Salmon

Salmon

Salmon
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 6 to 8
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	6.59

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		adipose, alevins, anadromous, char, fleshy, grayling, grilse, masu, parr, redd, riverbed, silver-sided, smolts, sockeye, whitefish, dorsal
	content words:		Pacific Oceans, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean

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Other Languages
Spanish: El Salmón

Salmon

¹     Salmon (also known as "salmons" in plural) are amazing! During the breeding season from late spring to summer, they swim against the current, traveling upstream to where they were hatched several years ago. The journey is full of danger. Just as salmon are zigzagging their way upriver, they need to be mindful of hungry predators like grizzly bears -- a wrong move means the end of their lives!

²     Salmon are closely related to trout, char, grayling, and whitefish. They prefer living in colder regions of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Of the seven different species of salmon, there is only one dwelling in the Atlantic Ocean. That species is called the Atlantic salmon. The other six salmon species are all residents of the Pacific Ocean. Though they are collectively known as the Pacific salmon, each of them has its own name. The six species of the Pacific salmon are the king (or spring, Chinook) salmon, the sockeye (or red) salmon, the Coho (or silver) salmon, the Chum (or dog) salmon, the pink (or humpback) salmon, and the cherry (or masu) salmon.

³     The Atlantic salmon and the Pacific salmon look alike. They both possess fleshy adipose fins between their dorsal fins and tails. They both have silver-sided bodies when they are not breeding. And, they both turn brightly colored when they are breeding. The two types even behave alike. They both dine on small fish, crustaceans (such as shrimps), and insects. They both are "anadromous." That is, they both travel from the sea to their freshwater birthplaces to spawn or reproduce.

Paragraphs 4 to 7:
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