FISHES 43 



O. keta (Walbaum) . Dog salmon . Weight 1 2 lbs. ; head 4 ; depth 4 ; 

 color dusky above; sides paler; no spots, only fine dots, which may be 

 absent; breeding male with brick-red sides, often barred or mottled; 

 rays of dorsal fin 9; anal 13 or 14; scales 28-150-30; pyloric caeca 140 to 

 185: San Francisco to Bering Straits; of small food value. 



O. tschawytscha (Walbaum). Chinook; king salmon; quinnat 

 salmon. Length 600 to i ,500 mm. ; usual weight 2 2 lbs. ; extreme weight 

 100 lbs. ; head 4; depth 4; color dusky above; sides silvery; back and tail 

 spotted with small black spots; rays of dorsal fin 11; anal 16; scales 

 27-146-29; body robust; flesh red in the spring, becoming paler in the 

 fall; pyloric caeca 145 to 185: Ventura river, California, to Alaska; the 

 principal salmon in the Columbia and Sacramento Rivers; the most 

 important food fish in the country; introduced into eastern America. 



0. kisutch (Walbaum). Silver salmon. Length 375 mm.; weight 

 5 lbs.; color bluish green; sides silvery with dark punctulations; no 

 spots except a few obscure ones; males mostly red in the fall; rays of the 

 dorsal fin 10; anal 13 or 14; scales 25-127-29; pyloric caeca 45 to 80: 

 San Francisco northwards; the principal salmon in Puget Sound and in 

 the shorter rivers of Oregon and Washington; a very important food 

 fish. 



O. nerka (Walbaum). Blueback; redfish. Length 600 mm.; 

 weight 6 lbs.; head 4; depth 4; color bright blue above and without 

 spots; sides silvery; breeding male blood red above, white below; rays 

 of dorsal fin 11; anal 14 to 16; scales 20-133-20; body rather slender; 

 flesh deep red: California to Alaska; the principal salmon of the Fraser 

 River and of Alaska; after the king salmon the most important member 

 of the genus commercially. 



O. kennerlyi (Suckley). Similar to O. nerka in structure, but about 

 half its size when mature: Oregon and northwards into Alaska; in 

 mountain lakes. 



2. Salmo L. Salmon. Body elongate; mouth large; dorsal and 

 anal fins usually with 10 to 12 rays each; body usually spotted with 

 black : about 30 species in the United States, mostly in the west. 



S. salar L. Atlantic salmon. Length to 1,500 mm. ; average weight 

 15 lbs.; body slender, elliptical; head 4; depth 4; rays of dorsal fins 11 ; 

 anal 9; scales 23-120-21; color brownish above; sides silvery, with 

 numerous black spots all over; young with 11 dusky cross bars, and 

 spots and red patches: north Atlantic Ocean, ascending the rivers north 

 of Cape Cod, and occasionally as far south as the Delaware; sometimes 

 landlocked in lakes; an important game fish: northern Europe, as far 

 south as northern Spain. The salmon enters the rivers in the spring to 



