chinook salmon

Chinook salmon

or chinook salmonn. A large salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) native to northern Pacific waters and stocked in the Great Lakes, characterized by irregular black spots on the back and tail fin. Also called king salmon, quinnat salmon.

Chinook salmon

n (Animals) a Pacific salmon, Oncorhynchus tschawytscha, valued as a food fish. Also called: quinnat salmon or king salmon

chinook′ salm′on

n. a large salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, of the N Pacific Ocean. Also called king salmon. [1850–55, Amer.]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	chinook salmon - pink or white flesh of large Pacific salmonking salmon, chinookOncorhynchus tshawytscha, quinnat salmon, chinook salmon, king salmon, chinook - large Pacific salmon valued as food; adults die after spawningsalmon - flesh of any of various marine or freshwater fish of the family Salmonidae
	2.	chinook salmon - large Pacific salmon valued as food; adults die after spawningOncorhynchus tshawytscha, quinnat salmon, king salmon, chinooksalmon - any of various large food and game fishes of northern waters; usually migrate from salt to fresh water to spawngenus Oncorhynchus, Oncorhynchus - Pacific salmon including sockeye salmon; chinook salmon; chum salmon; coho salmonchinook salmon, king salmon, chinook - pink or white flesh of large Pacific salmon

Chinook salmon

a Pacific salmon, Oncorhynchus tschawytscha, valued as a food fish

Chinook Salmon

(Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), also king salmon or black salmon, a fish of the genus Oncorhynchus, comprising the Pacific salmon. The Chinook salmon differs from other salmon in the large number of gill rays, which number 15 to 19. The back is covered by tiny, roundish black spots, as are the dorsal and caudal fins. The Chinook salmon is the largest of all the Pacific salmon. The body length of the representatives caught off Kamchatka averages 90 cm, and the weight 8–10 kg; some have been known to weigh more than 50 kg. The Chinook salmon is distributed in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, inhabiting areas along the coast of North America, from Alaska to California, and areas along the coast of Asia, from the Anadyr’ River to Amur Bay.

The Chinook salmon attains sexual maturity at three to seven years of age. It spawns in July and August on the Kamchatka Peninsula; in the rivers of North America it also spawns in the autumn and winter. The fish enter the rivers in the spring, swimming far upstream. Fecundity is 4,200 to 20,000 eggs, which are large, nearly the size of the eggs of the chum salmon (O. keta). The fry live in rivers from the age of three or four months to one to two years of age.

A very valuable commercial fish, the Chinook salmon is bred and acclimatized.

REFERENCES

Nikol’skii, G. V. Chastnaia ikhtiologiia, 3rd ed. Moscow, 1971.
Zhizn’ zhivotnykh, vol. 4, part 1. Moscow, 1971.
Smirnov, A. I. Biologiia, razmnozhenie i razvitie tikhookeanskikh lososei. Moscow, 1975.

A. I. SMIRNOV

chinook salmon

[shə¦nu̇ ′sa·mən] (vertebrate zoology) Oncorhynchus tshawytscha. The Pacific's largest salmon, possibly exceeding 46 kilograms (100 pounds) at maturity, often spawns in tributaries located a considerable distance from the ocean. Also known as king salmon.

chinook salmon

Related to chinook salmon: chum salmon

noun

Synonyms for chinook salmon

noun pink or white flesh of large Pacific salmon

Synonyms

king salmon
chinook

Related Words

Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
quinnat salmon
chinook salmon
king salmon
chinook
salmon

noun large Pacific salmon valued as food

Synonyms

Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
quinnat salmon
king salmon
chinook

Related Words

salmon
genus Oncorhynchus
Oncorhynchus
chinook salmon
king salmon
chinook