Flesh Color Variation in Chinook Salmon ('Oncorhynchus tshawytscha') at Little Port Walter, Southeastern Alaska

摘要

Flesh, skin, and egg colors of maturing chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) originally transplanted from the Unuk River were examined as the fish returned in 1983 and 1984 to their release site at Little Port Walter in southeastern Alaska. Most fish aged 3-6 years had pale red flesh at sampling, but the proportion with white flesh increase in both years as the return progressed. Flesh color intensity declined during the late stages of maturation in males, but not females, in both years. The mean survival rate (from fertilization to eyed egg) of progeny of red-fleshed females was greater than that of progeny of white-fleshed females in 1983, but mean survival rates were similar in 1984. Parental flesh color determined flesh color proportions in progeny fed carotenoid supplements in a manner consistent with a two-gene model of inheritance recently proposed by Withler.