March 20, 2007
Streamkeepers ID Several Species of Salmonid Fry in Byrne Creek
Baby salmon and trout are appearing in greater numbers in Byrne Creek in southeast Burnaby. Yumi and I positively identified chum salmon fry and cutthroat trout fry today and have photo evidence. We also thought we had got a few coho salmon fry, but unfortunately we have only one, poor-quality photo to back us up.
NOTE: It is illegal to net baby fish, and streamkeepers do so with permission from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. We handle them with care and release them once we get a close look at them and take some photos.
A chum fry. Note the parr marks that do not extend below the lateral line, and the light greenish coloration.
A cutthroat fry. Black leading ray and white tip on dorsal fin.
Three chum and one cutthroat in the creek after we released them. The chum are in the top center-left and the cutthroat is at the bottom right. The chum were around 5cm long, while the cutthroat was about 3.5cm.
Likely a coho fry -- it's a poor photo, but the anal fin does appear to be sickle shaped, and have a leading white ray followed by a dark ray.