146 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, 



the base. It is probable that the three specimens of 

 Trachyptcrus mentioned by us in the Synopsis of the 

 Fishes of North America, page 619, and referred with 

 doubt to Trac/iyptcrus altivclis, really belong to the pres- 

 ent species. One of these specimens was taken at Santa 

 Cruz, Cal., b}- Dr. C. L. Anderson, and presented to 

 the United States National Museum ; the other two were 

 obtained in the Straits of Fuca by Mr. J. G. Swan, and 

 were not preserved. According to Mr. Swan the spe- 

 cies is known by the Makah Indians west of the Straits 

 of Fuca as "King of the Salmon," and its destruction is 

 believed to have a baneful influence on the salmon fish- 

 ino;. 



The t3'pe of the present description was obtained b}' a 

 fisherman in the open sea outside the bay of San Fran- 

 cisco. It is preserved in the museum of the Leland 

 Stanford Jr. University, on the register of which it is 

 numbered 1382. The specimen is in perfect condition. 



