Family Salmonids. Types of salmonids

The Salmonidae family is one of the most important among commercial fish. Their meat has pronounced beneficial properties, since it contains omega-3 fatty acids. Their intake of food into the human body reduces the level of cholesterol in the blood, and therefore helps prevent various diseases of the cardiovascular system.

Family Description

The Salmonidae family includes fish with a fairly elongated, scaled body. Their head is bare, no antennae. The main distinguishing feature of fish of this family is the presence of the fat fin, which has no rays. They also have a dorsal fin, numbering from 10 to 16 rays. The eyes of the fish of the Salmonidae 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 the habitat conditions, as well as their life cycle. For example, their appearance becomes different during spawning. Especially subject to changes are males, who acquire a peculiar nuptial outfit. Their coloration from gray becomes spotty, with areas of black, red or bright crimson shades. The skin coarsens, scales grow into it. Jaws curl, teeth grow. A hump appears on the back. Researchers have different versions of the appearance of a bride dress in fish. Some associate this with a return to the shape of their ancestors, others - to the action of hormones, others believe that such a transformation allows you to attract females.

Classification

The family of Salmonids, whose representatives have very tasty and nutritious meat, are divided into two subfamilies:

• Actually Salmonids;
• Shigovye.

Representatives of the subfamily sigovogo differ small mouth, larger scales and features of the structure of the skull. Fish classified in the Salmonidae family are classified, and by belonging to a particular genus:

• Pacific salmon are found in the Pacific basin. They have scales of medium size or small, large red-orange eggs. The peculiarity of the life of these fish lies in their death after spawning. Types of salmonids belonging to the Pacific family: chum, pink salmon, coho salmon, chinook salmon, sockeye salmon.

• Real salmon have a shorter fin containing fewer fins than their Pacific counterparts. Young individuals have teeth on the back of the vomerine bone. These fish also change their normal appearance to a "nuptial dress" during spawning, but do not die after it. They live in the northern parts of the Atlantic, Pacific Oceans. You can meet them in the Black, Aral, Caspian and Baltic seas. For these salmons is characterized by a bright coloring of the scales.

• Loaches are also part of the Salmonids family, the list of their names, however, is not as large as that of Pacific salmon. This genus is similar to real salmon, but its representatives do not have teeth on the vomer bone, and also bright spotted color.

Pink salmon

An important commercial fish of the Salmonidae family is pink salmon. It is the most numerous representative of Pacific salmon. Salmonids of this species are not large, they reach a maximum of 76 cm in length, their maximum weight is 5.5 kg. Inhabits the north of the Sea of Japan, off the coast of Kamchatka, in the Sea of Okhotsk. The shape of pink salmon varies depending on the place of its stay. Being in the sea, the fish has a light scales, on the back there are a lot of small dark spots. As we approach the spawning and descent into the pink salmon (salmon, as we have already said change their appearance during this period) becomes brown, the head and fins are almost black. Only the belly retains its former light color. In males, a huge hump grows in the back area, the jaws strongly change, on which teeth appear.

The life expectancy of pink salmon is approximately 18 months. In the second year, almost all individuals become sexually mature, are preparing for spawning. It occurs from June to September, the time depends on the habitat. Places of spawning are located on sections of rivers located quite close to the sea. In this regard, the path to them takes much less time in pink salmon than other representatives of Pacific salmon. The optimal water temperature in rivers during spawning is from 6 to 14 degrees. Caviar, laid by females, forms a spawning mound. At the end of September, the larvae exit, which continues, depending on the spawning period, until January. From April to July there is a migration of fry to the sea. First they are in the mouths of rivers, then distributed along the coastal waters. By October, their period of life at sea usually begins.

Keta

Another important fish in the commercial sense is the keta, a photo of which can be found in the school textbooks of biology. It lives in the entire northern part of the Pacific Ocean. The fish has a silvery color, which changes with the approach of spawning. Scales darken, brown strips appear on the body. By the beginning of spawning, the fish almost completely becomes black, the color changes even the palate and tongue. The keta, the photo of which was made during the feeding period, is fundamentally different from the one that was captured during the river dusk. Representatives of this species are divided into summer and autumn individuals. The summer cat goes to spawn in early July - mid-August. It reaches a maximum of 80 cm in length. Autumn chum grows to 1 m, its mass is also greater than that of a summer individual. Such fish spawn in late August - early September. Keta rises on the rivers much further than pink salmon, the path often takes a lot of time. Because of this, fish often spawn already under the ice crust. At the same time for the offspring of the summer chum there is a possibility of death due to deep freezing of small streams, where it lays its eggs. Autumn chum salmon spawns in groundwater outlets that do not freeze so much, so its fry survive to spring when they exit the spawning hillocks and descend into the sea.

