Page 348 - (DK) Ocean - The Definitive Visual Guide

346 ANIMAL LIFE

ORDER SALMONIFORMES
Atlantic Salmon

Salmo salar
LENGTH Up to 5 ft
(1.5 m)
WEIGHT Up to 100 lb
(45 kg)
DEPTH Mostly surface
waters
DISTRIBUTION Temperate and cold waters of north
Atlantic and adjacent rivers

While most marine fish would
quickly die in fresh water, the Atlantic
salmon can move easily between river
and sea. Fish with this ability are
called anadromous. Designed for
long-distance swimming, this fish
has a powerful, streamlined body
and a large tail. During their
spawning runs, Atlantic salmon swim
against strong river currents and leap
up waterfalls to reach their spawning
grounds. Before spawning, the salmon
roam the north Atlantic for several
years feeding on other fish. The
Atlantic salmon is highly prized
as a game fish, but wild salmon are
becoming increasingly rare.
HUMAN IMPACT
SALMON FARMING
Floating fish farms rearing
Atlantic salmon are common in
Scottish sea lochs and Norwegian
fiords. Salmon fry from freshwater
hatcheries are later moved to
submerged nets in saltwater farms.
Environmental concerns focus on
fish lice, which spread from the
farms and infect wild fish, and on
chemicals used to treat farmed fish.

Arctic char are adapted for life in
ORDER SALMONIFORMES ORDER SALMONIFORMES ORDER STOMIIFORMES
cold, oxygen-rich water and cannot
Coho Salmon Arctic Char tolerate warm or polluted water. Sloane’s Viperfish
There are two physiological races:
Oncorhynchus kisutch Salvelinus alpinus a migratory form that lives in the sea Chauliodus sloani
LENGTH Up to 3 ft (1 m) LENGTH Up to 3 ft (1 m) but spawns in rivers, and a land-locked LENGTH Up to 14 in
lake form. Migratory char grow to at (35 cm)
WEIGHT Up to 33 lb WEIGHT Up to 33 lb
(15 kg) (15 kg) least 3 ft (1 m) long and are regarded as WEIGHT Up to 1 oz (30 g)
excellent game fish. Shortly after the
DEPTH 0–820 ft DEPTH 0–230 ft DEPTH 1,600–6,000 ft
(0–250 m) (0–70 m) last ice age, they ranged much farther (475–1,800 m)
south but are now restricted to Arctic
DISTRIBUTION Temperate and cold waters of north DISTRIBUTION Arctic Ocean and northern freshwater waters. The char that live in mountain DISTRIBUTION Tropical and temperate waters
Pacific and adjacent rivers rivers and lakes lakes are relicts of this period. worldwide
Like most other salmon, the coho Deep-water fish are some of the most
salmon is a fast, streamlined predator bizarre of all fish, and Sloane’s viperfish
with excellent eyesight for spotting its is no exception. At one end of its
prey. This makes it a challenging game slender body it has a large head with
fish for anglers. When ready to breed, huge, barbed teeth, while at the other
mature fish find their way from the it has a tiny forked tail. Rows of
ocean back to the same river in which photophores run along the sides and
they were born. While swimming belly and light the fish up like a
upstream, they develop bright red night-flying airplane. During the day,
OCEAN LIFE at the river’s head, the females dig a more abundant. The single dorsal fin,
sides and a green head and back.
it stays in deep water, but at night it
migrates upward to feed where prey is
When they reach the shallow waters
just behind the head, has a very long
nest, which is called a redd, in the
gravel of the riverbed and lay their
first ray that can be arched over the
head and may help entice prey within
sticky eggs while the male fertilizes
reach. Sloane’s viperfish spawns
them. After spawning, the adults die
throughout the year. It is one of nine
and their bodies provide a feast for
species of viperfish, all deep-living.
scavenging bears and other animals.