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E.R. Keeley

Oncorhynchus kisutch   (Walbaum 1792)

Common Name: coho salmon

Synonyms and Other Names: (silver salmon).

Taxonomy: available through

Identification:

Moyle (1976a); Scott and Crossman (1973); Wydoski and Whitney (1979); Morrow (1980); Eschmeyer et al. (1983); Page and Burr (1991). Dark dorsal side, bluish to greenish. Sides grayish or whitish with dark spots towards dorsal side. Faint horizontal darker stripe near where spots end. Spawning males and females take on a pinkish to reddish tone along their usually bland sides.

Size: 98 cm.

Native Range:

Arctic and Pacific drainages from Point Hope, Alaska, to Monterey Bay, California, infrequently as far south as Chamalu Bay, Baja California. Also in northeastern Asia (Page and Burr 1991).

Interactive maps: Continental US, Hawaii, Puerto Rico

Nonindigenous Occurrences:

Coho have been stocked outside their native range into many lakes in Alaska (Morrow 1980); the Colorado River in Arizona (Minckley 1973; Rinne 1995); the Salton Sea and reservoirs in the Sacramento drainage in California (Walker et al. 1961; Moyle 1976a; Moyle and Daniels 1982); Lake Granby in the Colorado headwaters, Blue Mesa Reservoir on the Gunnison River, and Navajo Reservoir on the San Juan River, Colorado (Everhart and Seaman 1971; Tyus et al. 1982; Wiltzius 1985); all drainages of Connecticut (Whitworth 1996); Delaware Bay, Delaware (Raasch and Altemus 1991); the Snake River, Cascade Reservoir, Salmon River, and Coeur d'Alene Lake in Idaho (Idaho Fish and Game 1990, 1997); Lake Michigan, Illinois (Parsons 1973; Smith 1979; Burr 1991); Lake Michigan and Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana (Nelson and Gerking 1968; Parsons 1973; Simon et al. 1992; Tilmant 1999); West Lake Okoboji in the Little Sioux system in Iowa (Harlan et al. 1987); the Ohio River in Kentucky (Burr and Page 1986; Burr and Warren 1986); numerous rivers in Maine (Kendall 1914a; Stolte 1974; Everhart 1976; Schmidt 1986); the coastal waters of Maryland (Morrow 1980); the North River, and Merrimack drainage in Massachusetts (Stolte 1974; Schmidt 1986; Raasch and Altemus 1991; Hartel 1992; Hartel et al. 1996); the Great Lakes surrounding Michigan and their tributaries and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, and Isle Royale National Park (Parsons 1973; Eddy and Underhill 1974; Phillips et al. 1982; Emery 1985; Tilmant 1999; Cudmore-Vokey and Crossman 2000); Lake Superior and tributaries and Grand Portage National Monument in Minnesota (Parsons 1973; Eddy and Underhill 1974; Phillips et al. 1982; Tilmant 1999); many lakes in Montana, including Deadman (Red Rock system), Flathead, Browns (Blackfoot system), Bean (upper Missouri drainage), Fort Peck, Cooney (Clarks Fork drainage), and Georgetown (Flint-Rock system) (Brown 1971; Cross et al. 1986; Holton 1990); Merrit Reservoir in the Snake drainage, and Lake McConaughy in the North Platte drainage Nebraska (Morris et al. 1974; Nebraska Game and Parks Commission); the Colorado River and Lake Mead in Nevada (Miller and Alcorn 1946; Deacon and Williams 1984; Insider Viewpoint 2001; Vinyard 2001); inland lakes and coastal New Hampshire (Hoover 1936; Scarola 1973; Stolte 1974; Schmidt 1986; Raasch and Altemus 1991); Navajo Reservoir, and Heron, Maloya, Eagle Nest, and Bluewater lakes, in the Canadian, upper Rio Grande, and upper San Juan drainages in New Mexico (Tyus et al. 1982; Sublette et al. 1990); Lake Ontario and tributaries New York (Parsons 1973; Smith 1985; Hocutt et al. 1986; Craine 2002); unspecified areas in North Dakota (Cross et al. 1986; North Dakota Game and Fish Department 1994, 1997); Lake Erie and the Ohio and Scioto rivers in Ohio (Trautman 1981; Emery 1985; Burr and Page 1986; Burr and Warren 1986); unspecified inland lakes in nonnative areas in Oregon (Bond 1973, 1994; Morrow 1980) specifically established in Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuge (USFWS 2005); tributaries of the Delaware River, Harvey's Lake, Luzurne County, and Elk Creek in Pennsylvania (Parsons 1973; Denoncourt et al. 1975a; Cooper 1983; Hocutt et al. 1986; Raasch and Altemus 1991; Anonymous 2000); unspecified areas in South Dakota (Cross et al. 1986; North Dakota Game and Fish Department 1994); Inks Lake in the Middle Colorado drainage in Texas (Howells 1992a); Watauga Reservoir, Tennessee (Etnier and Starnes 1993); Smith Mountain Lake and Philpott Reservoir in Virginia (Jenkins and Burkhead 1994); unspecified areas in Utah (Sigler and Miller 1963; Sigler and Sigler 1996); nonnative areas of Washington (Morrow 1980); non-specific locations in West Virginia (Cincotta, personal communication); Riley Lake in Chippewa County, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Stormy and Pallette lakes in Vilas County and lakes Superior and Michigan in Wisconsin (Parsons 1973; Becker 1983; Tilmant 1999); and McDonald Reservoir, Deep Lakes, Christina Lake, and a few other lakes in Wyoming (Baxter and Simon 1970).

