238 



ICHTHYOLOGY. 



Classifica- riah which are employed in the capture of one or two 



species IS nnmense. In Britain they are mostly consumed 

 in the great towns, either in a recent or prepared condition. 

 In the north of Europe and America numbers are saUed or 

 otherwise c\n'ed for exportation. 



Tile male fish has the nose elongated and the under-jaw 

 hooked during the breeding season. The silvery colours 

 change to gray and red. The species inhabit the sea and 

 fresh waters. Some migrate at the breeding season ; all 

 spawn in shallow streams, and both sexes assist in forming 

 the spawning bed. They inhabit Europe, Asia, and Ame- 

 rica. At the commencement of the genus stands, — 



Salmo salar, or common Salmon, a species which like- 

 wise occupies the foremost place in the estimation of both 

 sportsman and epicure. The Salmon is a fish of great ele- 

 gance, combining a form fitted alike for strength and swift- 

 ness ; and its depth and thickness, while in good condition, 

 are so proportioned to its length as at once to convey the 

 idea of a pleasing symmetry. The body above is of a rich 

 bluish or greenish gray, changing below to silvery, sprinkled 

 above the lateral line with rather large sub-cruciform black 

 spots, a few of which at the shoulders generally extend be- 

 low the line. The characters which distinguish it fi-om its 

 British congeners are the different form of the opercular 

 bones, wliich show a rounded outline to the posterior edge 

 of the gill-covers, the longest diameter of which to the nose 

 would be in a line through the eye, while in all the other 

 British migratory species the same line ivould pass much 

 below the eye. The black inner surface of the pectoral fin 

 is nearly a constant mark. The tail is forked in the young 

 state, but fills up to a nearly square outline in the adult. 



The common Salmon inhabits the seas around Great 

 Britain, and extends to the north of Europe and to Asia. 

 It generally delays entering the rivers in great numbers 

 until the streams become somewhat swollen by rains, 

 although in the larger rivers there may be said to be a 

 limited daily run. When the flood has faii-ly mingled with, 

 and to a certain extent has saturated the estuaries, the rush 

 of fish is often very great, especially if there has been a 

 continued tract of dry weather. In the latter case they col- 

 lect at the mouths of ri\ers, and are seen and often taken 

 in vast numbers ; but they do not then attempt an ascent, 

 deterred perhaps by the clearness of the stream, or by some 

 instinctive feeling that the water would yet be deficient to 

 carry them through. As the fresh approaches, however, an 

 increased activity may be perceived ; and, as far as we can 

 judge, the change is probably indicated by the nostrils re- 

 ceiving a sense of tjie mixture of the waters, by means of 

 the large ramification of nerves with ^vhich they are sup- 

 plied ; and to this same sense may perhaps be attributed 

 the singular fact of the greater proportion of Salmon retm-n- 

 ing to the very streams in which thev were spawned. The 

 fish, on entering the river, rusli fbr« ard as long as the flood 

 continues, seldom resting in their course during the time 

 that the water continues discoloured. From ten to twenty- 



five miles daily is the rate, as flxr as can be ascertained, at Classifica- 

 which they are supposed to travel. tion — Ma- 



in their more lengthened courses, where the rivers are '^icopteri. 

 deeper and the interruptions less frequent, the rate at which ^^j'^^ 

 Salmon travel is probably more rapid. Our common kind 

 {Sa/mo salar) makes its way by the Elbe into Bohemia, and 

 through the Loire as far as the environs of Puy, in the an- 

 cient Velay. We also know that it works its way up the 

 Rhine, and visits a portion of the rivers of Switzerland, al- 

 though the irresistible torrent of the Falls of Schaffhausen 

 prevents its ingress to any part of the basin of the great 

 Lake of Constance. It is an entire mistake to state its oc- 

 currence in the Persian Gidf, and equally absvu'd to say 

 that, unreiJelled by the gloomy terrors of a subterranean 

 journey, Salmon from the Gulf, adorned by the fanciful Per- 

 sians with rings of gold and silver, find their way into the 

 Caspian. The non-existence of the supposed communica- 

 tion, is of itself a pretty sufficient barrier, even did no other 

 exist in the laws of nature, and were light and atmospheric 

 air dispensable. M. \'alenciennes states that it belongs not 

 only to France, England, and Germany, but to Schleswig- 

 Holstein, Mecklenburg, Scandinavia, Iceland, and Green- 

 land. It exists also in Labrador and Canada, and down the 

 American coast to the Connecticut River, in Iatitude4l5^° ; 

 and either it, or a species so nearly allied to it as not to 

 be distinguishable except by close comparison, abounds in the 

 Arctic Seas washing the northern shores of the American 

 continent. It does not frequent the rivers falling into the 

 Mediterranean, though Dr Davy informs us, on the autho- 

 rity of an intelligent observer, the clerk of the market at 

 Malta, that a stray Salmon was once cauglit at that island, 

 and brought to the market for sale. Diu-ing nine months 

 residence at Constantinople Dr Davy paid frequent, almost 

 daily visits to the well-supplied fish market of that city, but 

 never saw either Salmon or Trouts among the great variety 

 of other fish that were there for sale. 



In our lower and clearer waters, however, they travel at 

 a ni\ich slower rate than that above alluded to — resting for 

 some time in tlie pools by the ^vay, and now and then 

 taking a regular lie in some chosen spot, which they will 

 return to daily as long as the river continues imfitted for 

 their progress. Upon the least accession, however, to the 

 water, either directly or from some swollen tributary, they 

 are again upon the alert ; and it is often felt by them 

 several hours before the quickest or most experienced 

 human eye can perceive a rise upon the river. Having 

 ascended to a consideri\ble height, they remain more sta- 

 tionary, and proceed more slowly with the subsequent floods 

 till the spawn increases in size. This increase, if not in- 

 fluenced by, is at least so connected with, the commence- 

 ment of the colder weather, as then to proceed at a more 

 rapid rate. As the spawn advances, the symmetry of thi 

 form is disfigured ; the female becomes disproportionatel; 

 large, the colours lose the brightness of their silvery tints, 

 and become dull and gray. The male becomes thin vipon 

 the back, the nose elongates, and the under jaw turns up in 

 a large and strong hook, which enters a hollow in the nose 

 before the pre-maxillary bones. The colours and mark- 

 ings become brown and red, those on tlie head and gill- 

 covers being particidarly brilliant, and disposed in lines 

 almost like the marking of a Spr/rus. In this full breeding 

 dress the male and female seek some ford or shallow stream, 

 and commence to excavate a trench or fin-row (chiefly by 

 the exertions of the female). In this the spawn is depo- 

 sited, and impregnated at tlie same time, and finally covered 

 with gravel by the exertions of the fish. The furrow is 

 generally from six to nine inches in depth ; and when the 

 spawn has appeared to be covered beyond that depth, this 

 has occurred from some other circumstances — such as the 

 stream or floods having carried downward additional masses 

 of gra\el, &c. After this great eftiirt has been accomplished, 



