#Oncorhynchus

[knuppitalism-with-ue]

This Amphicyon got lucky! It's prey, a large male Oncorhynchus rastrosus already spawned and was in the process of dying.

[colorsoutofearth]

Male sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in Adams River, British Columbia

Photos by Alex Mustard

[rebeccathenaturalist]

I wanted to bring to your attention this excellent documentary on spring Chinook salmon. They're one of the most endangered of the Pacific salmonids, and they face a variety of threats, from dams to climate change. They also have unique behaviors and traits that set them apart from other salmon, and recent genetic research shows that they're different even down to the level of their DNA.

It's only an hour long, and very well done; if you aren't able to just sit and focus on something for that long, it's good either watched in bite-sized chunks, or having on in the background while you do chores, art, etc. And while it does highlight some distressing realities, it leaves on a hopeful note, IMO.

[road-kill-eater]

1: A newborn salmon chimera takes a rest after using a keratinized sheath on its snout analogous to an egg tooth to break free from one of the hundreds of eggs laid on the stream bed. At this point its limbs cannot even extend past its yolk sac, which incidentally makes for a perfect cushion. Newborns primarily use their strong tails to propel themselves through the water, and eventually develop their leg muscles as they hunt the stream beds for aquatic insects and mollusks.

2: A chum salmon chimera male brings one of its developing young to the surface to force it to learn to breath air for the first time. The vast majority of their several hundreds of offspring are predated upon within the first month, but mortality greatly decreases as they grow and the parents become more protective of individuals rather than the general vicinity.

[sturgeonsalad]

[raw-wild]

Brown Bear & Pacific Salmon | Shane Anderson

[snototter]

A chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) swimming upstream to breed in Washington, USA

by Scott Jamison

[studdedblurb]

Rainbow Trout - Oncorhynchus mykiss

[jagalart]

sockeye salmon

And the final guy in the new gouache fish gang is here! I mean I painted him months ago, but then, as always, I forgot to post him :'D The in(famous) horny fish!

[orca-in-disguise]

Critter fact #3:

The Bonneville Cutthroat Trout, Oncorhynchus clarkii utah, is the state fish of Utah. It is identified by the red mark under its lower jaw, and the presence of many large, black spots.

[seabeck]

Baby fish

[ailurinae]

To be honest I never hear anyone call them "king" and "silver". It's universally Chinook and Coho in the PNW (can't make a hand mnemonic with that though). Sockeye gets called that though. And no one mentions chum and pink at all…

did you memorize the 5 species of salmon in the pacific-northwest using a mnemonic on your hand? or do i gotta teach you?

[fishenjoyer1]

Fish of the Day

Today’s fish of the day is the westslope cutthroat trout! 

The westslope cutthroat trout, also known by scientific name Oncorhynchus lewisi is a common freshwater salmonid. Known by many names, this fish is one of the four living subspecies of cutthroat trout remaining, and the westslope is sometimes considered to have its own subspecies, as separated by major populations in differing rivers and lakes. Within their range, they tend to settle in rivers that contain more pools and vegetation cover, similar to other freshwater trout. Found across the Pacific Northwest, the westslope cutthroat trout is the Montana state fish, living in the lower areas of British Columbia, Alberta, Wahsington, Oregon, Idaho, and, of course, Montana. Primarily found within the Columbia basin and upper Missouri river basin, with historical ranges stretching far further North, South, and West, but now is only a shadow of its former size. This is due to the aggressive spread of other salmonid trout species, such as the brown trout and rainbow trout, which are non native in the areas and introduced by hobby fishers.

The name of cutthroat seems relatively straightforward, considering these fish are well known for teeth lining: the roof of the mouth, underside of the tongue, and clusters in the front of the mouth. This is in fact misleading. The name of cutthroat was given to these fish due to the distinctive red coloring to the lower jaw of the fish. Despite these many teeth, the cutthroat usually subsists on a diet of insects and their larvae, along with a healthy amount of zooplankton, and algaes. The westslope cutthroat in particular can grow to sizes of 6-12 inches, with few weighing more than 5 pounds. This is significantly smaller than most other inland cutthroat trout, which reach sizes of up to 39 inches at a maximum.

The life cycle and reproduction of the westslope cutthroat is the same as many other salmonids, migratory. cutthroat trout in particular though, especially landlocked ones such as the westslope have three different life strategies—stream resident, adfluvial, and fluvial. Stream resident fish are the ones living within river tributaries, never migrating to a fully different area, just to breeding grounds where the water is clear, clean, and oxygenated. Adfluvial fish live in larger lakes, and migrate down into river tributaries to lay eggs in areas of lower predation. Finally, fluvial fish migrate from larger rivers and basins into tributaries, just like the other trout. This all takes place in their breeding season in the spring, triggered by temperature change, as it begins as soon as the water temperatures regularly reach 50 degrees Fahrenheit. Female cutthroats can lay anywhere between 200-4,000 eggs a season, and after fertilization will hatch within a month into fry. Once they reach an age of 3-5 depending on subspecies the fish will begin doing migrations with others of their species to the same breeding grounds they were born in. The fish can live to reach as old as ten years of age, and survive through multiple breeding seasons, ushering in theoretically thousands of offspring in their life.

That's the westslope cutthroat trout, everybody! Have a wonderful day!

[fishsfailureson]

Les poissons 👍

[namu-the-orca]

SALMONIDS of ALASKA The bane of my existence for the entirety of 2020 and part of 2021: the salmon poster. You've seen the separate illustrations, but now, finally, here is the full thing.

This entire project was a journey. I had never illustrated fish before, let alone in this much detail. I have retained an appropriate hatred of scales and fin rays from this project. But also a persistent joy from having created these illustrations, and appreciation for what beautiful animals these salmon are. Putting together the poster, making all elements fit together and - not unimportantly - making the poster fit its allotted space on the wall was an additional endeavour.

It is currently displayed aboard the David B, the vessel of Northwest Navigation who commissioned this piece. If you're interested in having a copy of your own, you can contact them. For now I hope you enjoy reading this (if you open the image in a separate tab, I made it big enough to read) - and mayhaps learn something new about the intriguing world of salmon! I certainly did.

[sturgeonsalad]