CHAPTER III 



THE SALMON 



The Teleosteans. The Sahiion family : its marine origin — 

 the British genera. The Sahnon : distribution — differences 

 from Trout — Hfe in the sea — ascent of rivers — feeding in fresh 

 water — characters of breeding fish — spawning — Kelts — Rawners 

 — Hybrids — Alevins — Parr — Smolts — Grilse — small spring 

 Salmon — maiden Salmon — annual Spawners. Age of large fish 

 — characters of large fish — the homing instinct — names of 

 Salmon at different periods of life defined — Dahl's researches — 

 marking experiments — scale investigation. Ripe Parr — land- 

 locked Salmon — enemies of Salmon — lice and maggots 

 — disease — Salmon as food — ancient fisheries — litigation caused 

 by the Salmon — improvement of Salmon rivers — Bibliography 

 — the Salmon of the North Pacific 



ALL the remaining British freshwater fishes 

 belong to the class Pisces and the subclass 

 Teleostei, and have a well-ossified skeleton ; they differ 

 from the Chondrostei as defined on p. 15, in 

 several features of specialization ; the bones which 

 overlie the primary pectoral arch and connect it with 

 the skull, are reduced in number to three ; the 

 dorsal and anal rays are less numerous, and are 

 usually not separable into lateral series, each being 

 united in the middle line with the corresponding ray 

 of the other side ; the muscular lobes at the bases of 

 the fins and their included series of radial segments 

 of the skeletal supports are greatly reduced, and 



