Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The origin of the salmonid fishes: marine, freshwater... or neither?

  • Published:
Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The evolutionary origins of the salmonidfishes, whether in freshwater or the sea, havebeen debated for centuries. Early viewsfavoured a group of marine ancestry invadingfreshwaters; more recently, there was a shifttowards a freshwater ancestry, on grounds thata return to freshwater to spawn indicates theancestral biome. Salmonids are widely believedto share an ancient common ancestry with thenorthern hemisphere Osmeridae and southernhemisphere Retropinnidae and Galaxiidae. Salmonidae are diadromous, as are Osmeridae,Retropinnidae and Galaxiidae. This suggeststhat diadromy is an ancient behavioralphenomenon across all these groups, that theshared common ancestry of these groups was alsodiadromous, and that the ancestry of Salmonidaewas neither marine nor freshwater, but wasamongst diadromous fishes. This begs thequestion of whether this common ancestor wasmarine or freshwater, a question for which ananswer seems likely to be elusive.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Balon, E.K. (1968) Notes to the origin and evolution of trouts and salmons with special reference to the Danubian trouts. Vést. Cesk. Spol. Zool. (Act. Soc. Zool. Bohem.) 32, 1–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Balon, E.K. (1980) Early ontogeny of the lake charr, Salvelinus (Cristivomer) namaycush. In: Balon, E.K. (ed.), Charrs, Salmonid Fishes of the Genus Salvelinus. Dr W. Junk, The Hague, pp. 485–562.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boulenger, G.A. (1917) Sur l'origine marine du genre Salmo. Compt. Rend. l'Acad. Sci., Paris 164, 1041–1044.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buckland, F. (1873) Familiar History of British Fishes. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London. 420 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cavender, T.M. and Miller, R.R. (1972) Smilodonichthys rastrosus — a new Pliocene salmonid fish. Bull. Mus. Nat. Hist. Univ. Oregon 18, 1–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clemens, W.A. (1953) On some fundamental problems in the biology of Pacific salmons. Trans. Roy. Soc. Can. 47 (Ser. III, Sec. 5), 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Day, F. (1887) British and Irish Salmonidae. Williams and Norgate, London. 298 pp.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • de Queiroz, A. and Wimberger, P.H. (1993) The usefulness of behaviour for phylogeny estimation: Levels of homoplasy in behavioural and morphological characters. Evolution 47, 46–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dobson, F.S. (1985) The use of phylogeny in behaviour and ecology. Evolution 39, 1384–1388.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fink, W.L. and Weitzman, S.H. (1982) Relationships of stomiiform fishes (Teleostei), with a description of Diplophos. Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool., Harv. Univ. 150, 31–93.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fleming, J. (1828) A History of British Animals. Edinburgh and London. 565 pp.

  • Foerster, R.E. (1968) The sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka. Bull. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 162, 1–422.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foote, C.J., Mayer, I., Wood, C.C., Clarke, W.C. and Blackburn, J. (1994) On the developmental pathway to nonanadromy in sockeye salmon, Oncorhynchus nerka. Can. J. Zool. 72, 397–405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fyhn, H.J., Fin, R.N., Reith, M. and Norberg, B. (1999) Yolk protein hydrolysis and oocyte free amino acids as key features in the adaptive evolution of teleost fishes to seawater. Sarsia 84, 451–456.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gould, S.J. (1983) What, if anything else, is a zebra. Nat. Hist. (New York) 90(7), 6–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenwood, P.H. (1993) Review of: Systematics, historical ecology and North American freshwater fishes. In: Mayden, R.L. (ed.), Rev. Fish Biol. Fish. 3, 373–375.

  • Günther, A. (1866) Catalogue of Fishes in the British Museum 6, 373–375.