Means of Introduction:

Introductions of coho salmon as sport fish began as early as the 1920s. The coho was introduced into the Great Lakes to control the alewife population (Eddy and Underhill 1974). The first stocking in the Great Lakes was in Lake Erie in 1933 by the Ohio Division of Conservation (Parsons 1973). The first large planting in the Great Lakes occurred in 1966 in Lakes Michigan and Superior. The species had been stocked in all the Great Lakes by 1970 (Parsons 1973). A total of 16 million fish had been stocked in the Great Lakes between 1966 and 1970 (Parsons 1973). Fish intentionally stocked into coastal New Hampshire in the late 1960s dispersed to Maine and Massachusetts (Stolte 1974). It was introduced into the Colorado River in 1967 (Rinne 1995). Colorado first began stocking cohos in the early 1900s (Everhart and Seaman 1971). Originally, the stock used for Colorado came from Oregon; more recently stock from Lake Michigan has been used (Everhart and Seaman 1971). Introduced into Connecticut since the late 1800s (Whitworth 1996). Most attempts to establish populations failed; therefore, stocking was discontinued.

Status:

Some reproduction reported in Lake Erie, Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Manistee River in Michigan, coastal waters of New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts, Salmon River in New York, and Colorado River in Arizona. Stockings in Tennessee failed. Rinne (1994) lists coho salmon as not established in the Colorado River in Arizona. The first evidence of reproduction in the Great Lakes came in 1968 from tributaries of Lakes Michigan and Superior (Parsons 1973). There are no known established populations in Connecticut (Whitworth 1996) or Delaware (Raasch and Altemus 1991).

Impact of Introduction:

Coho salmon compete with native lake trout Salvelinus namaycush (Page and Laird 1993). Fausch and White (1986) found that coho salmon may compete with brook trout S. fontinalis and brown trout Salmo trutta for food and space in the Great Lakes if resources become scarce. Coho have an advantage over brook and brown trout because of an earlier emergence and a larger size at emergence (Fausch and White 1986).

Remarks:

Coho salmon have not been stocked in Oklahoma (Pigg, personal communication). Parsons (1973) gave detailed stocking information for the Great Lakes.
Voucher specimens: Montana (USNM 104701).

References

Anonymous. 2000. Northwestern PA. waters. Jame's Northeastern Fishing Guide.

Baxter, G. T., and J. R. Simon. 1970. Wyoming fishes. Wyoming Game and Fish Department Bulletin 4, Cheyenne, WY. 168 pp.

Becker, G. C. 1983. Fishes of Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, WI.

Bond, C. E. 1973. Keys to Oregon freshwater fishes. Oregon State University Agriculture Experimental Station Technical Bulletin 58:1-42, revised.

Bond, C.E. 1994. Keys to Oregon freshwater fishes. Oregon State University Bookstores, Inc., Corvallis. 58:1-42, revised.

Burr, B. M. 1991. The fishes of Illinois: an overview of a dynamic fauna. Proceedings of our living heritage symposium. Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin 34(4):417-427.

Burr, B. M., and L. M. Page. 1986. Zoogeography of fishes of the lower Ohio-upper Mississippi basin. Pages 287-324 in C. H. Hocutt, and E. O. Wiley, editors. The Zoogeography of North American Freshwater Fishes. John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY.

Burr, B. M., and M. L. Warren, Jr. 1986. A distributional atlas of Kentucky fishes. Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission Scientific and Technical Series 4. 398 pp.

Cincotta, D. - West Virginia Department of Natural Resources, Annapolis.

Cooper, E. L. 1983. Fishes of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, PA.

Cross, F. B., R. L. Mayden, and J. D. Stewart. 1986. Fishes in the western Mississippi drainage. Pages 363-412 in C. H. Hocutt, and E. O. Wiley, editors. The Zoogeography of North American Freshwater Fishes. John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY.

