Figure 2. Representative adult female coho carcass with characteristically high egg retention.

Rates of premature spawner mortality within and across urban drainages were quantified on the basis of egg-retaining female carcasses. Shown is a female affected by the mortality syndrome in Longfellow Creek in the fall of 2005. In most cases, egg retention was nearly 100%. Photo by Tiffany Linbo, NOAA Fisheries.