THE SALMON TRIBE 



1879 



pendent of seasonal influences. A few fish apparently remain at or about the river 

 mouths during the summer, and eventually return to the sea, but these are so few 

 as to be scarcely worthy of mention. The vast majority practically all, in fact- 

 ascend the streams to spawn, and, having once done so, die. In the case of some 

 species every fish appears to perish; in others, a few get back to the sea." The 

 Oriental salmon ( O. orientalist of Kamchatka commonly grows to a weight of from 

 fifty to sixty pounds; and the flesh is said to be superior in flavor to that of any 

 other member of the family. 



The beautiful and delicately-flavored little fish known as smelts are 



represented by three species, one of which (Osmerus eperlanus) is 



an inhabitant of the seas and many fresh waters of Northern and Central Europe, 



COMMON SMEI/T. 

 (One-half natural size.) 



while the second (O. viridescens], which is perhaps only a variety, is confined to 

 the opposite side of the Atlantic, and the third {O. thaleichthys) is found on the 

 coasts of California. These fish form a kind of connecting link between the salmon 

 and its allies and the under-mentioned Coregonus, but internally differ from both, 

 the appendages to the intestine being short and few in number, and the eggs small, 

 while the teeth are strongly developed. The scales are of moderate size; the cleft 

 of the mouth is wide, with the maxillary bone extending nearly or quite to the 

 hinder margin of the eye; the teeth of the upper jaw are much smaller than those 

 of the lower; the vomer is armed with a transverse series of teeth, several of which 

 are tusk-like; the palatines and pterygoids bear conical teeth; while there are also 

 tusk-like teeth on the front of the tongue, and several longitudinal series of small 

 ones on the hinder part of the same. In length the pectoral fins are medium. 



