Smolt
A young salmon that has turned silver and is ready to leave its home river for the sea.
Also: parr, alevin
Salmon pass through named stages. Alevins hatch in the gravel with a yolk sac. Parr live in the stream for one to several years, marked with dark bars on their sides. Then they become smolts: they turn silver, their bodies change to cope with salt water, and they swim downstream to the sea. After one or more years at sea, the adults return to spawn. Salmon farms raise smolts in freshwater tanks and then move them to sea cages.