Dolly varden (Salvelinus malma) is a saltwater, freshwater, brackish species recorded in the United States. It is found at depths of 0–200 m.
Scientific name: Salvelinus malma · Water: Saltwater, Freshwater, Brackish
Size: up to 127 cm
The dolly varden is a nerito-pelagic salmonid whose adults occur in the deep runs and pools of creeks and small to large rivers, as well as in lakes and the sea, and it lives in very clean mountain streams. It is typically anadromous but many populations are landlocked, and anadromous fish may spend two to three years at sea evidently near shore, migrate upstream, and spawn later; the young remain in streams for three to four years and feed on insects, leeches, snails and salmon eggs before entering brackish and salt water to feed on insects, fishes and other invertebrates. Its range is the Arctic and Pacific drainages of North America, from the lower Mackenzie River to Puget Sound and the Quinault River, and the north-west Pacific from Korea to the Bering Sea. Maximum length is about 127 cm total length, commonly about 37.5 cm, and it matures at about 23.5 cm. It is a commercial species and a gamefish, utilized fresh, with a very high price category. Fishing vulnerability is high to very high at 70 of 100 and resilience low. IUCN lists it as least concern.
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