Pink salmon

Oncorhynchus gorbuscha

This fish is steel-blue to blue-green in colour when found in its natural marine habitats, with black spots on its back and extreme upper sides. During spawning, the males change in both colour and morphology, developing a distinctive hooked snout, enlarged teeth, and a large hump in front of the dorsal fin. In planted fresh water populations the degree of change is less, and the non-spawning colours are muted. Attempts to introduce the species into Hudson Bay failed, but in the 1950s a small population was established in Lake Superior. Stocks have also been planted in Newfoundland, some of which have spread to Labrador, Nova Scotia and Quebec.