Friday November 6, 2009
Pictured here is an adult male Chinook salmon flashing his sharp teeth while swimming next to an adult female. Although for most of their lives males and females look the same, males develop a hooked snout (or “kype”) and “breeding teeth” upon their return to freshwater for spawning. Kype appear to function as a sign of dominance with larger kype signaling a more dominant male. Males compete for females by displaying both their kype and sharp teeth, and occasionally bite competing males.