Salmonids 



99 



ernmost locality from which I have obtained trout, they seldom 

 exceed a length of six inches. Although not usually an ana- 

 dromous species, the rainbow trout frequently moves about in 

 the rivers, and it often enters the sea, large sea-run specimens 

 being often taken for steelheads. Several attempts have been 

 made to introduce it in Eastern streams, but it appears to seek 

 the sea when it is lost. It is apparently more hardy and 

 less greedy than the American charr, or brook-trout (Salvelinus 



FIG. 62. Rainbow Trout (female), Salmo irideus shasta Jordan. (Photograph 

 by Cloudsley Rutter.) 



fontinalis). On the other hand, it is distinctly inferior to the 

 latter in beauty and in gaminess. 



Three varieties of some importance have been indicated, 

 Salmo irideus stonei, the Nissui trout of the Klamath, with spots 

 on the posterior parts only, Salmo irideus shasta of the upper 

 Sacramento, and the small-scaled Salmo irideus gilberti of the 

 Kings and Kern rivers. In the head-waters of the Kern, in a 

 stream called Volcano Creek or Whitney Creek, the waterfall some- 

 times called Agua-Bonita shuts off the movements of the trout. 

 Above this fall is a dwarf form with bright golden fins, and the 

 scales scarcely imbricated. This is the " golden trout of Mount 

 Whitney," Salmo irideus agua-bonita. It will possibly be found to 

 change back to the original type if propagated in different waters. 



In beauty of color, gracefulness of form and movement, 



