The Salmon family is one of the most important commercial fish. Their meat has pronounced beneficial properties, as it contains omega-3 fatty acids. Their intake with food in the human body reduces the level of cholesterol in the blood, which means it helps prevent various diseases of the cardiovascular system.
Family description
The Salmonidae family includes fish with rather elongated, scaled bodies. Their head is naked, antennae are absent. The main distinguishing feature of the fish of this family is the presence of an adipose fin that does not have rays. They also have a dorsal fin with 10 to 16 rays. The eyes of fish of the Salmon family are covered with transparent eyelids. In females, eggs from the ovaries enter the body cavity, and from there through special openings into the water. There are different types of salmon fish, but they all have one feature. Individuals are able to change their appearance depending on habitat conditions, as well as their life cycle. For example, their appearancebecomes different during spawning. Males are especially susceptible to changes, which acquire a kind of marriage attire. Their coloration changes from gray to mottled, with areas of black, red or bright crimson hues. The skin becomes rough, scales grow into it. Jaws are twisted, teeth grow. A hump appears on the back. Researchers have different versions of the appearance of nuptial attire in fish. Some attribute this to a return to the appearance of their ancestors, others to the action of hormones, and others believe that such a transformation allows them to attract females.
Classification
The Salmon family, whose representatives have very tasty and nutritious meat, are divided into two subfamilies:
- Actual Salmon;
- Cig.
Representatives of the whitefish subfamily are distinguished by a small mouth, larger scales and structural features of the skull. Fish belonging to the Salmon family are classified, and by belonging to a particular genus:
Pacific salmon are found in the Pacific Ocean. They have medium-sized scales or small, large red-orange eggs. The peculiarity of the life of these fish is their death after spawning. Types of salmon fish belonging to the Pacific genus: chum salmon, pink salmon, coho salmon, chinook salmon, sockeye salmon
Real salmon have a shorter fin with fewer rays than their Pacific counterparts. Juveniles have teeth on the back of the vomer bone. These fish also change their normal appearance to "nuptialdress" during the spawning period, but do not die after it. They live in the northern parts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. You can meet them in the Black, Aral, Caspian and B altic Seas. Real salmon are characterized by brightly colored scales
Loaches are also part of the Salmon family, although the list of their names is not as long as that of Pacific salmon. This genus is similar to true salmon, but its representatives have no teeth on the vomer bone, as well as a bright spotted color
Pink salmon
An important commercial fish of the Salmon family is pink salmon. It is the most numerous representative of the Pacific salmon. Salmon of this species are medium-sized, reach a maximum of 76 cm in length, their maximum weight is 5.5 kg. It lives in the north of the Sea of Japan, off the coast of Kamchatka, in the Sea of Okhotsk. The appearance of pink salmon varies depending on its place of residence. Being in the sea, the fish has light scales, many small dark spots are located on the back. As spawning approaches and descend into the rivers, pink salmon (salmon, as we have already said, change their appearance during this period) becomes brown, the head and fins become almost black. Only the belly retains its former light color. In males, a huge hump grows in the back area, the jaws on which teeth appear are greatly modified.
The life expectancy of pink salmon is approximately 18 months. In the second year, almost all individuals become sexually mature and prepare for spawning. It occurs from June to September, the time depends on the habitat. Spawning sites are located on the plotsrivers close to the sea. In this regard, the path to them takes pink salmon much less time than other representatives of the Pacific salmon. The optimum water temperature in the rivers during spawning is from 6 to 14 degrees. The eggs laid by the females form a spawning mound. At the end of September, the larvae emerge, which continues, depending on the spawning period, until January. From April to July, fry move into the sea. First they are in the mouths of the rivers, then they are distributed along the coastal waters. By October, their period of life at sea usually begins.
Keta
Another important commercial fish is chum salmon, a photo of which can be found in school biology textbooks. It lives throughout the North Pacific. The fish has a silvery coloration that changes as spawning approaches. The scales darken, brown stripes appear on the body. By the beginning of spawning, the fish almost completely becomes black, even the palate and tongue change color. The chum salmon, the photo of which was taken during the feeding period, is radically different from the one that was captured during the period of entry into the rivers. Representatives of this species are divided into summer and autumn individuals. Summer chum salmon spawn in early July - mid-August. It reaches a maximum length of 80 cm. The autumn chum salmon grows up to 1 m, its mass is also greater than that of the summer individual. Such fish spawn in late August - early September. Chum salmon rises along the rivers much further than pink salmon, the path often takes a lot of time. Because of this, fish often spawn already underice crust. At the same time, for the offspring of summer chum salmon, there is a possibility of death due to deep freezing of small rivers, where it lays its eggs. Autumn chum salmon spawn in groundwater outlets that do not freeze as much, so its fry survive until spring, when they emerge from spawning mounds and descend into the sea.
