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The Life Cycle of the Salmon

There are a number of stages in a salmon's life cycle: egg, alevin, fry, smolt, ocean phase and spawning stage. All Pacific salmon share this same basic life cycle, but differ in the details: some species spend longer sea; some, migrate thousands of kilometres up river to spawn, while others do not migrate far upstream.

Roll your mouse over the image to learn more about the different life stages of the salmon!

Smolts: Smolts are young salmon that are undergoing changes to allow them to adapt to salt water after having lived in fresh water for all their young lives. They reach up to 12 centimetres long and have a silvery coating that helps protect them as they adapt to salt water. Alevins: Alevins stay hidden in their gravel nests for a month after hatching, hiding from predators including other fish, herons, ducks and insects. These tiny fish, only 2.5 to 3.5 centimetres long, have huge eyes and an egg-yolk sac that contains food. Fry: Pink and chum salmon fry swim down to the sea to live in estuaries, where the rivers meet the sea. Other types of salmon live for up to two years in the streams or lake near where they hatched before migrating to the ocean. To survive, all salmon fry must find food and avoid being eaten. The fry of most species have dark black marks, called parr marks, on their sides that camouflage them. These marks help them hide from predators. Ocean Phase: Once at sea, salmon migrate to the North Pacific. During their ocean phase, the streamlined salmon are always on the move and swim thousands of kilometres each year. While in the ocean, salmon form large schools for protection. There is safety in numbers! The salmon in these large schools feed on plankton, crab, shrimp, squid and small fish. Spawning: After one to seven years, depending on the type of salmon, the adults begin the journey back to their native streams. Chemical cues in the water, called pheromones, allow salmon to "smell" their way home to the streams of their birth. These migrating fish stop eating before they enter fresh water and never eat again. They rely on stored body fats and protein for their energy. The hormones of the salmon change as they enter the freshwater rivers and streams, causing physical alterations in the fish. Eggs: Female salmon lay their eggs in the gravel redds (nest of eggs). To hatch, the eggs require the right temperature, water purity and water flow. Incubation usually lasts close to 100 days. After incubating through the fall and winter, the surviving eggs hatch between January and March.

 

 

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Vancouver Aquarium Salmon Tales: a Natural Living Heritage