Every year, countless juvenile Pacific salmon leave streams andrivers on their migration to feeding grounds in the North Pacific Oceanand the Bering Sea. After periods ranging from a few months to severalyears, adult salmon enter rivers along the coasts of Asia and NorthAmerica to spawn and complete their life cycle. Within this generaloutline, various life history patterns, both among and within species,involve diverse ways of exploiting freshwater, estuarine, and marinehabitats. There are seven species of Pacific salmon. Five (coho,chinook chum, pink, and sockeye) occur in both North America and Asia.Their complex life histories and spectacular migrations have longfascinated biologists and amateurs alike. Physiological Ecology of Pacific Salmon providescomprehensive reviews by leading researchers of the physiologicaladaptations that allow Pacific Salmon to sustain themselves in thediverse environments in which they live. It begins with an analysis ofenergy expenditure and continues with reviews of locomotion, growth,feeding, and nutrition. Subsequent chapters deal with osmoticadjustments enabling the passage between fresh and salt water, nitrogenexcretion and regulation of acid-base balance, circulation and gastransfer, and finally, responses to stress. This thorough and authoritative volume will be a valuable referencefor students and researchers of biology and fisheries science as theyseek to understand the environmental requirements for the perpetuationof these unique and valuable species.

Pacific Salmon Life Histories gives detailed descriptions of the different life phases through which each of the seven species pass. Each chapter is written by a scientist who has spent years studying and observing a particular species of salmon. Some of the topics covered are geographic distribution, transplants, freshwater life, ocean life, development, growth, feeding, diet, migration, and spawning behaviour. The text is richly supplemented by numerous maps, illustrations, colour plates, and tables and there is a detailed general index, as well as a useful geographic index. This volume brings together for the first time, and in a comprehensive form, most of the available biological information on the seven species of Pacific salmon. It is an invaluable source of information for students and teachers of biology and fisheries science, people in the fishing and aquaculture industry, and interested laypersons in countries of the North Pacific and elsewhere.