

Salmo. fishes. MALACOPTERYGIOUS. 179 



Gen. XXI. SALMO. Salmon. — The first dorsal fin as near 

 the head as the ventrals. Teeth strong, numerous. Gill- 

 flap of more than eight rays. Under-jaw of tlie males 

 turned up. 



1. Tail forked. 



a. Migi'atoiy from the sea. 



40. S. Salar. Common Salmon. — Upper jaw longest ; teeth 



on the vomer ; anal fin with about thirteen rays. 



S. Merr. Pin. 188. Sibb. Scot. 24. Will. Ich. 189 Salmo rostro ultra 



inferiorem maxillam srepe prominente, Artedi, Ich. Syn. 22 — S. Salar, 

 Linn. Syst. i. 509. Fenn. Brit. Zool. iii. 284. — TF", Gleisiedyn, Eog, 

 ]\Iaran Taliesin ; G, Bradan — In the sea and rivers. 



This fish seldom exceeds 3 feet in length, and weighs from 10 to upwards 

 of 70 pounds in weight. The back is of a bluish- black colour, passing into 

 grey and white on tlie sides and belly, more or less spotted above the latei'al 

 line. The following is the ordinary number of rays in the fins, — D. 14, P. 14, 

 V. 10, A. 13, C. 2' . Salmon leave the sea, and ascend the rivers through- 

 out the summer season. Having reached the suitable station, they pair, and, 

 in company, proceed to excavate a furrow, in tlie gravelly bed of the shallow 

 or running water at the top or bottom of the deeper pools. Into this furrow 

 the milt and roe are simultaneously deposited, and covered. This operation 

 occupies nearly a fortnight. The eggs sometimes amount to 20,000. When 

 the fisla have spawned, or become kelts, they betake themselves to the deep 

 pools, and then prcKjeed to the sea, the males commencing the Journey earlier 

 than the females. Their favourite food in the sea is the sand-eel. The fry 

 leave the spawning-groove about March, retire to pools, and proceed, ac- 

 cording to circumstances, in myriads along the easy water at the margin of 

 the river, with their heads against the stream, until they reach the tide in 

 the estuary, whei-e, like the kelts, whicli frequently go down at the same 

 time, tliey retire to the deepest part of the channel, and disappear in the sea. 

 These samlets, smoults or smouts, are regarded by many as reappearing in 

 the estuaries a few months afterwards in the character of grilses, of fi'om 3 to 

 9 pounds weight, according to the lateness of the season. The reader who 

 wishes to obtain accurate information regarding the habits of this species, its 

 economical and commercial value, may consult with advantage the "Reports 

 from the Select Committee (of the House of Commons) on the Salmon Fish- 

 eries of the United Kingdom," in 1824 and 1825, and the Edin. Phil. Journ. 

 No. xxiv. p. 335. et seq. 



41. S. Hucho. Bull-trout. — Upper-jaw longest. No teeth 

 in the vomer; anal-fin with about ten rays. 



Trutta fluviatiiis Huch Gennannis dicta. Will. Ich. 197, and the Scurf, 



ib. 193 — S. H. Block. Ich. tab. 100 In the sea and rivers. 



This species is little inferior to the salmon in size. Its shape is more 

 lengthened. The colour nearly the same. The flesh white and insipid. In 

 the upper-jaw there is a single row of teeth on the maxillaries, intermaxil- 

 laries, and palatines, but none in the middle on the vomer. A single row of 

 teeth on the lower-jaw. The tongue with a row of teeth on each side. The 

 rays of the fins of one which I examined were B. 11, D. 13, P. 14, V. 10. 

 A. 10. 