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. 2500: v + 39p.

Deacon, J. E., and J. E. Williams. 1984. Annotated list of the fishes of Nevada. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 97(1):103-118.

Denoncourt, R. F., T. B. Robbins, and R. Hesser. 1975a. Recent introductions and reintroductions to the Pennsylvania fish fauna of the Susquehanna River drainage above Conowingo Dam. Proceedings of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science 49:57-58.

Eddy, S., and J. C. Underhill. 1974. Northern fishes, with special reference to the Upper Mississippi Valley, 3rd edition. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN.

Emery, L. 1985. Review of fish introduced into the Great Lakes, 1819-1974. Great Lakes Fishery Commission Technical Report, volume 45. 31 pp.

Eschmeyer, W. N., E. S. Herald, and H. Hamann. 1983. A field guide to Pacific Coast fishes of North America. Peterson Field Guide Series. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, MA.

Etnier, D. A., and W. C. Starnes. 1993. The fishes of Tennessee. University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, TN.

Everhart, W. H., and W. R. Seaman. 1971. Fishes of Colorado. Colorado Game, Fish and Parks Division, Denver, CO. 75 pp.

Everhart, W. H. 1976. Fishes of Maine. Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. Augusta, ME. 96 pp.

Fausch, K. D., and R. J. White. 1986. Competition among juveniles of coho salmon, brook trout, and brown trout in a laboratory stream, and implications for Great Lakes tributaries. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 115(3):363-381.

Harlan, J. R., E. B. Speaker, and J. Mayhew. 1987. Iowa fish and fishing. Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Des Moines, IA. 323 pp.

Hartel, K. E. 1992. Non-native fishes known from Massachusetts freshwaters. Occasional Reports of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, Fish Department, Cambridge, MA. 2. September. pp. 1-9.

Hartel, K. E., D. B. Halliwell, and A. E. Launer. 1996. An annotated working list of the inland fishes of Massachusetts, University of Massachusetts, Cambridge, MA (Available from http://www.mcz.harvard.edu/fish/ma_fam.htm. Page accessed March 5, 1998).

Hocutt, C. H., R. E. Jenkins, and J.R. Stauffer, Jr. 1986. Zoogeography of the fishes of the central Appalachians and central Atlantic Coastal Plain. Pages 161-212 in C. H. Hocutt, and E. O. Wiley, editors. The Zoogeography of North American Freshwater Fishes. John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY.

Hoover, E. E. 1936. Preliminary biological survey of some New Hampshire lakes. New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. Survey Report No. 1. Concord, NH.

Howells, R. G. 1992a. Annotated list of introduced non-native fishes, mollusks, crustaceans and aquatic plants in Texas waters. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Management Data Series 78, Austin, TX. 19 pp.

Idaho Fish and Game. 1990. Fisheries Management Plan 1991-1995. Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

Idaho Fish and Game. 1997. Official list of Idaho record fish (as of November 15, 1996). (Available from http://www.state.id.us/fishgame/fishrecs.htm. Page accessed June 26, 1997).

Insider Viewpoint. 2001. Fishing Records – Nevada. Insider Viewpoint Magazine. 3 pp.

Jenkins, R. E., and N. M. Burkhead. 1994. Freshwater fishes of Virginia. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, MD.

Kendall, W. C. 1914. An annotated catalogue of the fishes of Maine. Proceedings of the Portland Society of Natural History 3:1-198.

Kendall, W. C. 1914. The Fishes of New England. The Salmon Family. Part I - the trout or charrs. Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural History 8(1). 103 pp + plates.

Miller, R. R., and J. R. Alcorn. 1946. The introduced fishes of Nevada, with a history of their introduction. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 73:173-193.

Minckley, W. L. 1973. Fishes of Arizona. Arizona Fish and Game Department. Sims Printing Company, Inc., Phoenix, AZ.

Morris, J., L. Morris, and L. Witt. 1974. The fishes of Nebraska. Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Lincoln, NE. 98 pp.

Morrow, J. E. 1980. The freshwater fishes of Alaska. Alaska Northwest Publishing Company, Anchorage, AK.

Moyle, P. B. 1976a. Inland fishes of California. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.

Moyle, P. B., and R. A. Daniels. 1982. Fishes of the Pit River System, McCloud River System, and Surprise Valley Region. University of California Publications, Zoology 115:1-82.

Nelson, J. S., and S. D. Gerking. 1968. Annotated key to the fishes of Indiana. Project 342-303-815. Department of Zoology, Indiana Aquatic Research Unit, Indiana State University, Bloomington, IN.

