noun
- A small landlocked salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) found in freshwater lakes, typically with reddish coloring during spawning season.
Usage: Also called kokanee salmon or red salmon when landlocked.; Native to the Pacific Northwest and introduced to lakes in other regions.
Examples
- The kokanee salmon migrate upstream to spawn in the fall.
- Anglers fish for kokanee in the deep lakes of the Rocky Mountains.
- During spawning season, kokanee develop a bright red coloration.
- The lake's kokanee population has declined due to changes in water temperature.
- Kokanee are smaller than their ocean-going relatives, the sockeye salmon.