In addition to these obvious groupings (endpoints),
there were two other distinct groups in Figure 1. The
salmonids grouped together at the base of the trilateral
continuum. Oncorhynchus spp. are relatively shortlived,
but fast growing and large sized. Compared with
other marine species, they are not extremely fecund, but
have large eggs. The life history traits of the Oncorhynchus
spp. are very similar to the opportunistic strategists,
however, in agreement with McCann & Shuter
(1997), a separate grouping for salmonids was considered
appropriate as they differ from the opportunistic
strategists with their semelparous nature and the higher
degree of parental investment (Fig. 2).