I. THE SPECIES OF SALMON AND THE RUNS. 



The Pacific coast salmons are all included in the genus Oncorhyn- 

 chus. With them the fishermen incorrectly class the steelhead trout, 

 which really belongs to the closely related genus Salmo. 



As long ago as 1731 the species of Oncorhynchus were first made 

 known by Steller, who, almost simultaneously with Krascheninikov, 

 another early investigator, distinguished them with perfect accuracy 

 under their Russian vernacular names. In 1792 Walbaum adopted 

 these vernacular names in a scientific nomenclature for these fishes. 



Five species of salmon (Oncorhynchus) are found in the waters 

 of the north Pacific, ranging northward from Monterey Bay on 

 the American coast and Japan on the Asiatic, the extreme northern 

 distribution of certain of the species having not yet been accurately 

 determined. The five species are: (1) Oncorhynchus tschaivytscha, 

 quinnat, tyee, chinook, spring, or king salmon; (2) Oncorhynchus 

 nerka, blueback, red, sukkegh, or sockeye salmon; (3) Oncorhynchus 

 kisutch, silver, coho, or white salmon; (4) Oncorhynchus keta, dog or* 

 chum salmon; and (5) Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, humpback or pink 

 salmon. 



CHINOOK, QUINNAT, OR KING SALMON. 



The largest, best known, and most valuable of these is the chinook 

 or king salmon (O. tschawytscha) . It is found throughout the 

 region from the Ventura River, Cal., to Norton Sound, Alaska, and 

 on the Asiatic coast as far south as northern China. As knowledge 

 extends, it will probably be recorded in the Arctic. 



In the spring the body is silvery, the back, dorsal fin, and caudal 

 fin having more or less of round black spots, and the sides of the 

 head having a peculiar tin-colored metallic luster. In the fall the 

 color is, in some places, black or dirty red. The fish has an average 

 weight of about 22 pounds, but individuals weighing 70 to over 100 

 pounds are occasionally taken. One was caught near Klawak, 

 Alaska, in 1909, which weighed 101 pounds without the head. The 

 Yukon River is supposed to produce the finest examples, although 

 this supposition is not based on very reliable observations. The 

 southeast Alaska fish average as high as 23 pounds in certain sea- 

 sons, followed by an average of about 22 pounds in the Columbia 

 River, and about 16 pounds in the Sacramento. 

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