North Dakota Fish and Game. 1994. Fishes of the Dakotas. Brochure. North Dakota Game and Fish Department, Bismark, ND.

Page, L. M., and B. M. Burr. 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. The Peterson Field Guide Series, volume 42. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA.

Page, L. M., and C. A. Laird. 1993. The identification of the nonnative fishes inhabiting Illinois waters. Report prepared by Center for Biodiversity, Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, for Illinois Department of Conservation, Springfield. Center for Biodiversity Technical Report 1993(4). 39 pp.

Parsons, J. W. 1973. History of salmon in the Great Lakes, 1850-1970. U.S. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife Technical Paper 68. 80 pp.

Phillips, G. L., W. D. Schmid, J. C. Underhill. 1982. Fishes of the Minnesota region. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN.

Pigg, J. - State of Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, Oklahoma City.

Raasch, M. S., and V. L. Altemus, Sr. 1991. Delaware's freshwater and brackish water fishes - a popular account. Delaware State College for the Study of Del-Mar-Va Habitats and the Society of Natural History of Delaware. 166 pp.

Rinne, J. N. 1995. The effects of introduced fishes on native fishes: Arizona, southwestern United States. Pages 149-159 in D. P. Philipp, J. M. Epifanio, J. E. Marsden, and J. E. Claussen, editors. Protection of Aquatic Biodiversity. Proceedings of the World Fisheries Congress, Theme 3. Science Publishers Inc., Lebanon, NH.

Scarola, J. F. 1973. Freshwater fishes of New Hampshire. New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, Division of Inland and Marine Fisheries. 131 pp.

Schmidt, R. E. 1986. Zoogeography of the Northern Appalachians. Pages 137-160 in C. H. Hocutt, and E. O. Wiley, editors. The Zoogeography of North American Freshwater Fishes. John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY.

Scott, W. B., and E. J. Crossman. 1973. Freshwater Fishes of Canada. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Bulletin 184. Ottawa. 966 pp.

Sigler, W. F., and R. R. Miller. 1963. Fishes of Utah. Utah Department of Fish and Game, Salt Lake City, UT. 203 pp.

Sigler, W. F., and J. W. Sigler. 1996. Fishes of Utah. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, UT. 375 pp.

Simon, T. P., J. O. Whitaker, Jr., J. S. Castrale, and S. A. Minton. 1992. Checklist of the vertebrates of Indiana. Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science 101:95-126.

Smith, P. W. 1979. The fishes of Illinois. University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL.

Smith, C. L. 1985. The inland fishes of New York state. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Albany, NY. 522 pp.

Stolte, L. W. 1974. Introduction of coho salmon into the coastal waters of New Hampshire. Progressive Fish-Culturist 36(1):29-32.

Sublette, J. E., M. D. Hatch, and M. Sublette. 1990. The fishes of New Mexico. New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM. 393 pp.

Tilmant, J.T. 1999. Management of nonindigenous aquatic fish in the U.S. National Park System. National Park Service. 50 pp.

Trautman, M. B. 1981. The fishes of Ohio. Ohio State University Press, Columbus, OH.

Tyus, H. M., B. D. Burdick, R. A. Valdez, C. M. Haynes, T. A. Lytle, and C. R. Berry. 1982. Fishes of the upper Colorado River basin: distribution, abundance, and status. Pages 12-70 in W. H. Miller, H. M. Tyus, and C. A. Carlson, editors. Fishes of the upper Colorado River system: present and future, Western Division, American Fisheries Society.

Walker, B. W., R. R. Whitney, and G. W. Barlow. 1961. Fishes of the Salton Sea. Pages 77-92 in B. W. Walker, editor. The ecology of the Salton Sea, California, in relation to the sport fishery of California. Fish Bulletin of the California Department of Fish and Game 113.

Wiltzius, W. J. 1985. Fish culture and stocking in Colorado, 1872-1978. Division Report 12. Colorado Division of Wildlife.

Whitworth, W. R. 1996. Freshwater Fishes of Connecticut. State Geological and Natural History Survey of Connecticut, Bulletin 114.

Wydoski, R. S., and R. R. Whitney. 1979. Inland fishes of Washington. University of Washington Press, Seattle, WA.

Other Resources:

Fish Base - Oncorhynchus kisutch, species summary

Distribution in Illinois - ILNHS

Fishes of Wisconsin (Becker)

Great Lakes Water Life Photo Gallery

Author: Pam Fuller

Contributing Agencies:
NOAA - GLERL

Revision Date: 4/20/2006

Citation for this information:
Pam Fuller. 2009. Oncorhynchus kisutch. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL.
<http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.asp?speciesID=908> Revision Date: 4/20/2006

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