FISH AND FISHING IN AMERICA. 



BY W.M. C. HARRIS. 

 (Continued from page 68.) 



In addition to the three described 

 species of large chub found east of the 

 Rocky Mountains, there are cyprinoids 

 of the Pacific Slope that grow to a large 

 size and frequently give interesting 

 sport to the rod fisherman. 



The hard-mouth chub, or chisel- 

 mouth, ./J rr^r/'/Z/^j- alittacciis — the generic 

 name from the Greek signifying " sharp- 

 lipped," grows to twelve inches, or 

 slightly more, and is found in the Col- 

 umbia River and tributaries. Its 

 scales are irregularly placed on some 

 of the fins and the lateral line is strong- 

 ly decurved ; the lower lip is covered 

 with a thin cartilaginous plate and the 

 peduncle (the fleshy part of the tail) is 

 very long, slender, cylindrical and 

 slightly tapering. The body is four 

 and a quarter times longer than its 

 bluntish head and four times greater 

 than its depth. The tail fin is strongly 

 forked and longer than the head ; the 

 accessory or lesser rays at its base are 

 very numerous, and turn back on the 

 peduncle ; it has no barbel or " feeler "; 

 ten rays in the dorsal fin and nine in 

 the anal ; coloration is dark with paler 

 belly, and all parts of the body are cov- 

 ered with small black spots. This fish 

 takes a lure, but is not considered good 

 on the table. 



Orthodon viicrolcpidotus — generic 

 name from the Greek signifying 

 "straight-toothed" — reaches a length 

 of eighteen inches, possibly more, and 

 is found in the Great Basin of Utah, 

 and in great numbers in the California 

 streams, where it is sometimes called 

 black-fish, and where it takes a baited 

 hook greedily ; quantities are brought 

 to the San Francisco markets and sold 



mainly to the Chinese. This fish may 

 be known by the knob on the tip of the 

 chin, absence of barbels, and the very 

 large rays at the foot of caudal fin. On 

 the upper side of the head, which is 

 very flat, there are two bony ridges, 

 and its body is four times longer than 

 the head, and four and a half that of 

 its depth. It has nine dorsal and eight 

 anal rays ; in coloration it is plain or 

 faintly grayish. 



Lavinia cxilicaiida — the generic name 

 is a classical one without special appli- 

 cation to these fishes — is another of tlie 

 chub species, often called Hitch or 

 Chigh, caught in the California rivers, 

 where it grows to about fifteen inches. 

 Although a market fish, its flesh is not 

 highly esteemed, but as it rises, like the 

 other chubs, freely to the fly, it deserves 

 mention. It has a very slender pedun- 

 cle, a small, short cone-shaped head and 

 a small dorsal, but large anal fin. Its 

 body is four and two-thirds times long- 

 er than its head and three and a third 

 greater than its depth. It has ten dor- 

 sal and twelve anal rays, and the belly 

 behind the ventral fins is covered en- 

 tirely by scales. Its color is dark above, 

 slightly silvering on the sides. 



The Flat-headed chub, Platygolis 

 gracilis — the generic name from the 

 Greek signifying " broad," and the 

 Latin gobio, a gudgeon — is found in the 

 Rocky Mountain region from the Kan- 

 sas and Yellowstone rivers to the Sas- 

 katchawan, and of all fishes, seems to 

 be the one best adapted to life in the 

 muddy, alkaline streams of that region ; 

 it is abundant, grows to twelve inches 

 or more, and rises freely to the artificial 

 fly. The upper surface of its small. 



