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Evidence for Pheromone-influenced Homing by Migrating Atlantic Salmon, Salmo salar (L.)

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Abstract

THERE have been many observations on the homing of adult salmonids to the river, and even part of river, of their birth and numerous attempts to elucidate the navigational cues used to locate and identify the freshwater home. In 1880, Buckland1 suggested that each river had a characteristic smell, and that olfaction played an important part in home-stream recognition. Homing by olfaction has since been demonstrated conclusively in Pacific salmon of the genus Oncorhynchus2–6, and neurophysiological evidence for the role of olfaction presented by Kara et al.7. Evidence is presented here which indicates that the homing of adult Atlantic salmon may be largely dependent on the presence of other individuals in the river.

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SOLOMON, D. Evidence for Pheromone-influenced Homing by Migrating Atlantic Salmon, Salmo salar (L.). Nature 244, 231–232 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1038/244231a0

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