Salmon A Link in the Food Chain

Salmon, a link in the food chain. Written by Lacey Finn Borgo.

三文鱼，是食物链中的一环。 莱茜·芬恩·博尔戈 著

A chain of life. Imagine a chain. Each link is connected to the next. One link cannot be broken without affecting the other links in the chain. Salmon are links in many different food chains. As salmon go through the stages of their life, they eat and are eaten by different

一条生命之链。 想象这样一条链子。 每一环都和下一环紧紧相连。 任何一环断裂，都会影响整条链上的其他环节。 三文鱼是许多不同食物链中的一环。 在不同的生命阶段里，三文鱼会捕食其他生物，也会被不同的

Let's look at the food chain for an adult salmon. It begins with plankton, tiny living organisms. Plankton are eaten by small fish, such as herring. Herring are then eaten by salmon. A salmon may be eaten by a human, a bear, a killer whale, a seal, or an eagle. Harming one living thing in a food chain harms other living things in the chain.

我们来看看成年三文鱼所在的食物链吧。 食物链从浮游生物开始，它们是极小的微生物。 浮游生物会被鲱鱼这类小鱼吃掉。 之后鲱鱼会被三文鱼吃掉。 三文鱼可能会被人类、熊、虎鲸、海豹或者老鹰吃掉。 伤害食物链里的一种生物，就会波及链上所有其他生物。

Salmon are travelers. They start their lives in streams or rivers, migrate far into the ocean, and return to the very same place to spawn or reproduce. Salmon are transformers. During a salmon's life, it will change shape and color numerous times. In this book, you will learn about the salmon life cycle and about all the ways they are interconnected with other animals and with their environment.

三文鱼是旅行家。 它们出生在溪流或河流中，会迁徙到遥远的大海，最终再回到出生地产卵繁殖。 三文鱼还是变形家。 在一生中，三文鱼的外形和颜色会变化很多次。 在这本书里，你会了解三文鱼的生命周期，以及它们和其他动物、环境之间千丝万缕的联系。

Eggs. Salmon begin as tiny eggs laid in the gravel of a riverbed or streambed. Salmon need cold, clean water in order to lay and fertilize eggs. If the temperature is too warm, the salmon may die before the eggs are laid. Salmon absorb oxygen from the water, so if the water is polluted, making it low in oxygen, salmon cannot breathe and will die. Water is a salmon's environment, and if it is harmed, salmon and the eggs they lay will be too.

鱼卵。 三文鱼最初是产在河床或溪床砾石中的细小鱼卵。 三文鱼需要冰冷干净的水来产卵和授精。 如果水温太高，三文鱼可能还没产下鱼卵就死亡。 三文鱼从水中吸收氧气，如果水源被污染导致含氧量降低，三文鱼就无法呼吸，最终死亡。 水是三文鱼生存的环境，环境被破坏，三文鱼和它们产的卵也会遭殃。

Alevins and fry. After about two weeks, the eggs hatch. The tiny salmon that emerge, called alevins, have their food attached to their underbellies in a sack. Once the sack is empty, the alevins develop stripes and are called fry.

仔鱼和幼鱼。 大约两周后，鱼卵就会孵化。 刚孵化出的小三文鱼叫做仔鱼，腹部带着供给养分的卵黄囊。 卵黄囊养分耗尽后，仔鱼会长出条纹，变成幼鱼。