That creepy, deep-sea dwelling-looking fish that we shared with you on Monday has finally been identified (and rest assured, it’s not an anglerfish!).
The carcass was identified to be a salmonid after a member of Milwaukee Magazine’s staff reached out to the Department of Natural Resources. More specifically, the fish is “most likely a Chinook salmon given the size,” Garret Dietz, a Public Information Officer for Wisconsin’s DNR, said in an email.
Tell us who you’d pick to be a Betty this year!
Chinook salmon are also called “king salmon,” as they are the largest of the Pacific Salmon. The beached fish in Cedar Grove was just under two feet long, and it may not have been fully grown yet! According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, fully grown Chinook salmon average around three feet and 30 pounds, and can grow to be up to almost five feet long and 129 pounds!
Dietz said that the fish was likely “the remains of a fish that spawned last fall,” and all Chinook salmon die after spawning. Spawning is the process of reproducing and laying or fertilizing eggs.
Sometimes, you have to admit when you’re wrong. We doubted that it was a salmon, and now we’ve got the king to prove us otherwise.
