96 



TJie American AjiHer 



skin of the mouth behind the jaws be- 

 ing folded — is one of the largest of 

 American cyprinoids, growing to the 

 length of five feet. I have caught 

 specimens in Clark's Fork of the Col- 

 timbia that were nearly three feet long 

 and quite vigorous when hooked. It 

 may be distinguished by its long, slen- 

 der, pike-like head, large mouth and the 

 situation of its dorsal fin, which is set 

 well back behind the ventral fins, which 

 increases its resemblance to the pike, 

 and which, in connection with its head, 

 gives the popular name to it. The lat- 

 eral line is strongly decurved, trending 

 along more of the belly than the back, 

 and the scales are thickly marked with 

 black dots. The length of the body is 

 four times greater than that of the head 

 and five times longer than the greatest 

 depth of the body. The coloration is 

 olive, and the fins in spring are red or 

 orange. It is found in the rivers of the 

 Pacific Slope, chiefly those west of the 

 Sierra Nevada, but is abundant through- 

 out the Columbia river basin except 

 above Shoshone Falls, where it does 

 not seem to occur. Of this fish Profes- 

 sor Evermann writes me : 



'■'■p. oregonensis is quite a game fish, 

 rising readily to the fly and fighting 

 with vigor for a time. I had great 

 sport in 1891 catching them at Flathead 

 lake, and again in 1895 at the Redfish 

 lakes in Idaho. It is very abundant in 

 this last place, and takes the fly in the 

 lakes as readily as does a trout. But 

 salmon spawn is the best bait. * Squaw- 

 fish ' is the Flathead lake name, while 

 in Idaho it is called ' yellow-belly.' " 



There are several other species of the 

 foregoing genus which are brought 

 into the markets of San Francisco : P 

 rapax^ probably not distinct from the 

 Sacramento pike, from which it may 

 be distinguished by the lateral line run- 

 ning along the median line, not along 



the belly as in the former fish. It does 

 not grow so large, and the dorsal fin is 

 not set so far back. The second species 

 is P. Jiarfordi^ a more slender fish than 

 the Sacramento pike, with the lateral 

 line similarly decurved, but the tail fin 

 is less deeply forked. The length of the 

 body is four times that of the head, and 

 five and three-quarter times its greatest 

 depth. It is found principally in the 

 Sacramento river, and owing to its large 

 size is fair game on the rod. The third 

 species, P. Indus, the Colorado pike, is 

 really the largest of the American cyp- 

 rinoids, and looks very much like the 

 Sacramento pike, so much so that it 

 will require careful study of both fish 

 to distinguish them apart ; the re- 

 stricted habitat (the Colorado of the 

 West) of P. Indus will, however, render 

 the angler's quest an easy one, pro- 

 vided further investigation does not 

 widen the habitat of both these fishes, 

 or what is more likely, relegate them to 

 one species. The color of both of these 

 fish is very similar, although it would 

 appear from the descriptions in the text 

 books that the Colorado river fish is 

 without the black spots on scales which 

 are present on the Sacramento pike. 

 The length of the body is three and a 

 half times that of the head, and five and 

 a half times more than the depth, show- 

 ing it to be more slender and longer in 

 proportion than the last named fish. 

 There is also one ray less in each of the 

 dorsal and anal fins, but it should be 

 borne in mind that a variation of one- 

 sixth in number of rays in either direc- 

 tion does not effect classification of 

 species. This fish grows to a weight of 

 eighty pounds and is also called the 

 White salmon of the Colorado. It is 

 considered a great game fish by local 

 anglers. 



Under the generic name of Gila, we 

 find several cyprinoids on the Pacific 



