Glossary
A
- alevin
- - young salmon shortly after hatching that still have the yolk sac attached
- anadromous
- - (Greek for "running upward") fish that are born in fresh water, move to salt water to feed, and return to fresh water to spawn
B
- barges
- - flat boats used for hauling
C
- camouflage
- - the ability to hide or blend into the environment
- catadromous
- - fish that are born in salt water, move to fresh water to feed, and return to salt water to spawn
- commercial
- - related to earning money
D
- depression
- - deeper spot in the stream bottom
- diadromous
- - fish that can live in fresh and salt water, at different times in their lives
- downstream
- - moving in the direction of water flow
- drought
- - a period of low rainfall
E
- extinction
- - none of a species lives any more
F
- fry
- - stage of a salmon's life between alevin and smolt - about 1 and a quarter inches long
G
- genetics
- - the science of passing traits from one generation to the next - from parent to child
H
- hatcheries
- - a place for hatching eggs
- homing
- - the behavior of returning home to the place in the stream where hatching took place
L
- lateral
- - along the side of the fish about midway between the dorsal fin and the pelvic fin
M
- migrate (migration)
- - to move from one habitat or region to another seasonally
O
- olfactory receptors
- - the nerves of a body that respond to smells
- onchorhynchus
- - scientific name for salmon and related fish
- opercula
- - part of a body that functions as a lid or covering - parts of the gill
P
- parr marks
- - stripes on the sides of a young salmon fry
- predation
- - the act of being a predator
- predator
- - an animal that hunts for its food
R
- redd
- - the nests dug in the gravel by female salmon
- reservoir
- - a man-made lake for water storage behind a dam
S
- scales
- - the outer layer of a fish's body - small overlapping plate-like structures
- school
- - the group name for a collection of fish
- sediment
- - a collection of dirt and organic matter that settles to the bottom of bodies of water
- smolt
- - salmon of a certain size (generally 4-7 inches) as they begin seaward migration and smoltification
- smoltification
- - process of changes that young salmon undergo when they get ready to live in salt water
- spawn (spawning)
- - to release eggs or the process of releasing eggs
T
- turbine
- - part of a dam responsible for creating electricity, a spinning machine
U
- upstream
- - in the opposite direction of water flow
V
- vertebrate
- - animals with backbones
Z
- zooplankton
- - one celled animals
