Author: Joel

Salmon Anatomy
External Anatomy: Fill in the boxes.
How do you tell a male salmon from a female salmon?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Internal Anatomy:

12

Salmon Watch Notes
Student’s Full Name: _______________________________
Teacher’s Name___________________________________
Science Period: _____________ Date : _________________

Salmon Life Cycle

Adults change form.

Fish enter rivers and head for spawning areas.

In the fall, spawning salmon deposit eggs in gravel nests and die.

Normal Life Cycle

Grow to maturity in Pacific Ocean in 1 - 2 years.

Alevin hatch in the spring.

Grow as smolt
(4 - 6 in) and
enter the ocean.

Then become fry and grow in the stream for 1 - 2 years.

Fingerlings migrate downstream to the estuaries.

1

Map of River Features
Where would salmon spawn? (mark with an x)
Where would juvenile salmon live? (mark with a circle)
Where would salmon go to survive hot summer and cold winter temperatures? (mark with a triangle)

Tillamook County Salmon (continued…)
Coho (Silver)
Black spots on back
Black spots on upper lobe of tail
Sliver streaks on tail
Wide caudal peduncle
Mouth is light with a white gum line
Vital Statistic Examples
27 inches, 11 lbs, gray mouth with white gums. Caught in shallow water.
20 inches, 6 lbs, gray mouth with white gums. Caught in slower moving stream with small gravels.
Pink (Humpy)
Large oval spots on both lobes of tail
Large oval on back above lateral line
Very small scales
No silver on tail
Mouth is white with a black gum line
Vital Statistic Examples
1. 18 inches, 5 lbs, you caught your fish down by the coast.
2. 15 inches, 4.5 lbs, your fish has a reddish cast to it.
Chum (Dog)
Calico markings (vertical bars) faint on bright fish
No spots on tail or back
Grey streaks on tail
Mouth is white with a white gum line
Vital Statistic Examples
24 inches, 7.5 lbs, you caught your fish where water was flowing fast and there was medium sized gravel in the stream.
30 inches, 10 lbs, your fish is greenish blue with white tips on its pelvic and anal fins.
Sockeye (Red)
Green head
No spots on tail or back
No streak on tail
Mouth is white with a white gum line
Vital Statistic Examples
21 inches, 8 lbs, your fish is very red.
18 inches, 5 lbs, you caught this fish very close to a lake.

2

11

Water Quality (continued…)

What happens to temperature as turbidity increases? _______________________________________________

River Continuum

Tillamook County Salmon
Chinook (King)
Spots on both lobes of tail
Large spots on back
Mouth is dark with a black gum line
Vital Statistic Examples
36 inches, 28 lbs, this is a husky looking fish. You caught this one in a very large stream.
42 inches, 43 lbs, a monster!! You pull out a scale and count the rings... it is 7 years old!

10

3

Hydrology Presentation
How do you get a 4th order stream? _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
How many valley systems required for a 4th order stream?______________________________________________________________________________________________
What stream order is the Trask River? _____________
Fill out the following chart:
Calculate the velocity of the Trask River.
Describe the behavior of the wooden blocks at the different locations.
________________________________________________________

4

Water Quality

Why do streams have more oxygen than lakes? ______________________________________________________________________________________________
Which has more oxygen warm or cold water? (circle one)

Does the pH get more acidic or basic upstream? (circle)
Salmon spawn when the water becomes more _________?

Test	Individual Results	Group Average
Oxygen
% Hydrogen (pH)

9

Macro-invertebrates
Macro-invertebrates form the food chain that drives life in aquatic systems. They are classified by the type of food they eat and how they eat it.
Fill out the chart describing feeding behaviors
What are the EPT species? _______________________________________________
What do EPT species tell us about water quality? ______________________________________________________________________________________________
Fill out the chart from the data your group collects.
Total number of EPT______ Total number of macro’s________
% of EPT (Total EPT/Total Macro’s)*100 = ___________

Identity	Shredders	Gathering Collectors	Filtering Collectors	Grazers/ Scrapers	Predators
Mayflies
Caddisflies
Stoneflies
Scuds
Beetles
True Bug
Dragonfly
Other
Total

Salmon Redds and Pebble Counts
Fill in the Blanks:
Salmon choose to breed in low gradient streams with gravels. They dig nests called _______. The female deposits eggs called __________ and the male fertilizes the eggs with sperm also known as __________. The right size of gravels will allow water currents to flow around the eggs supplying ____________ and removing _______________. Salmon like gravels around ______mm in size. We can predict areas of a river salmon will spawn in by measuring the gravels using a procedure called a pebble count.
Fill out the following table using tally marks

Soil Particle	Particle Class	Size (mm)	Tally Number	Total Number	Cumulative Sum
Silt/Clay	Silt / Clay	<0.062
Sand	Sand	0.062-2.0
Gravel	Very Fine	2-4
	Fine	4-6
	Fine+	6 – 8
	Medium	8 – 12
	Medium+	12 – 16
	Coarse	16 – 24
	Coarse+	24 – 32
	Very Coarse	32 - 48
	Very Coarse +	48 - 64
Cobble	Small	64 - 96
	Medium	96 – 128
	Large	128 – 192
	Large+	192 - 256
Boulder	Small	256 – 384
	Medium	384 - 512

8

5

Riparian Diagrams

Upland

Upland

Riparian

Riparian

Bankfull

Thalweg

Define riparian: ______________________________________________________________________________________
_______% of animals visit riparian areas daily?

6

Riparian Zones
Riparian vegetation provides cover for aquatic and terrestrial animals. Shade from these plants moderates water and air temperatures. This vegetation limits water contamination, slows water velocities, and filters and collects large amounts of sediment and debris. Uncontrolled sediments can kill fish and destroy spawning areas.
List 3 human impacts on riparian zones.
1 - _______________________________________________
2 - _______________________________________________
3 - _______________________________________________
Fill in the table
Record the number of plants in each category on a 42m transect.

Types	2m	12m	22m	32m	42m	Percent, Interval__
Conifer Canopy
Deciduous Canopy
Understory
Shrub
Herb
Grasses
Total

7

Characteristic	Low Order Stream	High Order Stream
Slope
Substrate
Velocity
Width
Shade
Temperature
Feeding Groups Macro’s

Trial number	Distance	Time	Velocity (d/t)
Left Edge
Thalweg
Right Edge
Average

Feeding Behavior	Type of Food	Example
Shredder
Gathering Collector
Filtering Collector
Grazer / Scraper
Predator

Component	Function
Tree Roots
Upright Trees
Fallen Leaves
Fallen Trees - DWD
Herbs
Grasses
Shrubs