Wildlife
Atlantic salmon are truly magnificent fish. They ooze power and strength as they make the spectacular leaps up raging rivers to their spawning grounds. They are accomplished navigators too, able to return to the exact spot they were born from thousands of miles away. Unlike their Pacific cousins, many Atlantic salmon survive the spawning season and return to the sea, possibly repeating the arduous migration three times in a lifetime. Out at sea, they stay in the surface waters, venturing no deeper than 10 metres down. Their diet consists of other fish, squid and shrimp.
Scientific name: Salmo salar
Rank: Species
In order to see this content you need to have an up-to-date version of Flash installed and Javascript turned on.
Slow motion salmon
Spectacular views of salmon as they leap up waterfalls in a Scottish river.
Spectacular views of salmon as they leap up waterfalls in a Scottish river.
Speyside salmon spawning
Atlantic slamon return to the rivers of their birth to spawn.
Atlantic slamon return to the rivers of their birth to spawn.
Swimming with salmon
Presenter Charlie Hamilton-James swims with wild salmon.
Presenter Charlie Hamilton-James swims with wild salmon.
Quality not quantity
Atlantic salmon are facing an uncertain future.
Atlantic salmon are facing an uncertain future.
Revitalised river
The Tyne clean up has made way for a thriving salmon population.
The Tyne clean up has made way for a thriving salmon population.
The Atlantic salmon can be found in a number of locations including: Europe, North America, United Kingdom, Wales. Find out more about these places and what else lives there.
The following habitats are found across the Atlantic salmon distribution range. Find out more about these environments, what it takes to live there and what else inhabits them.
Discover what these behaviours are and how different plants and animals use them.
Additional data source: Animal Diversity Web
Least Concern
Year assessed: 1996
Classified by: IUCN 2.3
The Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, is a species of fish in the family Salmonidae, which is found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and in rivers that flow into the north Atlantic and (due to human introduction) the north Pacific.
It is also commercially known as bay salmon, black salmon, caplin-scull salmon, fiddler, grilse, grilt, kelt, landlocked salmon, ouananiche, outside salmon, parr, Sebago salmon, silver salmon, slink, smolt, spring salmon or winnish.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the user-contributed encyclopedia. If you find the content in the 'About' section factually incorrect, defamatory or highly offensive you can edit this article at Wikipedia. For more information on our use of Wikipedia please read our FAQ.
Take a trip through the natural world with our themed collections of video clips from the natural history archive.
Nature: Behind the Scenes
The BBC has been producing ground-breaking wildlife programmes from across the globe for over 50 years.
Wild autumn
Autumn - a time of great change, of breathtaking migrations, of high drama.
BBC © 2012 The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read more.
This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.
Estuaries
Lakes and ponds
Shallow seas
Rivers and streams
Migration
Adapted to swimming
Carnivorous
Tactile sense
Metamorphosis
Egg layer
Active at birth
Chemical communication
Spawning
Swarming
Visual communication
Nomadic