Chinook Salmon
Return To Search
Name and Code Family Salmonidae - trouts and salmons Species Oncorhynchus tshawytscha Taxonomic Authority (Walbaum 1792) Common Name(s) Chinook Salmon French Name saumon chinook Species Code 075 Family TSN 161931 Parent TSN 161974 Species TSN 161980 Conservation Status Global Rank (GRank) G5 (2017-12-28) National Rank (NRank) N4N5B, N5N, N5M (2017-12-28) Provincial Rank (SRank) SNA (2011-05-06) COSEWIC Status none SARO Status none AFS Status none Status Notes none Ecological Value Ontario Origin introduced General Abundance common Tolerance intolerant Economic Importance sport fish Length-Weight Regression Coefficents Intercept (a) -4.82 Slope (b) 2.93 Length Basis FL				Habitat and Feeding General Habitat(s) lacustrine; marine1 Environment pelagic Trophic Class invertivore/carnivore Thermal Regime coldwater Habitat Preference mid-waters (15-60 m) in or below the thermocline; preferred water temperature range 12-16°C Reproduction Reproductive Guild Nonguarders: Brood hiders: Lithophils Spawning Habitat(s) riverine Spawning Season fall Spawning Month(s) September-October Spawning Temperature (°C) 5.5-14.5 Fecundity 2,250-13,619 Nursery Habitat(s) lacustrine; marine1 Size and Age Adult Length (cm) 50.8-88.9 FL Adult Weight (kg) 1.3-6.6 Age at Maturity (yrs) 4-5 Maximum Length (cm) 160 FL Maximum Weight (kg) 61.4 Lifespan (yrs) 4-5 Ontario Records Record Length (cm) 119.4 TL Record Weight (kg) 21.04				Ontario Range Map Ontario Distribution Great Lakes and tributaries (intentionally introduced), St. Lawrence River Photographs Notes (1) anadromous life-strategy within native range; indigenous to Pacific coast; adults semelparous; hybrids with Pink Salmon known as "pinook salmon"
Information Sources Bailey, R.M., W.C. Latta, and G.R. Smith. 2004. An atlas of Michigan fishes with keys and illustrations for their identification. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Miscellaneous Publications No. 192. iv + 215 pp. Barbour, M.T., J. Gerritsen, B.D. Snyder, and J.B. Stribling. 1999. Tolerance and trophic guilds of selected fish species. Appendix C in Rapid bioassessment protocols for use in streams and wadeable rivers: periphyton, benthic macroinvertebrates and fish, second edition. EPA 841-B-99-002. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Office of Water. Washington, DC. Becker, G.C. 1983. Fishes of Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin Press. Madison, WI. xii + 1052 pp. Behnke, R.J. 2002. Trout and salmon of North America. The Free Press. New York, NY. viii + 359 pp. Bernatchez, L. and M. Giroux. 2000. Les poissons d’eau douce du Québec et leur répartition dans l’Est du Canada. Broquet Inc. Saint-Constant, QC. 350 pp. Coad, B.W. with H. Waszczuk and I. Labignan. 1995. Encyclopedia of Canadian fishes. Museum of Nature and Canadian Sportfishing Productions. Ottawa and Waterdown, ON. viii + 928 pp. Coker, G.A., C.B. Portt, and C.K. Minns. 2001. Morphological and ecological characteristics of Canadian freshwater fishes. Can. MS Rpt. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2554: iv + 89 p. Cooper, E.L. 1983. Fishes of Pennsylvania and the northeastern United States. Pennsylvania State University Press. University Park and London. vii + 243 pp. Cudmore-Vokey, B. and E.J. Crossman. 2000. Checklists of the fish fauna of the Laurentian Great Lakes and their connecting channels. Can. MS Rpt. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2550: v + 39 p. Desroches, J-F. and I. Picard. 2013. Poissons d’eau douce du Québec et des Maritimes. Éditions Michel Quintin. Waterloo, QC. 471 pp. Ditz, K. and E. Holm. 2023. Ontario Fish Species Codes and Names. Ichthyology and Herpetology, Royal Ontario Museum. May 1994. Modified February 2023. Goldstein, R.M. and T.P. Simon. 1999. Toward a united definition of guild structure for feeding ecology of North American freshwater fishes. Pages 123-202 in T.P. Simon [Ed]. Assessing the sustainability and biological integrity of water resources using fish communities. CRC Press. Boca Raton, FL. xx + 671 pp. Goodyear, C.S., T.A. Edsall, D.M. Ormsby Dempsey, G.D. Moss, and P.E. Polanski. 1982. Atlas of the spawning and nursery areas of Great Lakes fishes. Volume thirteen: Reproductive characteristics of Great Lakes fishes. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Washington, DC. FWS/OBS-82/52. Hasnain, S.S, C.K. Minns, and B.J. Shuter. 2010. Key ecological temperature metrics for Canadian freshwater fishes. Climate change research report: CCRR-17. Applied Research and Development Branch, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. Sault Ste. Marie, ON. 54 pp. Holm, E., N. Mandrak, and M. Burridge. 2021. A field guide to freshwater fishes of Ontario, second edition. Royal Ontario Museum Science Publication. Toronto, ON. 486 pp. Hubbs, C.L. and K.F. Lagler. 