Many species of fish spend a portion of their lives at sea but return and migrate up rivers to spawn and lay eggs. These fish are anadromous, meaning their life cycle is completed by returning from the ocean to the river where they were born. Pacific salmon (especially pink salmon), two species of trout (cutthroat and rainbow), and one char (Dolly Varden) spawn in the Indian River. Pacific salmon die after spawning while trout and char may return to the river several times to spawn. Fish use the lower segments of the Indian River as a passageway as they hatch and enter the ocean, and again as they swim upstream to spawn as adults.