Fishionary

A blog about fish words!

By Abigail Lynch

A blog about fish words!

Sockeye Salmon

Kype

Posted by abby on January 7, 2022

This Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) displays a spawning kype (photo credit: Ron Harris).

Not to be confused with the popular internet phone/video chat platform of a similar name, kypes are hook like structure that develops on the jaw of some male salmonids during the spawning season.  Though Skype for salmon is still far fetched, this secondary sex characteristic does, in fact, have a role in communicating sexual fitness.

Research suggests that kype size has been linked to spawning frequency, via mate choice (that is, female salmon find a hooked jaw desirable) and competition on spawning grounds (namely, battles between males where the winner gets to pass on his genes).  For repeat spawners with an iteroparous reproductive strategy, the elongated jaw is reabsorbed after the spawning season ends.

Posted in: K | Tagged: iteroparous, Pacific Salmon, salmon, Sockeye Salmon, spawning

Phenology

Posted by abby on March 24, 2017

Phenological events triggers Sockeye Salmon migrations (photo credit: USFWS).

Phenology is the study of seasonal or periodic cycles in ecosystems.  It is, essentially, “nature’s calendar.” For fish, phenology is often linked to timing of important life events such as spawning, migrations, and hatching.  These events are triggered by non-biological factors like day length, temperature, and precipitation.  If the timing of the main “cue” shifts, the alteration can have significant implications for the fish populations that have evolved to optimize the timing of their life events with that factor.

Many fall–spawning Pacific Salmon populations (Oncorhynchus spp.), for example, are beginning their freshwater migrations earlier than in the past (e.g. Kovach et al. 2015).  This consistent trend across species and populations strongly suggests that a shared environmental driver (i.e., climate change) is responsible.  Unfortunately, these altered behaviors can be maladaptive – Cooke et al. (2004) found that increased pre-spawn mortality rates – sometimes in excess of 90% – for several stocks of Fraser River sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka).

 

References

Cooke, S.J., Hinch, S.G., Farrell, A.P., F., L.M., Jones, S.R.M., Macdonald, J.S., Patterson, D.A., Healey, M.C., Van Der Kraak, G., 2004. Abnormal Migration Timing and High en route Mortality of Sockeye Salmon in the Fraser River, British Columbia. Fisheries 29, 22–33. doi:10.1577/1548-8446(2004)29

Kovach, R.P., Ellison, S.C., Pyare, S., Tallmon, D.A., 2015. Temporal patterns in adult salmon migration timing across southeast Alaska. Glob. Chang. Biol. 21, 1821–1833. doi:10.1111/gcb.12829

Posted in: P | Tagged: climate change, migration, Pacific Salmon, phenology, seasons, Sockeye Salmon, spawing

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