Sockeye Salmon

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.

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Sockeye Salmon 

(Oncorhynchus nerka), also red salmon or blueback salmon, a migratory or freshwater fish of the genus of Pacific salmon. It is characterized by numerous gill rakers (28–40) and its bright red coloration during reproduction. The sockeye salmon is 55–60 cm long and weighs 2.2–3 kg. It enters the rivers of Kamchatka from May through late July. It spawns from late summer until midwinter near sources of groundwater, most often in lakes and near springs. The sockeye salmon buries its roe in gravelly bottoms. The fry live in lakes a year or longer and feed predominantly on plankton. In the sea, sockeye salmon feed on invertebrates and small fish. The flesh and roe are valuable.