Why is fish sometimes red and sometimes white? 0 19

Previously, the term “red fish” was used to refer to sturgeon species such as beluga, sevruga, sturgeon, and sterlet. This name was not related to color but emphasized their high nutritional value. Later, it began to refer to salmon due to the characteristic red-orange hue of their flesh. In the muscle tissues of these fish, pigments are accumulated from the shells of crustaceans they feed on.

Salmon with a different diet have flesh that remains whitish-translucent, like most fish. Although other fish species can also eat crustaceans, pigments do not accumulate in their tissues. In contrast to red fish, the flesh of another group of salmonids — whitefish — has come to be called “white fish.”