The Trout of the Great West 141 



A little trout, plain colored, with very large black spots, and 

 very small scales, like a cut-throat. It lives at a height of 

 7,500 feet, and is shut off from the lower rainbow trout of 

 the lower Santa Ana River by a series of waterfalls. This 

 species has been named Salmo evermanni. In Oregon and 

 Washington there is a trout which is scarcely distinguishable 

 from the rainbow trout. It reaches, however, so far as we 

 know, only a small size. We have seen none weighing a 

 pound. The mouth is smaller than any other of our trout, 

 and the dorsal fin is less spotted than in the true rainbow. 



This dainty and game little trout was first taken in the 

 Cathlapootl River by General George B. McClellan. Dr. 

 Suckley named it Salmo masoni. In the Kern, Kings, 

 Merced and other rivers of the southern portion of the 

 Sierra Nevada, the rainbow trout have much smaller 

 scales than in the coastwise streams. About one hundred 

 and sixty-five scales form lengthwise series. Unlike the 

 true rainbow trout, this form, Salmo gilherti, named for 

 its discoverer, Dr. Charles H. Gilbert, has always a white 

 tip to the dorsal fin, and there is generally some orange 

 under the lower jaw. In the lakes, as Kern Lake, this 

 species reaches a weight of eight to ten pounds. In the 

 mountain brooks it is very much smaller, but everywhere 

 it is active, vigorous and game. 



The most beautiful of all our trout is the dainty little fish 

 of three distinct species called golden trout, found in three 

 different streams on the flanks of Mount Whitney, the 

 highest peak in the United States, and described in a follow- 

 ing chapter. 



All these species, the cut-throat trout, the steelhead trout 

 and the rainbow trout, with their several allies and descend- 

 ants, are true trout, belonging to the genus Salmo, and all 

 of them are dwarfed representatives of the salmon of the 

 Atlantic. All of them have silvery scales; all are black 

 spotted ; all have the anal fin short, with but ten, eleven or 

 twelve developed rays. All are likely to run down into the 



