Fish and Shellfish of Yaquina Estuary | Oregon Sea Grant

Below are just some of the many fish and shellfish found in the Yaquina Estuary.

Chinook Salmon -|- Dungeness Crab -|- Pacific Herring -|- Bay Pipefish -|- Ghost Shrimp

Underwater view of chinook salmon swiming over a rocky river bed.

Chinook Salmon
Oncorhynchus tshawytscha

Chinook and coho salmon migrate through the open-water habitat and into the Yaquina River and its tributaries to spawn. Juveniles return through the open-water habitat to salt marsh channels in the estuary where they feed and seek shelter from predators. Young salmon may spend up to a few months in the estuary before moving to the ocean.

Close up of person holding live Dungeness crab

Dungeness Crab
Cancer magister

Dungeness crabs hatch in the ocean and move to shallow water and estuaries when they are still very young. Feeding on clams and small crustaceans, many juvenile crabs hide from predators in dense eelgrass beds.

A Pacific herring swims in the water. It has shimmery metallic colored scales and a thin body that is about six inches long.

Pacific Herring
Clupea pallasi

Pacific herring enter the Yaquina estuary in February to spawn. Females produce up to 30,000 sticky eggs that adhere to eelgrass, seaweed and rocks. The eggs hatch in 10 days and the estuary becomes a nursery for the young herring that remain there through the fall.

A pipefish swims in an aquarium tank among eel grass. It has a long thin body and pointed snout and resembles a strand of eel grass.

Bay Pipefish
Syngnathus leptorhynchus

Bay pipefish are well camouflaged in eelgrass beds, where they spend much of their lives. The breeding season for pipefish begins in February, and it is the male that carries the eggs in a brood pouch on his underside.

A view into the tubular burrow of a ghost shrimp as seen in an aquarium tank. The shrimp has a long pink upper body with opaque legs and underside.

Ghost Shrimp
Palaemonetes paludosus

The ghost shrimp lives in a burrow it digs in the sediment. The ghost shrimp is a deposit feeder; it swallows sediments and digests the thick coat of bacteria living on mud particles.

illustration of Underwater Burrow with a Ghost Shrimp, Clams, and a Pea Crab

Underwater Burrow with a Ghost Shrimp, Clams and a Pea Crab (illustration left)

Worms, pea crabs, and clams take advantage of the shrimp’s hard work and also live in the burrow. The freeloaders feed on the shrimp’s leftovers or filter plankton and detritus from the water. Many of Oregon’s clam species live in the estuary. Extending their fleshy siphons to the surface, most clams feed by filtering plankton and detritus when the tide is high. The tide flat is home to gapers, littlenecks, and softshell clams, among others.

While clams come in many sizes, we can determine the age of some by counting growth rings on the shell, much the same as counting rings on a tree.

Shiner Perch
Cymatogaster aggregata

Pacific staghorn sculpin, shiner perch, and juvenile salmon swim up into salt marsh channels and pools at high tide to feed and hide from predators.