Kendall. — Rainbow and Steelhead Trout 195 



both had been derived directly or indirectly from McCloud 

 River rainbow trout and Oregon steelheads, and it cannot be 

 known how many hybrids of these two forms he produced 

 and planted in the waters of his state. 



If there was inbreeding of the brood of original McCloud 

 stocks at different stations, it seems to me that the exchange 

 of eggs of these several stations to be reared as breeders would 

 have relieved the situation. The new California material 

 should have been kept separate and alleged inbreeding pre- 

 vented in the same way. However, we didn't know. In fact 

 it is quite possible that all of the troubles, if any, were not 

 attributable to inbreeding. Indeed, the majority of difficulties 

 not due to other causes, elsewhere referred to, were probably 

 produced by the remedy applied, i. e., admixture of a new 

 stock of wild trout of other species. 



I have recently received specimens of supposed rainbow 

 trout from the Madison River, Montana. Two of four speci- 

 mens are unmistakably straight steelhead trout. Two are of 

 some other form but not typical McCloud River trout; prob- 

 ably they are Klamath "rainbows," whatever they are taxo- 

 nomically considered to be. To repeat, as far as now known 

 the oldest name for the fine scaled trout of the McCloud and 

 upper Sacramento type is Sahno shasta Jordan. The streams 

 of Mount Whitney, Kern River, and other waters in that 

 region are inhabited by trout of this character. In fact, it is 

 hard to distinguish, even by color, Salmo gilberti of the Kern 

 River from Salmo shasta. 



The steelhead, as previously stated, must continue to bear 

 the name Salmo gairdnerii, with which Salmo irideiis and 

 Salmo rivularis become synonymous. Although it will not 

 aid in distinguishing Salmo shasta from Salmo gairdnerii by 

 external observation, it should be mentioned that the rainbow 

 has 63 vertebrae and the steelhead 60, invariably in the speci- 

 mens which I have so far examined, counting all segments. 



