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Biology

Growth, Reproduction, and Lifespan Trade-offs in Semelparous Salmon

Quick fact

A female Pacific salmon can lay over 2,000 eggs, but the journey back to fresh water and the enormous reproductive effort come at such a high cost that every adult dies within days of spawning.

Why this is interesting

What drives a salmon to swim hundreds of miles upstream, spawn, and then die within a week—seemingly by its own internal clock?