Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousands of kilometres. Fish usually migrate to feed or to reproduce, but in other cases the reasons are unclear.
The Osmeriformes are an order of ray-finned fish that includes the true or freshwater smelts and allies, such as the galaxiids and noodlefishes; they are also collectively called osmeriforms. They belong to the teleost superorder Protacanthopterygii, which also includes pike and salmon, among others. The order's name means "smelt-shaped", from Osmerus + the standard fish order suffix "-formes". It ultimately derives from Ancient Greek osmé + Latin forma, the former in reference to the characteristic aroma of the flesh of Osmerus.
The Liparidae, commonly known as snailfish or sea snails, are a family of scorpaeniform marine fishes.
Oncorhynchus masou, known as the masu salmon, masu, or the cherry hybrid salmon, is a species of salmon found in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean along East Asia, ranging from the Kamchatka, Kuril Islands, Sakhalin, and Primorsky Krai south through Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. A number of subspecies are known, including the anadromous, widespread masu Oncorhynchus masou masou, the critically endangered, landlocked Taiwanese or Formosan salmon Oncorhynchus masou formosanus found in certain freshwater systems of Taiwan, the Biwa trout endemic of Lake Biwa, and the anadromous or stream-dwelling amago Oncorhynchus masou macrostomus restricted to western Japan.
Alosa is a genus of fish, the river herrings, in the family Clupeidae. Along with other genera in the subfamily Alosinae, they are generally known as shads. They are distinct from other herrings by having a deeper body and spawning in rivers. Several species can be found on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Also, several taxa occur in the brackish-water Caspian Sea and the Black Sea basin. Many are found in fresh water during spawning and some are only found in landlocked fresh water.
The Arctic char or Arctic charr is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes and arctic and subarctic coastal waters. Its distribution is Circumpolar North. It spawns in fresh water and populations can be lacustrine, riverine, or anadromous, where they return from the ocean to their fresh water birth rivers to spawn. No other freshwater fish is found as far north; it is, for instance, the only fish species in Lake Hazen on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic. It is one of the rarest fish species in Britain and Ireland, found mainly in deep, cold, glacial lakes, and is at risk from acidification. In other parts of its range, such as the Nordic countries, it is much more common, and is fished extensively. In Siberia, it is known as golets and it has been introduced in lakes where it sometimes threatens less hardy endemic species, such as the small-mouth char and the long-finned char in Elgygytgyn Lake.
The coho salmon is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers". The scientific species name is based on the Russian common name kizhuch (кижуч).
Oncorhynchus is a genus of fish in the family Salmonidae; it contains the Pacific salmon and Pacific trout. The name of the genus is derived from the Greek ὄγκος + ῥύγχος, in reference to the hooked jaws of males in the mating season.
Icefishes or noodlefishes are a family, the Salangidae, of small osmeriform fish, related to the smelts. They are found in Eastern Asia, ranging from the Russian Far East in the north to Vietnam in the south, with the highest species richness in China. Some species are widespread and common, but others have relatively small ranges and are threatened. Depending on species, they inhabit coastal marine, brackish or fresh water habitats, and some are anadromous, only visiting fresh water to spawn.
The common bully, or toitoi (Māori), is a fish endemic to New Zealand, and is present throughout the country. There are three other bully species that can be confused with common bullies. There are few characteristics of the common bully that separate it from other species. Vertical lines present on the cheek are a good defining characteristic, along with the location of head pores and scale patterns on the head although these are hard to establish when seen in the wild. It is an amphidromous fish meaning it is able to survive in marine and fresh water environments. It is a small fish only growing as big as 15 cm. It can live in marine, fresh water or brackish water habitats and generally lives in benthic zones. Some populations venture into the sea and occur in coastal rivers and streams while other land-locked populations have established in many shallow mainland lakes. They generally prefer moderate to slow moving water which means they are the most likely bully species to be sighted. Its diet consists mainly of small benthic invertebrates but also involves insect larvae and crustacea.
The hickory shad is a member of the herring family Clupeidae, ranging along the East Coast of the United States from Florida to the Gulf of Maine. It is an anadromous fish species, meaning that it spawns in freshwater portions of rivers, but spends most of its life at sea. It is subject to fishing, both historic and current, but it is often confused with or simply grouped together with catch statistics for American shad.
