ocean. Once they spend a couple of years in the ocean, adult salmon grow large enough to escape most predators and return to their original streambeds to mate. Chinook salmon can have an extended life history with some fish spending from one to five years in the ocean for up to a total age of eight years. More northernly populations tend to have older life histories.

Second, in order for salmon to be able to spawn, they need adequate spawning habitat. Clean, cool, oxygenated freshwater free of sediment is essential for egg development. Chinook prefer larger sediment sizes for spawning than other pacific salmon. Riparian vegetation and woody debris help juvenile salmon by providing cover and maintaining low water temperatures.

Third, Chinook need healthy ocean habitats. Juvenile salmon utilize clean, productive estuarine environments to continue growth, change physiologically to live in saltwater, and gain the energy for migration. They rely on eelgrass and other seaweeds for camouflage (protection from predators), shelter, and foraging habitat as they make their way to the open ocean. Camouflage is a method of cryptic or concealing coloration that allows an otherwise visible Organism Adult fish need a rich open ocean habitat in which to acquire the strength that is needed to travel back upstream, escape predators, and reproduce before dying. In his book King of Fish, David Montgomery writes that, "The reserves of fish at sea are important to restocking rivers disturbed by natural catastrophes". Thus, it is vitally important that fish are able to reach the oceans (without man-made obstructions like dams) so that they can grow into healthy adult fish that will further populate the species. A dam is a barrier that divides waters. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water while other structures such as Floodgates, Levees

Fourth, it is important that the bodies of water are clean and oxygenated. One sign of high productivity/growth rate in the oceans are the levels of algae. Algae ( sing. alga are a large and diverse group of simple typically Autotrophic organisms ranging from Unicellular to Multicellular forms Increased levels of algae lead to higher levels of carbon dioxide in the water which is transferred into living organisms, fostering growth of underwater plants and small organisms, which salmon eat (Klinger). Carbon dioxide ( Chemical formula:) is a Chemical compound composed of two Oxygen Atoms covalently bonded to a single Also, algae can contribute in filtering the water from high levels of toxins and pollutants. A toxin ( Greek:, toxikon, lit (poison for use on arrows is a Poisonous substance produced by living cells or organisms that is active at very low Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into an environment that causes instability disorder harm or discomfort to the physical systems or living organisms they are in Thus, it is essential that algaes and other water filtering agents are not destroyed in the oceans because they contribute to the overall well-being of the ocean food chain. Food chains, also called food networks and/or trophic networks, describe the feeding relationships between species within an Ecosystem.

Finally, salmon need other salmon to survive so that they can reproduce and pass on their genes in the wild. With some populations being endangered, it is important that precautions are taken to ensure that salmon are not being overfished and that habitat is being protected including appropriate management of hydro-electric and irrigation projects. Overfishing occurs when Fishing activities reduce fish stocks below an acceptable level If there are too few fish left because of harmful fishing and land management practices, it makes it more difficult for salmon to regenerate a more abundant population that will continue into the future.

When one of these five variables is compromised, the affected salmon stock can decline. One Seattle Times article states, "Pacific salmon have disappeared from 40 percent of their historic range outside Alaska," and concludes that it is imperative that people realize the needs of salmon and try not to contribute to destructive practices that harm salmon runs (Cameron). The Seattle Times, one of two daily Newspapers serving Seattle Washington, United States, is the largest daily newspaper in the state of

Some populations of chinook salmon are listed under the U. S. Endangered Species Act as either threatened or endangered. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 ( et seq or ESA is the most wide-ranging of the dozens of United States environmental laws passed in the 1970s Fisheries in the U. S. and Canada are limited by impacts to weak and endangered salmon runs. The fall and late-fall runs in the Central Valley population in California is a U. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. S. National Marine Fisheries Service Species of Concern. The US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS is a United States federal agency In Wildlife conservation, Species of Concern is an informal term not defined in the federal Endangered Species Act. Species of Concern are those species about which the U. S. Government’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Marine Fisheries Service, has some concerns regarding status and threats, but for which insufficient information is available to indicate a need to list the species under the U. S. Endangered Species Act.

Miscellaneous

Chinook salmon are highly valued, despite their scarcity relative to other Pacific salmon along most of the Pacific coast.

Chinook are prized among Native American tribes for cultural and spiritual reasons. Many tribes celebrate "First Salmon Ceremonies" with the first spring Chinook harvested each year. Salmon fishing is still important economically for many tribal communities with Chinook typically being the most economically valuable species.

Chinooks are called "king salmon" (particularly in Alaska) because of their large size and because many consider them to be the best tasting of the salmon species. Those from the Copper River in Alaska are particularly known for their color, rich flavor, firm texture, and high Omega-3 oil content. The Copper River or Ahtna River ( Ahtna Athabascan ' Atna) is a river approximately 300 mi (480 km long in south-central Alaska in n −3 fatty acids (popularly referred to as ω−3 fatty acids or omega-3 fatty acids) are a family of unsaturated Fatty acids that [4]

The typical lifespan of an Alaskan Chinook salmon is 4-5 years, although some Chinooks return to the fresh water one or two years earlier than their counterparts, and are referred to as "Jack" salmon. "Jack" salmon can be half the size of an adult Chinook salmon, and are usually thrown back by sportsmen but kept by commercial fishermen.

The species was described and enthusiastically eaten by the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

The Chinook salmon (under the name "king salmon") is the state fish of Alaska. This is a list of official and *unofficial US state fish:The only states lacking a state fish as of 2008 are Arkansas Indiana Kansas and Ohio Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent

References

  1. ^ Scott and Crossman. 1985. Freshwater Fishes of Canada. Fisheries Research Board of Canada. page 175. ISBN 0-660-10239-0
  2. ^ Spring, Barbara. The Dynamic Great Lakes,(p. 48) ISBN 1588517314, Independence Books, 2001
  3. ^ McDowall, R. M. (1994). The origins of New Zealand's Chinook Salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. Marine Fisheries Review, 1/1/1994.
  4. ^ Seattlest: Foodies...FREAK! Copper River Salmon Arrive

External links

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