Salmon

Salmon /ˈsæmən/ is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Other fish in the same family include trout, char, grayling and whitefish. Salmon are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus Salmo) and Pacific Ocean (genus Oncorhynchus). Many species of salmon have been introduced into non-native environments such as the Great Lakes of North America and Patagonia in South America. Salmon are intensively produced in aquaculture in many parts of the world.

Typically, salmon are anadromous: they are born in fresh water, migrate to the ocean, then return to fresh water to reproduce. However, populations of several species are restricted to fresh water through their lives. Various species of salmon display anadromous life strategies while others display freshwater resident life strategies. Folklore has it that the fish return to the exact spot where they were born to spawn; tracking studies have shown this to be mostly true. A portion of a returning salmon run may stray and spawn in different freshwater systems. The percent of straying depends on the species of salmon. Homing behavior has been shown to depend on olfactory memory.

Salmon (surname)

Salmon is a surname. Alternative spellings are Salmons, Sammon and Sammons.

Notable persons with that surname

Salmon (color)

Salmon is a range of pale pinkish-orange to light pink colors, named after the color of salmon flesh.

The web color salmon is displayed at right.

The first recorded use of salmon as a color name in English was in 1776.

The actual color of salmon flesh varies from almost white to deep pink, depending on their levels of the carotenoid astaxanthin due to how rich a diet of krill and shrimp the fish feeds on; salmon raised on fish farms are given artificial coloring in their food.

Variations of salmon

Light salmon

The color light salmon is displayed at right. This is a color that resembles the color salmon, but is lighter, not to be confused with Dark Salmon, which resembles Salmon Pink but is darker than Salmon Pink and much darker than light salmon.

Salmon pink

At right is displayed the pinkish tone of salmon that is called salmon in Crayola crayons.

This color was introduced by Crayola in 1949. See the List of Crayola crayon colors.

Dark salmon

The color dark salmon is displayed at the right.

Trout

Trout is the common name for a number of species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera Oncorhynchus, Salmo and Salvelinus, all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word trout is also used as part of the name of some non-salmonid fish such as Cynoscion nebulosus, the spotted seatrout or speckled trout.

Trout are closely related to salmon and char (or charr): species termed salmon and char occur in the same genera as do trout (Oncorhynchus - Pacific salmon and trout, Salmo - Atlantic salmon and various trout, Salvelinus - char and trout).

Most trout such as lake trout live in freshwater lakes and/or rivers exclusively, while there are others such as the rainbow trout which may either live out their lives in fresh water, or spend two or three years at sea before returning to fresh water to spawn, a habit more typical of salmon. A rainbow trout that spends time in the ocean is called a steelhead.

Trout are an important food source for humans and wildlife including brown bears, birds of prey such as eagles, and other animals. They are classified as oily fish.

Trout (surname)

Trout is the surname of:

People:

Fictional characters:

Las truchas

Las Truchas ("Trouts") is a 1978 Spanish film directed by José Luis García Sánchez. It satirizes middle class society under the rule of Franco via a story about the annual dinner of a fishing club whose members eat rotten trout while refusing to accept that there is a problem with it. The film was entered into the 28th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Bear.

Cast

References

External links