Fish and Fishing in America. 



95 



•short head is very broad and flat, re- 

 sembling that of the Gila monster ; its 

 width between the eyes being half the 

 length of the entire head. The body is 

 four and a quarter times the length of 

 the entire head, and four and three- 

 quarters longer than the greatest depth ; 

 the dorsal and anal fins have eight rays 

 each ; the fins are rather large, and the 

 dorsal is set on the back in advance of 

 the middle of the body ; the lateral line 

 is decurved and the eyes are small, 

 placed rather high up and well in front. 

 The coloration is bluish on back, and 

 the sides and belly silvery. 



The Split-tailed chub, Pogonichthys 

 macrolepidottis — the generic name from 

 the Greek signifying ''beard" and 

 " fish " — is very abundant in the Sacra- 

 mento river, and I am told that it 

 reaches a length of twenty inches or 

 more, although the maximum length is 

 recorded by Dr. Goode as being eigh- 

 teen inches. It is a favorite fish with 

 the poorer classes in San Francisco, and 

 like its congeners is a very fair fighter 

 on light tackle. It has a large eye, a 

 well developed barbel, short, slender 

 head and the upper lobe of its tail fin 

 is longer than the lower, being about 

 half again as long as the head. This 

 singular development of the caudal fin 

 renders this species at once distinguish- 

 able from the other American cypri- 

 noids, as none of them show this pecu- 

 larity of growth. It is the only species 

 of the genus Pogonichthys as yet dis- 

 covered. 



The Columbia chub, MylocJiilus caii- 

 riniis — the generic name from the 

 Greek meaning "grinder" and "lip," 

 in allusion to its blunt and much en- 

 larged molar teeth — grows to twelve 

 inches, possibly much larger, and is 

 found in abundance in the Columbia 

 river basin as far up as Flathead lake in 

 Montana and the Great Shoshone Falls 



in Idaho, and in streams west of the 

 Cascade Range from California to Brit- 

 ish Columbia, often entering the sea. 

 Its head is rather small with a small 

 barbel on its jaw ; dorsal and anal fins 

 each with eight rays ; the body is four 

 and two-fifths longer than the head, 

 and four and a half that of its depth. 

 Its rather singular coloration, in addi- 

 tion to the above description, will en- 

 able the angler to readily identify it. 

 It is dark above and silvery on the 

 sides, with a dark lateral band, and be- 

 low this a pale stripe, under which there 

 is another dark stripe which extends to 

 or near the vent. In the spring, dur- 

 ing the spawning season, the belly and 

 the pale stripe are bright red in the 

 breeding males. 



MylopJiaroden conoccpJiatns — the gen- 

 eric name from the Greek signifying 

 "grinder," "pharynx" and "tooth"— is 

 another of the large cyprinoids, rank- 

 ing approximately in size with the Sac- 

 ramento pike, with which it is often 

 confused on account of size and action 

 when hooked. It seems to be confined 

 to the waters of California. Its head 

 is pike-like, broad and much depressed, 

 the snout tapering and nearl)^ wedge- 

 shaped. The dorsal fin is set a little 

 behind the ventral fins, but not so much 

 so as on the Sacramento pike. The 

 peduncle is very long, whereas it is 

 short and stout in the fish just named. 

 The length of the body is about three 

 and a half times longer than the head, 

 and four and two-thirds longer than the 

 depth. It is of dark coloration on the 

 upper parts and paler below ; and has 

 eight rays each in the dorsal and anal 

 fins. It reaches a length of three to 

 four feet, probably longer. 



The Sacramento pike, squawfish, yel- 

 low-belly, or chapparel, Ptychochihis 

 oregonensis — generic name from the 

 Greek signifying "fold" and "lip," the 



