Atlantic Salmon

Atlantic salmon

Oceanic trout species (Salmo salar), a highly prized game fish. It averages about 12 lbs (5.5 kg) and is marked with round or cross-shaped spots. Found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, it enters streams in the fall to spawn. The young enter the sea in about two years and mature in about four. Adults may return to the sea and, after a year or two, spawn again. The ouananiche of rivers and the sebago, or lake, salmon are landlocked subspecies that are also prized for sport. The Atlantic salmon has been successfully introduced into the U.S. Great Lakes.

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Atlantic salmon [ət¦lan·tik ′sa·mən]

(invertebrate zoology)

Salmo salar.A species of salmon that occurs throughout the North Atlantic Ocean and spawns in eastern North America and western Europe; it can complete more than one migratory cycle and thus can breed multiple times.

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Atlantic Salmon 

(Salmo salar), a migratory fish of the family Salmonidae. The Atlantic salmon reaches a length of 1.5 m and a weight of 39 kg. It inhabits the North Atlantic and the southwestern part of the Arctic Ocean. In the USSR the fish is present in the basins of the Barents, Kara, White, and Baltic seas. Sexual maturity is usually attained at five years of age. The fish spawns in rivers in the autumn and winter, depositing 6,000 to 26,000 roe. The large, orange roe are buried by the female under pebbles. In the river the fry feed on aquatic larvae, adult insects, and small fishes. In one to five years the salmon migrate to the sea, where they feed mainly on fishes. In lakes the Atlantic salmon is a resident form. The fish has great commercial value and is often raised on fish farms.