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Japanese Fishy ID

3K views 23 replies 16 participants last post by  Rialto 
#1 ·
OK...so what sort of fish is this? I havent done too much looking into it, mainly because I am lazy. It was caught in Japan by some friends, who sent the picture to America for us to see. I believe it is an "Amago" (Oncorhynchus masou ishikawae) or perhaps "Yamato Iwana" (S. leucomaenis f. japonicus)

Any other opinions?

 
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#6 ·
I just did a little more sluething, and based on where it was caught (I assume) it is most likely one of the Amago trout. I believe it was caught near Shinshiro Japan...
 
#10 ·
you know.. that's a really cool picture.. look at the clarity.. the focus is so sharp..What kind of camera was used?

That fish looks... different.. are those scars on it? I'd say it's beautiful but he's holding kinda.. awkward and I'm so distracted by the awesome clarity of the photo LOL

Coolkyle those fish a beautiful.. man I love looking at fish...
 
#12 ·
You got it... it's an amago.

Iwana are char (thus light spots on dark background), whereas amago and yamame are trout (dark spots on light background).

I spent a fair amount of time fishing in Japan when I was over there teaching English and have to say that those Japanese trout and char are some of the most beautiful anywhere. Unfortunately, that picture doesn't really do them justice.
 
#13 ·
sakuramasu said:
Iwana are char (thus light spots on dark background), whereas amago and yamame are trout (dark spots on light background).
I noticed that after I wrote that. That is a great way of telling apart the chars from trout.

In regards to the camera, I have no idea, but I imagine it was one of those crazy small supermegapixel cameras from japan...who knows...
 
#17 ·
that is a freshwater resident cherry salmon for sure. they have similar life histories to steelhead and are the most primitive form (on the evolutionary tree) of pacific salmon.

the fish is in full spawning mode, probably a small resident male. small resident male cherry can breed with either resident cherrys or larger anadromous cherrys, just as rainbow trout mate with steelhead and sea run cutthroat with resident cutthroat, not to mention all the other species that exhibit similar behaviors.

those might actually be scars from fighting as opposed to marks from the fish lying on the rocks. the fish looks a little to freshly killed to have those marks from lying on the rocks. i imagine it was fighting with resident and andromous cherrys, for the female he loved so dearly.

cool stuff.
 
#18 ·
gordon said:
that is a freshwater resident cherry salmon for sure.
cool stuff.
Not trying to shoot down your answer, but Im not so sure. Cherry salmon, O. masou (masu, or seema) tend to have large oval marks on the sides, which turn a vivid red color during the spawning time (hence the name) and black spots on the back above the lateral line, unlike the light back and red spots we see on this, which I still maintain is an amago. Check out Thomas Quinns book "the behavoir and ecology of Pacific Salmon and Trout." Page 18-19 have good pictures of Masu Salmon, which clearly are much different than the fish in the above picture. However, both these fish are very closely related. Quinn's book lists the Amago as O. rhodurus instead. It also mentions that there is some incongruency between scientists classifications of the Masu and Amago. Then again, we could be seeing some sort of hybrid...Maybe I will ask one of my Profs here at UW to shed some light on the subject...
 
#19 ·
mr trout said:
Not trying to shoot down your answer, but Im not so sure. QUOTE]

hi mr. trout. you bring up good points. i don't want to sound like an aloof dork, but i know where the cherry salmon (masu) got its name. i am close with several russian and japanese scientists who study these fish. i have seen hundreds of pictures of cherry and amago, including video, and the resident fish all get the same stripe down the side that goes all the way under the belly. the juveniles will have the parr marks, but not the adults, although some mature residents will. that is the same stripe that both masu and amago get, so the stripe isn't the defining visual characteristic. the coloration of anadromous forms is different, darker across most of the body.

at this point in time amago are simply considred a freshwater resident subspecies of cherry throughout much of russia, china, and japan. so it could be an amago or masu, but considering we are looking at a resident fish in the picture, there really isn't any way to confirm either way. as i mentioned both forms look similar during spawning.

that is my take given my experience with these fish.
 
#22 ·
I like the ID of Amago now. I thought at first there were no black spots and the light spots on the dark background were all faded out in death except for the red spots. But there are some black spots visible back by the tail and those red spots are what you see in those landlocked masou.
 
#23 ·
Hey Trev,

Most likley Kenshi got this fish in the Toyo River near Shishiro, it empties into the ocean at Toyohashi, about 20 miles from Shinshiro. Jun told me last spring that the goverment (or someone) planted some trout like fish in the Toyo River. Maybe next spring when I am there I'll take a rod and try it for fun.

Joe
 
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