Kokanee salmon between 29–40 gill rakers. As a freshwater-based fish, they are much smaller than their sea-going sockeye relatives due to less food availability. Size is the most significant morphological distinction between the kokanee and the Sockeye, but gill raker count can differ from Sockeye salmon as well. The main food source of this fish is plankton. “Kokanee have blue backs and silver sides and unlike other salmon and trout, except chum salmon, sockeye and kokanee lack distinct dark spots on their backs and tail fins. In addition, when compared to other trout, they have finer scales, larger eyes, and deeply forked
Fish species of Aravaipa Canyon itself. Various methods are used to survey the type and abundance of fish species present at each location. The most common of these is seining, a method that involves dragging a long net through the water and catching many fish at a time. This is best done by two individuals (one on either side of the net) who run downstream, scooping up the fish that are attempting to swim upstream against the current. Another form of seining involves the same two people on either side of the net, but this time they plant the edges of the net into the