sockeye salmon (redirected from Oncorhynchus nerka)

sockeye salmon

 or red salmon

Male sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in spawning phase

(credit: Jeff Foott—Bruce Coleman Inc.)

Food fish (Oncorhynchus nerka) of the North Pacific that constitutes almost 20% of the commercial fishery of Pacific salmon. It weighs about 6 lbs (3 kg) and lacks distinct spots on the body. It ranges from the northern Bering Sea to Japan and from Alaska to California. Sockeyes may migrate more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) upriver to spawn in lakes or tributary streams. The young remain in freshwater one to five years. The kokanee is a small, nonmigratory, freshwater subspecies.

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sockeye salmon [‚säk‚ī ′sam·ən]

(vertebrate zoology)

The speciesOncorhynchus nerka, which is generally smaller and is uniquely adapted to rearing in interior lakes rather than streams or rivers. Also known as red salmon.