An electrophoretic analysis of plasma proteins from juvenile Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (Walbaum)

The plasma proteins of juvenile spring chinook salmon, Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, were examined as a function of development. Two‐way gel electroprioresis of plasma proteins was conducted on samples taken from fish before initiation of downstream migration, from fish classified as actively migrating and from fish that were prevented from migrating. Analysis of the samples indicated that plasma proteins of fish changed depending on the migratory status of the fish. The results were consistent with the notion that some of the factors normally associated with smoltification in species such as steelhead trout, Salmo gairdneri, and coho salmon, O. kisutch, may well be temporally separated in Idaho O. ishawytscha.