salmon family is one of the most important of commercial fishes.Their meat has a distinct useful properties, because it contains omega-3.Their food intake in humans lowers blood cholesterol, and thus helps prevent various diseases of the cardiovascular system.
family description
salmon family includes fish with a rather elongated, scaly body.Their naked head, antennae are absent.The main distinguishing feature of this family of fish - the presence of adipose fin, which has no light.They also have a dorsal fin, there are between 10 to 16 rays.Eyes fish of the salmon family covered by transparent lids.In females eggs from the ovary into the cavity of the body and thence through the holes - the water.There are different kinds of salmonids, but they all have one feature.Individuals are able to change their appearance depending on the environmental conditions, as well as their life cycle.For example, their appearance becomes different during spawning.Particularly susceptible to change males who acquire a kind of wedding attire.Their color from gray becomes mottled with patches of black, red or bright crimson hues.The skin thickens, it grows scales.Curved jaws, teeth grow.On the back there is a hump.Researchers there are different versions of the appearance of the fish breeding plumage.Some attribute this to return to the appearance of their ancestors, the other - to the action of hormones, others believe that this transformation is able to attract females.
Classification
salmon family, whose members have a very delicious and nutritious meat, are divided into two subfamilies:
- Actually Salmon;
- whitefish.
representatives whitefish subfamily differ small mouth, larger scales, and structural features of the skull.Classified fish belonging to the salmon family, and belonging to a particular race:
- Pacific salmon found in the Pacific.Are the scales of medium size or small, large red-orange eggs.The peculiarity of the lives of these fish is their death after spawning.Types of salmonids belonging to the genus tihookeansomu: chum, pink salmon, coho, chinook, sockeye.
- These salmon are shorter, containing fewer rays, fin than their Pacific counterparts.Young birds have teeth on the back of coulter bone.These fish also change their usual appearance on the "wedding attire" during the spawning season, but did not die after him.They live in the northern parts of the Atlantic, Pacific Oceans.They can be found in the Black Sea, the Aral, Caspian and Baltic Seas.For real salmon scales characteristic bright coloring.
- Loaches are also in the salmon family, the list of their names, though not as great as that of Pacific salmon.This kind of similar to these salmon, but their representatives do not have the teeth to the bone coulter, and spotted a bright color.
Pink salmon
important food fish of the salmon family - salmon.It is the most numerous representatives of Pacific salmon.Salmon this kind of medium-sized, reaching a maximum length of 76 cm, their maximum weight - 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 the place of her stay.At sea, the fish has a bright scales on the back are numerous small dark spots.As we approach the spawning and the descent into the river salmon (salmon, as we have said change their appearance during this period) becomes brown, head and fins - almost black.Only the belly retains the same light color.The males in the back grows a huge hump heavily modified jaw, where teeth appear.
Lifetime pink salmon - about 18 months.In the second year, almost all individuals become sexually mature, preparing to spawn.It occurs from June to September, the time depends on the habitat.Spawning areas are on the river, located quite close to the sea.In this connection, it takes the path to the pink salmon in much less time than the other members of the Pacific salmon.The optimum temperature of the water in the rivers during spawning - from 6 to 14 degrees.The eggs laid by the females, spawning mound forms.In late September, hatching begins, which lasts, depending on the spawning period, until January.From April to July, there is a moving sea fry.First, they are in the mouths of rivers, then distributed to coastal waters.By October, the period usually begins their life at sea.
Keta
Another important commercial value to fish - a chum, a photo of which can be found in textbooks of biology.She lives across the North Pacific.The fish has a silvery color, which varies with the approach of spawning.Scales dark, the body appear brown stripes.By the beginning of spawning fish becomes almost completely black, the color change even the palate and tongue.Keta, photos which made during feeding, is radically different from the one captured during the sunset in the river.Representatives of this type are divided into summer and autumn species.Keta summer goes to spawn in early July - mid-August.It reaches a maximum length of 80 cm. The autumn chum salmon grows to 1 m, its mass is also higher than that of individual year.These fish spawn in late August - early September.Chum salmon rivers rises much further than salmon, the path often takes a lot of time.Because of this, fish often spawn already under the ice crust.This year for the offspring of chum salmon is probable destruction of the deep freezing of small streams where it lays its eggs.Fall chum spawn in places where the ground water that do not freeze as much, so it fry survive until spring, when they go from spawning tubercles and down into the sea.
