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Atlantic salmon — printable fact sheet
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Atlantic salmon
Salmo salar
Atlantic salmon breaks the rule everyone learns from Pacific salmon: it does not have to die after spawning. A spent fish, called a kelt, can drop back to sea, feed, recondition and return to spawn again, and repeat spawners — usually large females — are disproportionately valua…
Did you know?
- Atlantic salmon undergo dramatic physical changes, called smoltification, to adapt from freshwater to saltwater environments.
- An Atlantic salmon can leap over 3 m to clear a waterfall, launching from the base of the plunge pool where upwelling water gives it extra lift. Farmed Atlantic salmon now outnumber wild ones by an enormous margin, and escapees interbreeding with wild fish are a major conservation problem because farmed genetics reduce wild fitness. Salmon stop feeding entirely once they enter fresh water to spawn, living off body reserves for months.
What I learned
Draw the atlantic salmon
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