When people think of the color salmon, they often imagine a pinkish-orange hue. However, defining the exact color of salmon can be surprisingly complicated. While salmon flesh is pink, the actual skin color depends on the species, environment, diet and stage of life. The relationship between salmon and the color pink touches on biology, language, culture and perception.
What causes the pink color of salmon?
Salmon get their distinctive hue from astaxanthin, a naturally occurring pigment. Astaxanthin is a carotenoid, the same family of antioxidants that gives carrots, lobsters and flamingos their vibrant colors. It’s found in algae and plankton, which make up a large part of a wild salmon’s diet. Captive-raised salmon obtain astaxanthin by eating feed fortified with the pigment.
When astaxanthin accumulates in the muscles under salmon’s skin, it causes them to take on a pink or orange tint. Salmon eggs also gain color from astaxanthin. The concentration of the pigment determines the exact shade, which can range from pale pink to deep red.
How does salmon color vary between species?
There are five species of Pacific salmon plus one Atlantic species. Each has a slightly different coloration due to factors like diet, age and spawning state:
| Species | Color |
|---|---|
| Chinook | Deepest red |
| Coho | Reddish-orange |
| Sockeye | Bright red |
| Pink | Lightest pink |
| Chum | Purplish red stripes |
| Atlantic | Orangish pink |
In general, salmon from cold, deep waters tend to be darker. Spawning salmon are usually the most vividly colored as their bodies produce extra astaxanthin.
How does salmon color change over their lifespan?
During early ocean life, young salmon are blue-green on top (before accumulating astaxanthin) and silver on the bottom. Returning spawners are the most intensely colored. Post-spawning salmon show faded, uneven color. As they near the end of life, their flesh turns pale before decomposing.
Here are the color changes salmon typically undergo:
| Stage | Color |
|---|---|
| Juvenile in fresh water | No pink/orange |
| Adolescent in ocean | Faint pink |
| Adult in ocean | Rich reddish-orange |
| Pre-spawning | Deepest, brightest hue |
| Post-spawning | Faded and patchy |
| Prior to death | Pale and whitish |
Is all salmon pink when raw?
While most raw salmon has a pinkish-orange tint, there are some variations:
- Chinook salmon tends to be the deepest red color
- Sockeye and coho are bright pink to orange
- Chum salmon has colorful purple stripes
- Pink salmon is most mildly pigmented
- Farmed Atlantic salmon is lighter than wild Pacific salmon
- Unspawned salmon has a richer color than spawned salmon
- Freshly caught salmon is more vibrantly hued than older stored fish
So while most raw salmon shares in the pink to orange range, exact shades can cover quite a spectrum.
Does cooked salmon stay pink?
Yes, salmon retains its characteristic pink color even after cooking. When exposed to heat, the protein myoglobin in the flesh changes but astaxanthin remains stable. The color may become slightly duller and more orange but does not disappear.
In fact, cooking causes the astaxanthin to leach from the muscle into any liquids, visibly dying the fluid. The color change is more pronounced in wild salmon compared to farmed. Canned salmon also stays pink from added astaxanthin.
When did “salmon” become associated with pink?
The use of “salmon” as a color first came about in the early 19th century. In 1804, the zoological term Salmonidae meaning salmon-like fish was recorded. By the 1830s, the shortened form of “salmon color” was being used to describe pinkish-yellowish hues.
Before this time, the general English word for the fish was “sammon.” The new term of “salmon” stemmed from the Old French word saumon derived from the Latin salmo. So the color meaning piggybacked on the updated name usage for the actual fish species.
Is salmon considered a pink color?
While often described as pink, salmon occupies its own category of color that sits between red and orange on the color wheel. It earned its own name as it became a frequently referenced color in fashion starting in the late 1800s.
Some specific shades associated with salmon are:
- Salmon pink – soft pinkish-orange
- Salmon red – reddish-orange
- Salmon orange – darker peachy-orange
These colors share the traits of high visibility and energizing warmth while being friendly and inviting. Salmon became a trendy color in the ’80s and ’90s and remains a staple hue today.
Is pink salmon actually pink?
Yes, pink salmon do display the pinkish coloration for which they are named. However, they are the lightest-hued species of Pacific salmon. Spawning pink salmon develop less red pigmentation than other salmon.
Pink salmon have the shortest lifespan and migrate the shortest distances of all salmon species. They stay in the ocean only 2 years compared to 4-7 years for kings, cohos and sockeyes. Their unusually fixed lifespan and migration patterns led to the common name of “pink” salmon.
Conclusion
So in summary, while salmon flesh universally takes on some shade of pink, exact coloration depends on multiple factors. Salmon reflects its diet and stage in lifecycle. Color also varies by species, habitat and origin. Over time “salmon” became linguistically associated with a pink hue related to but distinct from plain red. So salmon occupies a special place both biologically and symbolically between red and pink.