The allis shad is a widespread Northeast Atlantic species of fish in the herring family, Clupeidae. It is an anadromous fish which migrates into fresh water to spawn. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, the western Baltic Sea and the western Mediterranean Sea. In appearance it resembles an Atlantic herring but has a distinctive dark spot behind the gill cover and sometimes a row of up to six spots behind this. It sometimes hybridises with the twait shad. This fish becomes mature when three or more years old and migrates to estuaries, later swimming up rivers to spawn. Populations of this fish have declined due to overfishing, pollution and habitat destruction. Conservation of this species is covered by Appendix III of the Bern Convention and Appendix II and V of the European Community Habitats Directive.
The twait shad or twaite shad is a species of fish in the family Clupeidae. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea and is an anadromous fish which lives in the sea but migrates into fresh water to spawn. In appearance it resembles an Atlantic herring but has a row of six to ten distinctive spots on its silvery flanks. They become mature when three or more years old and migrate to estuaries, later swimming up rivers to spawn. Populations of this fish have declined due to overfishing, pollution and habitat destruction. Conservation of this species is covered by Appendix III of the Bern Convention and Appendix II and V of the European Community Habitats Directive.
The ariakehimeshirauo, Neosalanx reganius, is a species of icefish in the family Salangidae endemic to Japan. It is only known from Midori and Chikugo Rivers in Kyushu. Its maximum total length is 63 mm (2.5 in), and has a lifespan of about one year. It seems to be relatively rare in its limited habitat, and is classified as an endangered species by IUCN.
Neosalanx is a genus of icefishes native to Eastern Asia, ranging from Korea, through Japan and China, to Vietnam. They inhabit coastal marine waters, estuaries and river basins. There are both species that are threatened and species that are widespread.
Neosalanx tangkahkeii, the Chinese icefish or short-snout icefish, is a species of icefish endemic to fresh and brackish waters in China. Despite its common name it is not the only icefish in China; the majority of the species in this family are found in the country.
Hemisalanx brachyrostralis is a species of icefish endemic to the Yangtze basin, China. It is the only known species in the genus Hemisalanx, after Hemisalanx prognathus was moved to genus Salanx. In a study of the five freshwater icefish species in the Yangtze, it was a relatively low-density species, being much less frequent than Neosalanx taihuensis and N. oligodontis, but more than Protosalanx hyalocranius and N. tangkahkeii. H. brachyrostralis reaches up to 13.6 cm (5.4 in) in total length.
Neosalangichthys ishikawae, the Ishikawa icefish, is a species of Salangidae that is endemic to marine waters near the coast in northern Honshu, Japan. Originally placed in the genus Salangichthys, the species was assigned in 2012 to the monotypic genus Neosalangichthys. Adults stay in relatively shallow open marine waters, but larve and immatures typically stay off beaches, often in the surf zone, in waters that range from marine to brackish. Unlike the more widespread S. microdon with which it often occurs, N. ishikawae does not occur in fresh water.
Protosalanx is a small genus of icefishes that are native to China, Korea and Vietnam where they primarily inhabit coastal waters and nearby fresh waters. They are commercially fished and used for aquaculture in China, where also introduced to some inland waters like Lake Dianchi. In addition to being eaten locally in Asia, they are exported to southern Europe as a replacement of the more expensive transparent goby, a Mediterranean species used in the local cuisine. This replacement is often done openly, but sometimes it is done fraudulently.
Coilia nasus, also known as ungeo and the Japanese grenadier anchovy or Chinese tapertail anchovy is a fish from the family Engraulidae (anchovies). It grows to 41 cm (16 in) total length; it is a relatively large species for its genus. It is found in marine, freshwater, and brackish water at depths down to 50 m (160 ft). It is an example of an anadromous fish species, with some populations moving to freshwater to spawn. Overall they are distributed in the northwest Pacific, between 21–42°N and 109–134°E, or from Guangdong in China to the west coast of the Korean peninsula and the Ariake Sound in southwestern Japan. A traditional delicacy, the species is commercially fished in Korea, China and Japan. In China it is one of the most expensive fish sold, and as the he anadromous variety is more expensive than the freshwater variety, the industry is mostly focussed in the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and Yangtze.
