BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 427 



more than one-half of the shad caught in the Hudson River, but does 

 receive a large portion of what is caught in the Connecticut River, and 

 possibly Fulton Market in 1879 received a larger portion than the 

 year previous. 



84.— DESCRIPTION OF A CALIFORNIA SAEMON (ONCORH YNCHIC'M 

 SP.) FOIND IIV ONE OF THE RIVERS OF NEW ZEALAND, AN » 

 IDENTIFIED BY DR. T. H. REAN. 



By S. C FAKK, 



Secretary and Treasurer of the Canterbury Acclimatization Society* 



Many unavoidable causes have prevented me from addressing you at 

 au earlier date on the question relating to the fish caught in one of our 

 rivers, although I have been very anxious to have the question set at 

 rest if possible. 



The following is the description as uear as I could collect from the 

 fish about eight hours after it was taken, and the photograph was taken 

 from a sketch I made some time after it had been in spirits : Length, 

 one foot ten and a half inches; girth at the shoulder, oue foot three 

 inches; weight, 8 pounds; color, olive green on the back, the sides 

 lighter, the belly silvery white, the sheen of the scales very bright, in- 

 termingled with irregular spots of a brownish olive tint both above and 

 below the lateral line. Teeth very small but numerous, five rows on 

 the upper surface of the mouth ; the central one is short, having only 

 two in each row, turning outwards alternately to each side. There is 

 one row on each side of the under jaw, while there are more to be seen 

 on the tongue. The scales in the center of the side are about one-eighth 

 of an inch in diameter andcycloidal. The caudal fin has 19 rays; anal, 

 15; dorsal, 13; pectoral, 16; and ventral, 9. The color of the flesh is 

 a bright pink. 



I trust the above will sufficiently describe the fish to enable you to 

 decide its genus in such a way as will remove all questionable doubts. 



Canterbury Acclimatization Society, 



Christchnrchi April 20, 1882. 



*The letter here printed was addressed to the United States Commissioner of 

 Fish and Fisheries, and was accompanied by a photograph, which was made from 

 a sketch taken from the preserved fish some time after its immersion in spirits. 

 This photograph, while it may readily be recognized as representing a species of 

 Oncorhynchus, would he more valuable had it been taken from the fish itself, aiuT 

 with the dorsal and anal fins so extended as to show the number of rays; the size of 

 the scales, also, could then have been determined. The enumeration of the fin rays 

 by Mr. Farr, however, and his remarks about the teeth, taken in connection with the 

 photograph, leave no doubt in my mind that the captured fish is a California salmon, 

 belonging to the species introduced in 1874 (or 1875?), and subsequent years, by the 

 United States Fish Commission. Mr. Farr's photograph bears the date July 1", 1880. 

 — Takletox H. Bkan. 



