Band 5+: The diagrams show the life cycle of a species of large fish called the salmon. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. Write at least 150 words. You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. To zoom in, click on the image.

The given life process describes the transformation of a salmon egg into an adult fish during a course of almost ten years.

In an overview, there are 2 significant stages, in the life span of the fish, before it turns into an adult salmon, where those phases are termed as fry and smolt.

Initially, the adult salmon lays eggs in the slow moving upper riverbed, beneath the reeds and among the pebbles and settle there for an approximate 5 to 6 months. Susequently, these eggs hatch into small fries which will grow into the size of 3 to 8 cm in length. Then, the fries slowly move down towards the fast current, lower part of the river and live in the bed for an average 4 years. Within this stipulated time period, they change their shape and are called as smolts whereas the size varies from 12 to 15 cm. Finally these smolts migrate to the pelagic zone and stay in the same for 4 years. Within this quadrennial, they mutate into huge salmon which will be around 70 to 76 cm long. Besides, the grown up salmons return back to the place of origin for the next cycle of reproduction.