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ATLANTIC SALMON
Salmo salar M. and F. Ir. Bradan; Fr. Saumon; Ge. Lachs; Du. Zalm;
It. Salmone de reno; Sp. Salmon. In the salmon, the eye is intersected
by or is below a horizontal line through the tip of the snout. The
caudal peduncle or "wrist" of the tail narrows in and then
swells out again at the base of the tail-fin. Fresh-run salmon are
blue and silver. At spawning time, the females are dull leaden coloured;
the males, which develop a hook in the lower jaw, become mottled with
red and orange (and are sometimes mistaken for large brown trout).
Grows to 100 lb. in weight.
SEA TROUT
Salmo trutta M. and F. Ir. Breac geal; Fr. Truite de mer; Ge. Meerforelle;
Du. Forel. It. Trota di mare; Sp. Trucha. Eyes above the level of
a horizontal line through the tip of the snout. The "wrist"
of the tail does not narrow in and then expand again as distinctly
as in the salmon. Fresh-run sea trout are blue or green and silver
with small, x-shaped black spots. Fish which have been up in fresh
water for a long time may become dark and heavily spotted like brown
trout. Microscopic examination of the scales is sometimes necessary
to distinguish with certainty between salmon, sea trout and brown
trout (it reveals differences in age, growth and migration history).
SALMON PARR
Young salmon spend one to three years in fresh water before turning
silvery (becoming smolts) and migrating to the sea. The young pre-migration
salmon are known as parr and are sometimes mistaken for young brown
trout. |
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