Red salmon

Many species of fish include the family of salmonids. Representatives of the genus Pacific salmon are sockeye salmon. This fish is widely distributed in the area of the American coast of the Pacific Ocean. The largest number is in Alaska. On the territory of our country, sockeye salmon is much less common than chum salmon or pink salmon. This fish comes mainly to the rivers of Kamchatka and Anadyr. Also this valuable fish of the Salmonidae family visits the rivers of the Kuril Islands, the Commander Islands. Its meat is bright red, with an excellent, rich taste.

During its marine life, sockeye has a silver color of body, only on its back there are dark-blue stripes. Cardinally changes its appearance in the mating season. Fish attract attention to themselves with bright red, green head and scarlet fins. There are practically no salmon salmon and black chum salmon in the color of sockeye salmon. There are only small black spots on the tail or body. Spawning begins early, usually in May or June, and lasts until the end of the summer. At the same time, most of the juveniles descend to the sea only the next year after leaving the eggs, which occurs in the middle of winter. Some individuals stay in rivers for up to 3 years. True, there are also those who make descent into the sea in the year out of caviar. Maturity of sockeye salmon reaches 6 years of life.

Coho

Coho salmon loves warmth most of all from Pacific salmon. On the territory of our country is not widespread, on the Asian coast of the Pacific Ocean there are mostly single visits of these fish to the rivers. It is often found only in Kamchatka. A distinctive feature of coho salmon is its bright silvery scales. During spawning, it becomes crimson. The coho salmon can reach about 84 cm long, the average size of the specimens is 60 cm. The coho salmon comes out late - at the end of September. This period lasts until about March. Often spawning is already under the ice crust. The fry after their release from the eggs for 1-2 years live in the river, and then they slip into the sea. This period of life in the coho is short. Already in the third year of existence, individuals become sexually mature and die after spawning.

Chinook

Chinook is the largest representative of the Salmonidae family. Its length is on average 90 cm, but there are also much larger individuals weighing up to 50 kg. Despite this, in our country the chinook does not have an important commercial value, since its quantity in the territory of Russia is small. You can meet the chinook on the Asian coast of the Pacific Ocean only in the rivers of Kamchatka, where it goes to spawn. It begins already in mid-May and lasts throughout the summer. Chubach easily spawns in a strong current, because of its size it is able to resist it perfectly. With its tail, it makes pits in pebbles, where it lays its eggs. Fry lives in the river long enough, then slide into the sea. This period of Chinook salmon takes 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 thus up to 39 kg. The color of the noble salmon is silvery, only a little lateral line there are a few dark spots reminiscent of the shape of the letter "X". On the sides of the body scales have a bluish tide. While swimming in the sea, the salmon feeds on small fish, crustaceans. With the beginning of spawning, the fish stop eating altogether and the rivers descend fairly thin. The wedding dress 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 fish, in autumn or winter. Salmon caviar ripens slowly, and fry leaves it only at the end of spring - early summer. At the same time, they live in fresh water for a long time. The time of their release into the sea varies from 1 to 5 years. Adult individuals do not die after spawning, some fish, despite considerable weight loss and worn out fins, can return to the sea. There they quickly eat off and recover, although re-spawning is noted in a noble salmon very rarely. These fish live up to 13 years.

Bathrobe

Kumzhu, or salmon-taimen, can be distinguished from the noble salmon in color. The spots on her body are located both above and below the lateral line. On the head and dorsal fin there are round black specks. Inhabits in the Black, Baltic, Aral Seas. However, it does not make extensive migrations there, as it is significantly tied to fresh water. In length, trout comes from 30 to 70 cm with a body weight of 1 to 5 kg. Unlike the noble salmon, salmon-taimen, going to spawn, continues to feed, though not as intensively as in the sea. Fry ripen from 3 to 7 years, then go to sea.

Trout lake

Lake trout is a trout that does not go beyond rivers and lakes. These fish live in clear and cold water, and spawn in rivers with a rapid current flowing into the lake. By its coloring during feeding trout resembles brown trout. During spawning, the color changes, the nuptial dress appears. In females, light scales darken, males also have dark orange strips on it. The color of the fins also changes. In females they become darker, and in males the ventral fin turns pink or bright orange.

Golets

There are also such salmon fish, whose names are directly related to their appearance. Goltsy, for example, got their name thanks to small scales, because of which their body appears naked. They are widely distributed. In Magadan and in Kamchatka there are about 10 species of these fish that are part of the Salmonidae family. Loaches can be as a walkway, which are poured into the sea, and residential. The latter may never go to sea, some in general all their lives are in lakes, in the standing water passes and spawning.