of maturity, only the mean from each stage 

 and the grand average, range, and standard 

 deviation for the three stages combined are 

 given in table 1. Statistical comparisons were 

 made by the one-way analysis of variance, or 

 F-test (Li, 1957). No distinction is made here 

 between early- and late-run salmon at Olsen 

 Creek. 



The specific gravities, erythrocyte counts, 

 and hemoglobin concentrations fall within the 

 ranges of those listed by Wintrobe (1933) for 

 oceanic bony fishes, although the mean cor- 

 puscular volume and mean corpuscular hemo- 

 globin were high and are comparable with the 

 more primitive fishes. 



In the comparison of my present findings 

 on hematology of pink salmon with those of 

 other workers, several points are of interest. 

 In California, Robertson, Krupp, Favour, 

 Hane, and Thomas (1961) found for chinook 

 salmon that erythrocyte counts, hemoglobin 

 levels, and packed-cell volumes increased dur- 

 ing the migration and decreased during the 

 spawning stage (to levels similar to those in 

 animals in the open sea). My findings agree 

 with those of Robertson and his associates in 

 that packed-cell volumes (fig. 1) were higher 



10 20 30 40 50 



PACKED CELL VOLUME (MILLIGRAMS PERCENT) 



Figure 1. — Packed-cell volume of blood of adult pink 

 salmon in three stages of maturity. (C, sexes com- 

 bined; F, females; M, males.) 



in migrating males than in spawning males. 

 The packed-cell volumes in combined male and 

 female samples were also higher in prespawn- 

 ing populations than in spawning populations. 

 Within the spawning population, the males 

 had greater packed-cell volumes than the fe- 

 males. A significant increase (at the 2.5-per- 

 cent level) in mean corpuscular hemoglobin 

 concentration between the prespawning and 

 the spawning stages was concurrent with the 

 small decrease in packed-cell volume. 



In his studies of pink salmon in Asia, Lysaya 

 (1951) found that erythrocyte counts and 

 hemoglobin levels fell noticeably between the 

 time fish entered the estuary and the time they 

 arrived on the spawning grounds. Such a 

 trend is clearly evidenced by the decrease in 

 packed-cell volume in my study, although it is 

 not noticeable in the erythrocyte and hemo- 

 globin values. The absence of a difference in 

 hemoglobin concentrations between prespawn- 

 ing and spawning stages in my work, was also 

 reported by Sinderman and Mairs (1961) for 

 the alewife, Alosa pseudoharengus, a fish that 

 returns to the sea after spawning in fresh 

 water. 



Benditt, Morrison, and Irving (1941) found 

 that in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) afl!inity 

 of hemoglobin for oxygen was greater while 

 fish were in the spawning stage in fresh water 

 than in the prespawning or migrating stage in 

 salt water. This last phenomenon would com- 

 pensate those changes mentioned above that 

 would tend to decrease the oxygen-carrying 

 efliciency of the blood. Perhaps an under- 

 standing of these points will be possible when 

 larger numbers of fish are analyzed at all 

 stages of migration. 



BLOOD CHEMISTRY 



The concentrations of several components of 

 blood (table 2) were determined by the tech- 

 niques given in Fister (1950). As with the 

 hematology and corpuscular indices, the meas- 

 ured values of some of the characteristics of 

 blood did not vary significantly among the three 

 stages of maturity; only the mean from each 

 stage and the mean, range, and standard devia- 

 tion for the three stages combined are given 

 in table 2. 



BLOOD OF ADULT PINK SALMON 



197 



