coho, (Oncorhynchus kisutch), species of salmon, family Salmonidae, prized for food and sport. The coho may weigh up to 16 kg (35 pounds) and is recognized by the small spots on the back and upper tail-fin lobe. Young coho stay in fresh water for about one year before entering North Pacific waters; they mature in about three years. Some populations, called landlocked, spend their entire lives in suitable bodies of fresh water. Coho were transplanted into Lake Michigan, U.S., and Canada, as a game fish in the 1970s, with conspicuous success.