REPORT OF (COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. CXXV 

 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 



Studies of tlie fish life of the District of Columbia aud vicinity, which 

 had been in progress for several years, resulted in the preparation of 

 a preliminary report* on the subject by Dr. H. M. Smith and Mr. B. A- 

 Bean. Although the food and game fishes of the region have received 

 considerable attention, there has been little notice taken of the smaller 

 species which are important as food for the others, and no list of the 

 fishes of the locality has been published. 



The observations and collections so far made show a more extensive 

 fish fauna than has generally been attributed to the region, while 

 further inquiry will doubtless disclose the occurrence of other species. 

 The number of species at present known is 81, of which about 30 are of 

 direct economic value. The work of the Commission in acclimatizing 

 useful fishes has been very successful in the Potomac, some of the best 

 species having been introduced. Among those which have become 

 abundant are the large-mouth black bass, small-mouth black bass, 

 cali(;o bass, and crappie. One ol the most interesting features of the 

 District fauna is the regular or accidental appearance of typical salt- 

 water fishes, about a dozen of which have thus far been recorded. 



SAN PEDRO RIVER, ARIZONA. 

 This stream is one of the southern tributaries of the Gila Eiver, a 

 branch of the Colorado. It rises in Mexico and pursues a northerly 

 course of about 130 miles in Arizona before joining the Gila. The fish 

 fauna of the river has been practically unknown. In the spring of 

 1899 Dr. r. U. Kirsch, formerly fish commissioner of Indiana, but now 

 residing in Arizona, volunteered to make an examination of the fish 

 life of this river for the Commission and prepare a report thereon. The 

 inciuiries began in the vicinity of Benson, and will be extended so as 

 to embrace the entire basiu of this river. 



BASIN OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER. 

 Lake Chelan, Washington. — In August, 1898, Prof. B. W. Evermann 

 visited Lake Chelan, Washington, for the purpose of determining the 

 general features of the fish fauna, and whether any species of salmon 

 resort to it or its tributaries for spawning puri)Oses. This lake is one 

 of the largest bodies of water in the interior of the Northwestern States, 

 and is by iar the largest lake in Washington. It is ]ocate<l wholly in 

 Okanogan County, aud extends in a generally northwesterly direction 

 for GO or 65 miles, its width varying from three-fourths of a mile to 2 

 miles. It occupies the bed of an old glacier, and on the north is sur- 

 rounded by high mountains of the Cascade Kange, but at the lower end 

 there are only hills. The lake discharges into the Columbia River 

 through an outlet — the Chelan River — 8 or 9 miles long, the descent 

 from the lake to the Columbia of 445 feet being broken by a series of 

 rapids and cascades. While the falls are quite high during low water, 

 it is thought they do not constitute a barrier to passage of fish when 



* List of fishes kuown to inhabit waters of the District of Columbia aud vicinity. 



