Fish wheel salmon species Chinook, Chum, Coho, Sockeye, and Pink) and other anadromous species of fish, has given fish wheels their second name as "salmon" wheels. Although salmon were prioritized by commercial fishers and Indigenous peoples (albeit for different reasons,) other fish such as steelhead trout ("Oncorhynchus mykiss"), ooligan ("Thaleichthys pacificus"), and lamprey ("Lampetra tridentata") were also considered valuable catch. While the fish wheel is best known for its presence on the Northwestern coast of North America, there is debate whether the technology arrived via Asian migrants who had come to labor in the gold fields, by Scottish and Russian migrants, or
Wooden fish can differ amongst wooden fish depending on the size, type of wood used, and how hollow the wooden fish is. The instrument is carved with fish scales on its top, and a carving of two fish heads embracing a pearl on the handle (to symbolize unity), hence the instrument is called a wooden fish for that reason. In Buddhism the fish, which never sleeps, symbolizes wakefulness. Therefore, it is to remind the chanting monks to concentrate on their sutra. Often the mallet used to strike the fish has a rubber coated tip to provide a muffled, but clear sound when