TJie American Anzlcr 



concentration still goes on. The ques- 

 tions are still fairly numerous and still 

 unsettled, and should we live lono- 

 enough, there will yet remain correc- 

 tions to be made in our present notes. 

 I see with regret that Professor Jor- 

 dan has given the sanction of his great 

 reputation to the term salmon-trout, 

 and applies it to the steelhead — Saliiio 

 gairdneri. One hears this vexatious 

 name from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

 In the East it is used in connection 

 with the great lake-trout — Cristivouier 

 namaycush. In the West to any large 

 trout whose flesh is pink. I have 

 always hoped the term would fail to 

 find an authority to support it. 



Strange to say I have never heard 

 a steelhead called a salmon trout, on 

 the Pacific slope. Would it not be bet- 

 ter, perhaps, to let the name steelhead 

 stand alone, or, if another name seems 

 necessary, call him a sea-trout, as the 

 anglers of Europe call the 5. trutta. 



Following the English theory, which 

 suggests the probability that the Salvia 

 fario may be but a form of the Saluio 

 trjitta habituated to inland waters, our 

 ichthyologists apply it to the rainbow — 

 6^. iridciis and steelhead — .S". gairdneri, 

 surmising that the one may be but the 

 inland form of the other. Future in- 

 vestigation may demonstrate the cor- 

 rectness of this view. At present, 



The Steelhead — Salmo gairdnen gairdneri. 



Anglers in Europe almost invariably 

 call the Sali/io trutta by the name of sea- 

 trout. Itscongener in America is, doubt- 

 less, the steelhead. While Professor 

 Jordan admits there is nothing of the 

 salmon about him, and that he is not 

 even anadromous; although he is 

 found in salt water more than any 

 other trout, still every trout goes more 

 or less to the sea if his surroundings 

 admit of it; yet his name is mixed up, 

 as it were, with the salmon, and with 

 him will continue to be confused the 

 great lake char, and all the big trout 

 of the Pacific, should they happen to 

 have pink flesh. 



however, it is a doubtful question, ad- 

 mittedly so, by the authorities on the 

 subject. 



While there is absolutely no structural 

 differences between the fish, there ap- 

 pears to be good authority for a marked 

 difference in the young. This dift'er- 

 ence has been observed by Dr. Gilbert 

 in Alaskan waters, where the young of 

 the steelhead and rainbow w^ere seen 

 together; and at the California State 

 Hatchery at Sisson, the spawn of the 

 two were hatched out, and the differ- 

 ence between the young fish easily 

 noted. 



Anticipating the correctness of the 



