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I was surprised to read that male salmon (at least Atlantic salmon) are referred to as cocks and the females as hens.
Another surprising thing to read was that these salmon can live many years, top record being a 64-pound salmon. This reading completely debunked my understanding of salmon. I thought (before reading the article) that all salmon, once mature, returned inland to leave their progeny and then to die. I had no idea that any kind of salmon returned after mating season to the ocean. The article was specifically about Atlantic 'sea' salmon.
Edit: Other online articles confirm what I'd believed that the salmon die after spawning. But now I'm wondering why the information in what I read last night was contradictory...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear WW: I never heard the cock-hen terminology. My father every spring went fishing for
land-locked salmon in lakes in Maine, that never go to sea at all. I wonder how they determine
the age of a fish.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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The site I read from last night, wwh, must have been filled with errors. You really have to be careful on the Internet. Since reading what I read last night, I've now come across another site that records a salmon weight of over 100 pounds.
Now, if these salmon spawn and die, then they sure are putting on a lot of weight (i.e., 100-pound record) before spawning. I've got to look into this much more.
Lots of salmon terminology--parr, very young salmon with nine bars that are part of their fresh water camouflage. The bars disappear, according to what I read on two sites, before the two- to four-year-old salmon go to sea.
There are literally hundreds of thousands of salmon websites.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Hey...here's something: "Atlantic Salmon: The true salmon, the largest members of the salmon family, are characterized by tasty flesh that is often orange-red. The common salmon of the North Atlantic Ocean is Salmo salar (most other fishes in the genus Salmo are called trout). Atlantic salmon sent to market average about 7 kg (about 15 lb) in weight, but specimens weighing more than 45 kg (more than 100 lb) have been caught. The Atlantic salmon migrates to cold, fresh water in late spring or early summer, swimming upstr eam at an average rate of up to 6.4 km (4 mi) per day. Because salmon can jump as much as 3.7 m (12 ft) out of water, they clear most obstacles in their path. The female lays as many as 20,000 eggs in October or November, after which time the adult salmon float downstream and return to the sea. " http://cnet.windsor.ns.ca/Environment/Advocates/Anim/salmon.html
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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parr, very young salmon with nine bars that are part of their fresh water camouflage
I recall a book for boys dealing with a group of lads learning how to cope in an English countryside community. Fishing was one topic, but this was fly fishing. It seems that salmon parr are frequently mistaken for trout by the inexperienced but, whereas catching trout was fine, catching young salmon was definitely not the done thing. Unfortunately one of the lads fell into this trap and became very unpopular until he redeemed himself in some way or other.
I wonder if this distinction is still made. There is quite a small number of salmon caught with rod and line in British rivers today; 13,700 in 1997.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Aha!! From the same site I posted above:
Unlike the various species of Pacific salmon, the Atlantic salmon does not die after its first spawning but returns year after year to its breeding place. The newly hatched young, which is known as a parr or a brandling because of the dark transverse m arkings on its sides, remains in fresh water for about two years. At this time, the young, which is known as a smolt and which has become silvery in color, descends to the sea. Upon the first return of the Atlantic salmon to its spawning ground, the fish is known as a grilse. After spawning, it is known as a kelt. Adult males traveling toward the spawning grounds are known as dog salmon. \
Now ain't that somethin'! It's the Atlantic salmon that doesn't die spawning, but specifically the Pacific salmon. I'm assuming here that there are many species of each, but will read a bit more.
Very, very interesting, don't you agree?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Dear WW: I just remembered that scales on fish grow at different rates durring
in summer vs. winter, giving something like annular tree rings.
"How We Age Fish
The choice of an age determination method for a given species involves deciding on an appropriate
aging structure (scales, otoliths, vertebrae, spines, etc.) and processing method (impressions, thin
sections, etc.) for that structure. The next step is validation, in which the marks used to age fish are
verified to occur once per year and at approximately the same time each year. Common validation
techniques include direct methods such as tag/recapture studies, including marking with chemicals
such as oxytetracycline, calcein, and others; and indirect techniques such as back-calculation,
marginal increment analysis, edge progression analysis, length frequency-year class progression
analysis, radiometric/isotope analysis, elemental analysis, and others.
To age a fish, an age reader must identify the annual growth marks (annuli) on the structure chosen.
In temperate waters, fish growth is fast during the summer months when water temperatures are
warm, and slow during the cold winter months. A year of growth is defined as one summer zone plus
one winter zone. These zones are identified on scales as areas of wide (summer) and narrow (winter)
circulus spacing. On otoliths, these zones are identified as alternating opaque and translucent bands
when viewed microscopically. "
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Fascinating, wwh.
And I have learned today that the operculum, a word we discussed here on AWAD with respect to the cover-like membrane on the pitcher plant, is also the gill cover on the salmonids. I love having a new word expand in applications or, in the case of the operculum, cover two areas (plant and fish).
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Carpal Tunnel
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Mmmmm...so, then, you can have cocks lox! 
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Fox in Socks shocks cocks lox in crocks.
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