    Google Scholar 

  • Healey, M.C., Henderson, M.A. and Burgetz, I. (2000) Precocial maturation of male sockeye salmon in the Fraser River, British Columbia, and its relationship to growth and year-class strength. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 57, 2248–2257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heard, W.R. (1991) Life history of pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha). In: Groot, C. and Margolis, L. (eds.), Pacific Salmon Life Histories. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, pp. 119–230.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hennig, W. (1966) Phylogenetic Systematics. University of Illinois, Urbana, 263 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, G.D. and Patterson, C. (1996) Relationships of lower euteleostean fishes. In: Stiassny, M.L.J. Parenti, L.R. and Johnson, G.D. (eds.), Interrelationships of Fishes (2nd ed.). Academic, New York, pp. 251–332.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Jonsson, B. and Jonsson, N. (1993) Partial migration: niche shift versus sexual maturation in fishes. Rev. Fish Biol. Fish. 3, 348–365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoar, W.S. (1976) Smolt transformation: evolution, behaviour and physiology. J. Fish. Res. Bd. Can. 33, 1233–1252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McAllister, D.E. (1963) A revision of the smelt family Osmeridae. Nat. Mus. Can. Bull. 191, 1–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCormick, S.D. and Saunders, R.L. (1987) Preparatory physiological adaptations for marine life of salmonids: osmoregulation, growth and metabolism. Am. Fish. Soc. Symp. 1, 211–229.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDowall, R.M. (1969) Relationships of galaxioid fishes, with a further discussion of salmoniform classification. Copeia 1969, 796–824.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDowall, R.M. (1988) Diadromy in Fishes: Migrations between Freshwater and Marine Environments. Croom Helm, London, 308 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDowall, R.M. (1990) New Zealand Freshwater Fishes: A Natural history and Guide. Heinemann Reed, Auckland, 553 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDowall, R.M. (1993) A recent marine ancestry for diadromous fishes? Sometimes yes, but mostly no. Environ. Biol. Fish. 37, 329–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDowall, R.M. (1994) Gamekeepers for the Nation: the Story of New Zealand's Acclimatisation Societies, 1861–1990. Canterbury University, Christchurch, 508 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • McDowall, R.M. (1997) The evolution of diadromy in fishes (revisited) and its place in phylogenetic analysis. Rev. Fish Biol. Fish. 7, 443–462.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDowall, R.M. (1999) Different kinds of diadromy: different conservation problems. ICES J. Mar. Sci. 56, 410–413.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDowall, R.M. (2001) Anadromy and homing: two life history traits with adaptive synergies in salmonid fishes. Fish Fish. 2, 78–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLennan, D.A., Brooks, D.R. and McPhail, J.D. (1988) The benefits of communication between comparative ethology and phylogenetic systematics: a case study using gasterosteid fishes. Can. J. Zool. 66, 2177–2190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayr, E. (1982) The Growth of Biological Thought. Belknap, Cambridge, 974 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meek, A. (1916) The Migrations of Fishes. Arnold, London, 437 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Myers, G.S. (1949) Usage of anadromous, catadromous and allied terms for migratory fishes. Copeia 1949, 89–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neave, F. (1958) The origin and speciation of Oncorhynchus. Trans. Roy. Soc. Can. 52 (ser 3), 25–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, J.S. (1994) Fishes of the World (3rd ed.). Wiley, New York, 600 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nolan, C. (1993) The history of Falkland Islands trout. The Warrah: Newsl. Falklands Cons. 4, 3 pp.

  • Nordeng, H. (1983) Solution to the ‘char problem’ based on Artic char (Salvelinus alpinus) in Norway. J. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 40, 1372–1387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Northcote, T.G. (1992) Migration and residency in stream salmonids — some ecological considerations and evolutionary consequences. Nord. J. Freshw. Res. 67, 5–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parnell, R. (183) The natural and economical history of the fishes of the river district of the Firth of Forth. Mem. Wernerian Nat. Hist. Soc. 7, 161–460, 515–520.

  • Pennant, T. (1776) Fishes. In: The British Zoology vol. 4. March, for Cymmrodorian Society, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paterson, A.M., Wallis, G.P. and Gray, R.D. (1995) Penguins, petrels, and parsimony: Does cladistic analysis of behaviour reflect reabird phylogeny? Evolution 49, 974–989.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Regan, C.T. (1911) The Freshwater Fishes of the British Isles. Methuen, London, 287 pp.

  • Regan, C.T. (1914) The systematic arrangement of the fishes of the family Salmonidae. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 13 (ser 8), 405–408.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosen, D.E. (1974) Phylogeny and zoogeography of salmoniform fishes and relationships of Lepidogalaxias salamandroides. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 153, 265–326.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rounsefell, G.A. (1958) Anadromy in North American Salmonidae. Fish. Bull. U.S. Fish Wildl. Serv. 62, 171–185.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saunders, R.L., Henderson, E.B. and Glebe, B.D. (1982) Precocious sexual maturation and smoltification in male Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Aquaculture 28, 211–229.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Silverstein, J.T. and Hershberger, W.K. (1992) Precocious maturation in coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch): estimation of additive genetic variance. J. Hered. 83, 282–286.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stearley, R.L. (1992) Historical ecology of Salmoninae, with special reference to Oncorhynchus. In: Mayden, R.L. (ed.), Systematics, Historical Ecology and North American Freshwater Fishes. Stanford University Press, Stanford, pp. 622–758.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stearley, R.F. and Smith, G.R. (1993) Phylogeny of the Pacific trouts and salmons (Oncorhynchus) and genera of the family Salmonidae. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 122, 1–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tchernavin, V. (1939) The origin of salmon: Is its ancestry marine or fresh water? Salm. Trout Mag. 95, 120–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorpe, J.E. (1982) Migration in salmonids with special reference to juvenile movements in fresh water. In: Brannon, E.S. and Salo, E.O. (eds.), Proceedings of the Salmon and Trout Migratory Behaviour Symposium. School of Fisheries, University of Washington, Seattle, pp. 86–97.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorpe, J.E. (1987) Smolting versus residency: developmental conflicts in salmonids. Am. Fish. Soc. Symp. 1, 224–252.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thorpe, J.E. (1988) Salmon migration. Sci. Progr. Oxford 72, 345–370.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vladykov, V.D. (1963) A review of the salmonoid genera and their broad geographical distribution. Trans. R. Soc. Can. 1, 459–505.

    Google Scholar 

  • Unwin, M.J., Kinnison, M.T. and Quinn, T.P. (1999) Exceptions to semelparity: Postmaturation survival, morphology and energetics of male chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 56, 1172–1181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wood, C.C. and Foote, C.J. (1996) Evidence for sympatric divergence of anadromous and non-anadromous morphs of sockeye salmon (Oncorchynchus nerka). Evolution 50, 1265–1279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, PO Box 8602, Christchurch, New Zealand

    R.M. McDowall

Authors
  1. R.M. McDowall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McDowall, R. The origin of the salmonid fishes: marine, freshwater... or neither?. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 11, 171–179 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020370328194

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020370328194

Search

Navigation