How are there Coho and Chinook Salmon and Steelhead in the Great Lakes?

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Do they breathe freshwater? Are they essentially different than West Coast Salmon? Do they swim from the Great Lakes into surrounding rivers/estuaries to breed?

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Coho and Chinook are two of the west coast salmon species. Most salmon are anadromous, that is they live in salt water but are born in and return to fresh water to spawn. Usually they spawn in rivers but several runs actually make it to lakes at the headwaters of the rivers. It is very common for lakes with rivers connecting to the ocean to see spawning salmon.

Sometimes they become landlocked in the lakes. Locally we have a fish we refer to as a Kokanee which is a landlocked sockeye salmon. These fish never return to the ocean, but rather complete their life cycle in fresh water.

Edit: because I am on the west coast of Canada I looked up great lake salmon. It appears that the Chinook, Coho and perhaps the Pinks are actually artificially introduced to the lakes. Humans don’t have a great record of not unintentionally causing problems doing this, but I’m not sure if these salmon stay in the lakes or they try to return to the ocean. Either way there is a possibility of genetic cross contamination or simply competition with the natural species which is probably not a good thing.

https://a-z-animals.com/blog/are-there-salmon-in-the-great-lakes/#:~:text=What%20kind%20of%20salmon%20are,%2C%20Pink%2C%20and%20Atlantic%20Salmons.

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