Rutherfurd. — On Salmonidae. 245 



found in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the many varieties 

 and hybrids of the subgenera called trout — the Salvelini, or 

 char ; the Coregoni, such as the whitefish of America ; the 

 Thymallus, or grayling, &c. 



Without going into the larger and more scientific question 

 affecting the groups of this fish, which would require much 

 study and elaboration, I wish in this short paper to discuss a 

 few of the interesting questions involved in the introduction 

 into the waters of the southern Pacific Ocean and rivers of 

 the Islands of New Zealand of several forms of Salmonoids. 



V. Salmonidae Proper. 



By these fish I mean the larger species, which live in the 

 sea from the time they have reached the smolt stage, and 

 only run into fresh water for the purpose of reproducing their 

 species, or at times, perhaps, to rid themselves of sea para- 

 sites. From the time these fish enter the river they begin to 

 deteriorate in condition, and when imprisoned in fresh water 

 •gradually lose many of their finest characteristics. The neces- 

 sity for seeking their sustenance in the sea will be quite 

 apparent if we reflect on the enormous quantity of food which 

 would be required to feed the millions of large fish which 

 annually run up the salmon rivers in the North to spawn. 



Hitherto three species of the true Salmones have been 

 introduced into the colony: (1.) The Salmo salar, or Atlantic 

 species, the ova of which has been imported in large quan- 

 tities, and a considerable number have been reproduced in 

 captivity. This is the finest sporting species known, but its 

 migrations in the Northern Hemisphere are chiefly confined to 

 the temperate and sub-arctic zones, and hitherto its introduc- 

 tion has not been, as far as we know, permanently success- 

 ful. This is much to be regretted from every point of view, 

 and it would be of the utmost value to the colony if this fish 

 could be successfully acclimatised. (2.) The Oticorhynchus 

 tschaivytscha, king, chinook, or quinnat salmon, a species grow- 

 ing to a large size. (3.) The Oacorhyiichus nerka, sock-eye or 

 blue-backed salmon, a smaller thick-set variety much used for 

 canning in the Columbia River, some of the ova of which 

 were introduced in one of the shipments to New Zealand. 

 These — (2) and (3) — are species found in the North Pacific, 

 and have a much wider geographical range than the Atlantic 

 species, some of them being found from the far north down to 

 Monterey Bay, in southern California, as well as in Japan 

 and in northern Asia. Some of the ova of the quinnat and 

 blue-back varieties have been introduced and the fry libe- 

 rated. Fish caught in the Waitaki River have been sent to 

 London and have, I am informed, been identified as be- 

 longing to the species found in the Pacific. 



