Physiological Changes during Seaward Migration of Wild Juvenile Coho Salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)

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Abstract
Peaks in migration of wild juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) from Knowles Creek (Siuslaw River, Oregon) occurred in November and May. Condition factor of nonmigrant fish was higher than migrants or captives throughout the study. Skin guanine levels of migrant fish rose sharply during the first 2 wk of April and continued to rise through June. Gill (Na + K)-ATPase specific activity of migrants rose gradually from a low in January to a maximum in June. Gill (Na + K)-ATPase activity of migrants and nonmigrants was low and not significantly different during November to mid-March. During April, however, gill ATPase activity of migrants rose to become significantly higher than that of nonmigrants until the first 2 wk of May. Cyclic changes in gill (Na + K)-ATPase activity was not observed in these fish. Gill (Na + K)-ATPase activity of fish reared in a laboratory was similar to that of wild nonmigrants until it peaked during the last 2 wk of April, after which the specific activity was lower than either migrants or nonmigrants.