1964. Fishes of the Great Lakes region. University of Michigan Press. Ann Arbor, MI. xv + 213 pp. Hubbs, C.L., K.F. Lagler, and G.R. Smith. 2004. Fishes of the Great Lakes region, revised edition. University of Michigan Press. Ann Arbor, MI. xvii + 276 pp. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). 2023. On-line database. http://www.itis.gov, retrieved 02 May 2023. Lane, P.A., C.B. Portt, and C.K. Minns. 1996. Nursery habitat characteristics of Great Lakes fishes. Can. MS Rpt. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2338: v + 42 p. Lane, P.A., C.B. Portt, and C.K. Minns. 1996. Adult habitat characteristics of Great Lakes fishes. Can. MS Rpt. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2358: v + 43 p. Lane, P.A., C.B. Portt, and C.K. Minns. 1996. Spawning habitat characteristics of Great Lakes fishes. Can. MS Rpt. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2368: v + 48 p. Lee, D.S., C.R. Gilbert, C.H. Hocutt, R.E. Jenkins, D.E. McAllister, and J.R. Stauffer, Jr. 1980. Atlas of North American freshwater fishes. North Carolina State Museum of Natural History Publication 1980-12. Raleigh, NC. x + 867 pp. MacKay, H.H. 1963. Fishes of Ontario. Ontario Department of Lands and Forests. The Bryant Press Limited. Toronto, ON. 300 pp. Mandrak, N.E. and E.J. Crossman. 1992. A checklist of Ontario freshwater fishes annotated with distribution maps. Royal Ontario Museum Life Sciences Miscellaneous Publication. Toronto, ON. v + 176 pp. McPhail, J.D. 2007. The freshwater fishes of British Columbia. The University of Alberta Press. Edmonton, AB. lxxiv + 620 pp. McPhail, J.D. and C.C. Lindsey. 1970. Freshwater fishes of northwestern Canada and Alaska. Bull. Fish. Res. Board Can. 173. Ottawa, ON. 381 pp. Mecklenburg, C.W., T.A. Mecklenburg, and L.K. Thorsteinson. 2002. Fishes of Alaska. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland. xxxvii + 1037 pp. NatureServe. 2023. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer [web application]. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available https://explorer.natureserve.org/ (Accessed: February 2, 2023). Ontario Federation of Anglers & Hunters (OFAH). 2022. OFAH Ontario record fish registry. https://www.ofah.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/OFAH_RecFish_Nov22.pdf. November 14, 2022. Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr. 2011. Peterson field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico, second edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Boston, MA. xix + 663 pp. Page, L.M., K.E. Bemis, T.E. Dowling, H.S. Espinosa-Pérez, L.T. Findley, C.R. Gilbert, K.E. Hartel, R.N. Lea, N.E. Mandrak, M.A. Neighbors, J.J. Schmitter-Soto, and H.J. Walker Jr. 2023. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. 8th Edition. American Fisheries Society, Spec. Publ. 37. Bethesda, MD. 439 pp. Phillips, G.L., W.D. Schmid, and J.C. Underhill. 1982. Fishes of the Minnesota region. University of Minnesota Press. Minneapolis, MN. x + 248 pp. Portt, C.B., G. Coker, and C.K. Minns. 1999. Riverine Habitat Characteristics of Fishes of the Great Lakes Watershed. Can. MS Rpt. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2481: vi + 62 p. Scott, W.B. 1967. Freshwater fishes of eastern Canada, second edition. University of Toronto Press. Toronto, ON. xii + 137 pp. Scott, W.B. and E.J. Crossman. 1973. Freshwater fishes of Canada. Bull. Fish. Res. Board Can. 184. [1998 Reprint] Galt House Publications Ltd. Oakville, ON. xx + 966 pp. Scott, W.B. and M.G. Scott. 1988. Atlantic fishes of Canada. Can. Bull. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 219. University of Toronto Press. Toronto, ON. xxx + 731 pp. Scharpf, C. 2006. Annotated checklist of North American freshwater fishes, including subspecies and undescribed forms. Part II: Catostomidae through Mugilidae. American Currents 32(4):1-39. Simon, T.P. 1999. Assessment of Balon's reproductive guilds with application to midwestern North American freshwater fishes. Pages 97-122 in T.P. Simon [Ed]. Assessing the sustainability and biological integrity of water resources using fish communities. CRC Press. Boca Raton, FL. xx + 671 pp. Smith, C.L. 1985. The inland fishes of New York State. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Albany, NY. xi + 522 pp. Smith, P.W. 2002. The fishes of Illinois. University of Illinois Press. Urbana and Chicago, IL. xxix + 314 pp. Stauffer, Jr., J.R., R.W. Criswell and D.P. Fischer. 2016. The fishes of Pennsylvania. Cichlid Press. El Paso, TX. 556 pp. Trautman, M.B. 1981. The fishes of Ohio with illustrated keys, revised edition. Ohio State University Press. Columbus, OH. xxv + 782 pp. Werner, R.G. 2004. Freshwater fishes of the northeastern United States: a field guide. Syracuse University Press. Syracuse, NY. xiv + 335 pp. Wismer, D.A. and A.E. Christie. 1987. Temperature relationships of Great Lakes fishes: a data compilation. Great Lakes Fish. Comm. Spec. Pub. 87-3. 195 pp.