Sockeye salmon
Many species of fish has the salmon family.Members of the genus of Pacific salmon - sockeye.The most widely spread this fish in the area of the American Pacific coast.The largest number of its registered in Alaska.On the territory of our country sockeye is much rarer than the chum or pink salmon.This fish comes mainly in the river Kamchatka and Anadyr.Also this valuable fish of the salmon family visits Kuril river, the Commander Islands.Its meat is bright red, with excellent, full-bodied taste.
During his period of marine life sockeye has a silver color of the body, only on the back are dark blue stripes.Radically changing its shape in the mating season.Fish are attracted attention to himself sides bright red, green head and scarlet fins.Typical for breeding plumage pink and chum salmon in color black sockeye almost none.There are only small black spots on the tail or body.Spawning begins early, usually in May or June, and continues until the end of the summer.With most of the juveniles in the sea just down the following year after the release of eggs that occurs in the middle of winter.Some individuals remain in the river for up to 3 years.True, there are those who make the descent into the sea in the year out of the eggs.Sockeye salmon reaches maturity at 6 years old.
Coho Coho most of the Pacific salmon loves warm.On the territory of our country is not widespread, the Asian Pacific marked mostly sporadic visits of the fish in the river.Quite often only found in Kamchatka.A distinctive feature of coho salmon - its bright silvery scales.During spawning, it becomes crimson.The coho salmon can reach a length of about 84 cm, the average size of individuals - 60 cm. On the coho spawn out late - at the end of September.This period lasted until about March.Most spawning takes place already under the ice.Fry the eggs after 1-2 years of living in the river, and then falling into the sea.This period of life of the coho short.For the third year of the individuals become sexually mature and die after spawning.
Chinook Chinook is the largest representative of the salmon family.Its length is 90 cm on average, but there are also much larger individuals weighing up to 50 kg.Despite this, our country has no chinook important commercial value as its number in Russia is small.Meet the king salmon on the Asian Pacific coast only in the rivers of Kamchatka, where it comes to spawn.It begins in mid-May and continues throughout the summer.Chinook easily spawns in strong currents, as because of its size is able to resist well.Tail it makes a hole in the shingle, which lays its eggs.Brits live in the river long enough, then roll down to the sea.This period of life Chinook takes 4 to 7 years.
Noble salmon
Noble salmon often called salmon.This massive fish reaches a length of about 1.5 meters.Weight it is thus up to 39 kg.Color from the noble silver salmon, just above the lateral line are a few dark spots, its shape resembling the letter "X".On the sides of the body scales have a bluish tint.Nagulivayas in the sea, salmon feed on small fish, crustaceans.Since the beginning of spawning fish stop eating altogether and go down the river considerably thinner.Wedding attire is not too expressive.He is the darkening of scales on the body and the appearance of orange spots.Spawning takes place, depending on the fish habitat in the fall or winter.Salmon roe matures slowly, and the fry emerge from it only in late spring - early summer.However, they remain a long time to live in fresh water.The time of their release into the sea varies from 1 to 5 years.The adults die after spawning is not always, some fish, despite significant weight loss and frayed fins, may return to the sea.There they quickly eaten off and restored, while re-spawning noble salmon observed in extremely rare.These fish live up to 13 years.
Trout
trout or salmon-trout, can be distinguished from the noble salmon color.The spots on her body are both above and below the lateral line.On the head and the dorsal fin located round black spots.Lives trout in the Black, Baltic and Aral seas.However, it does not make it extensive migrations as much linked to fresh water.In trout length reaches 30 to 70 cm in body weight from 1 to 5 kg.In contrast to the noble salmon, salmon-trout, leaving spawning continues to eat, but not as intense as in the sea.Fry mature from 3 to 7 years, and then out to sea.
Trout lake
Lake trout - a trout that is not beyond the rivers and lakes.These fish live in the clear, cold water and spawn in fast-flowing rivers flowing into the lake.His painting during feeding trout resembles trout.During the spawning season is changing color, appears wedding attire.Females have a bright dark scales, males on it also appear dark orange stripes.Changing the color and fins.In females, they become darker, and the ventral fin in males becomes pink or bright orange.
Loach
There are also salmon, the names of which are directly related to their appearance.Loaches, for example, got its name because of small scales, due to which their body appears naked.They are spread quite widely.In Magadan and Kamchatka, there are about 10 species of fish belonging to the salmon family.Loaches can be as through which feed in the sea, as well as residential.The latter can never go to sea, some even a lifetime are in lakes, standing water and spawning takes place.