Sockeye salmon
Many species of fish are in the Salmon family. Representatives of the genus of Pacific salmon - sockeye salmon. This fish is most widely distributed in the American Pacific coast. Its largest number is recorded in Alaska. On the territory of our country, sockeye salmon is much less common than chum salmon or pink salmon. This fish enters mainly the rivers of Kamchatka and Anadyr. Also, this valuable fish of the Salmon family visits the rivers of the Kuril and Commander Islands. Its meat is bright red in color, with a great, full-bodied taste.
During its maritime period of life, the sockeye salmon has a silver body color, only dark blue stripes pass on the back. Her appearance changes dramatically during the mating season. Fish draw attention to themselves with bright red sides, a green head and scarlet fins. There is practically no black color typical for the breeding attire of pink salmon and chum salmon in the color of sockeye salmon. There are only small black spots on the tail or body. Spawning starts early, usually in May or June, and continues until the end of summer. At the same time, most of the juveniles descend into the sea only the next year after hatching, which occurs in the middle of winter. Some individuals linger in rivers for up to 3 years. True, there are also those who make a descent into the sea already in the year of leaving the caviar. Sockeye salmon reaches sexual maturity by the 6th year of life.
Coho salmon
Coho salmon most of all Pacific salmon loves warmth. It is not distributed on the territory of our country; on the Asian coast of the Pacific Ocean, mainly single entries of these fish into rivers are noted. Quite often found only in Kamchatka. A distinctive feature of coho salmon is its bright silvery scales. During spawning, it becomes crimson. In length, coho salmon can reach about 84 cm, the average size of individuals is 60 cm. Coho salmon spawn late - at the end of September. This period continues until about March. Often spawning takes place already under the ice crust. The fry after leaving the eggs for 1-2 years live in the river, and then roll into the sea. This period of life in coho salmon is short. Already in the third year of existence, individuals become sexually mature and die after spawning.
Chinook
Chinook salmon is the largest member of the Salmon family. Its length averages 90 cm, but there are also much larger individuals weighing up to 50 kg. Despite this, in our country, the chinook salmon does not have an important commercial value, since its number in Russia is small. You can meet Chinook salmon on the Asian coast of the Pacific Ocean only in the rivers of Kamchatka, where it comes to spawn. It starts in mid-May and continues throughout the summer. Chinook easily spawns in strong currents, because due to its size it is able to perfectlyresist. With her tail, she makes holes in the pebbles, where she lays her eggs. The fry live in the river for a long time, then roll into the sea. This period of the Chinook's life takes from 4 to 7 years.
Noble Salmon
Noble salmon is often called salmon. This is a massive fish, reaching a length of about 1.5 meters. Its weight is up to 39 kg. The color of the noble salmon is silver, only above the lateral line are a few dark spots, resembling the letter “X” in their shape. On the sides of the body, the scales have a bluish tint. Walking in the sea, salmon feeds on small fish and crustaceans. With the start of spawning, the fish stop eating altogether and go down into the rivers pretty thin. The marriage attire is not very expressive. It consists in darkening the scales on the body and the appearance of orange spots. Spawning takes place, depending on the habitat of the fish, in autumn or winter. Salmon caviar matures slowly, and fry emerge from it only in late spring - early summer. At the same time, they remain for a long time to live in fresh waters. The time of their release to the sea varies from 1 to 5 years. Adults do not always die after spawning; some fish, despite significant weight loss and frayed fins, can return to the sea. There they quickly eat off and recover, although repeated spawning is extremely rare in noble salmon. These fish live up to 13 years.
Kumzha
Kumzhu, or taimen salmon, can be distinguished from noble salmon by color. The spots on her body are locatedboth above and below the sideline. Round black spots are located on the head and dorsal fin. The brown trout lives in the Black, B altic, Aral Seas. However, it does not make extensive migrations there, as it is significantly tied to fresh water. The length of the trout reaches from 30 to 70 cm with a body weight of 1 to 5 kg. Unlike noble salmon, taimen salmon, going out to spawn, continue to feed, although not as intensively as in the sea. The fry mature from 3 to 7 years, after which they go to sea.
Lake trout
Lake trout is a brown trout that does not go beyond rivers and lakes. These fish live in clear and cold water, and spawn in fast-flowing rivers that flow into lakes. During feeding, trout resembles brown trout with its coloration. During spawning, the color changes, a marriage outfit appears. In females, light scales darken; in males, dark orange stripes also appear on it. The color of the fins also changes. In females, they become darker, while in males, the ventral fin becomes pink or bright orange.
charr
There are also salmon fish whose names are directly related to their appearance. Loaches, for example, get their name from their small scales, which make their body appear naked. They are quite widespread. In Magadan and Kamchatka, there are about 10 varieties of these fish belonging to the Salmon family. Chars can be both migratory, which feed in the sea, and residential. The latter may never go to sea, some generally spend their whole lives in lakes, pass in stagnant waterand spawning.
