ZOOLOGY. 321 



the fact that the very large specimens seen by me were but cursorily examined, and may, in 

 reality, have belonged to a distinct species. 



The discussions which have so frequently occupied the minds of British naturalists concerning 

 the real character and position of the small salmonidae, known to them as &quot; smoults, &quot; &quot;grilse,&quot; 

 &amp;lt;fec., are of collateral interest to American ichthyologists. The study of this family in America 

 is much less trammelled by a multiplicity of names for the immature fish, and, as suggested by 

 Sir John Richardson, may, for that reason, assist much in throwing light upon perplexing 

 obscurities in which the subject is involved in Europe. Many valuable experiments have been 

 carefully instituted by gentlemen in England for settling these vexed questions. Young salmon 

 have been marked and then turned loose, which have been again taken at successive seasons, 

 until gradually a complete chain of evidence has been thus adduced, showing each change, step 

 by step, and link by link, from extreme youth to maturity. 



1. SALMO QUINNAT, Rich. 



Salmo quinnal, RICH. P. B. A. Ill, 1836, 219 DEKAY, N. Y. Fauna, IV, 1842, 242. STOKER, Synopsis, 1846, 

 196. HERBERT, Supplement to Frank Forrester s Fish and Fishing, &c., 1850, 31. GRD. in 

 Proc. A. N. Sc. Phil. VIII, 1856, 217. IBID. Pacific R. R. Reports, vol. VI. IBID. Gen. 

 Rep. Fishes, 306. 

 Common salmon, LEWIS & CLARK. 



FIGURES. A young fish called by this name, and probably belonging to the species, has been figured under Dr. Girard s 

 supervision, and appears in this volume on the Fishes collected by the United States Pacific railroad surveying parties, PLATK 

 LXVII. 



SP. CH. Jldult : Head pointed and large, forming about a fourth of the length from the snout to the end of the scales on the 

 caudal.* Dorsal outline regularly arched. Caudal deeply cut out, (in the dried specimen forked.) Snout cartilaginous, as in 

 S. salar. Chin pointed, a triangular bare projection extending beyond the teeth. Colors:f &quot;General tint of the back bluish 

 gray, changing after a few hours removal from the water into mountain green ; sides ash gray, with silvery lustre ; belly white ; 

 back above the lateral line studded with irregular rhomboidal or star-like black spots, some of them ocellated. Dorsal fin and 

 gill covers slightly reddish ; tips of the anal and pectorals blackish gray ; the dorsal and caudal thickly studded with round and 

 rhomboidal spots, back of the head sparingly marked with the same. Whole body below the lateral line, with the under fins, 

 destitute of spots.&quot; (GAIRDNER in lit. RICH. F. B. A. Fishes, 220.) Scales large. Branchial rays varying from 17 to 20. 



Young : ? &quot; Body fusiform in profile, compressed; head forming about the fifth of the total length; maxillary bone curved, 

 extending beyond the orbit ; anterior margin of the dorsal equidistant between the extremity of the snout and the insertion of the 

 caudal. Dorsal region olivaceous, studded with irregular black spots; dorsal and caudal fins similarly spotted. Region 

 beneath the lateral line unicolor, silvery along the middle of the flanks, and yellowish on the belly. Inferior fins unicolor. 

 Head above blackish gray; sides bluish gray.&quot; GIRARD. 



In shape, and in many other particulars, this fish agrees with the description given in PALLAS, 

 ZOOG. Ross. ASIAT. of the S. orientalis, and, as quoted by BREVOORT in notes on some figures of 

 Japanese fish, like it, reaches a weight of sixty pounds; ascending the larger rivers only in the 

 months of April, May, and June; in having fleshy lips, and in gastronomic excellence. It also 

 has a large pointed head, with very similar jaws. It differs from Mr. Brevoort s figure in 

 having the tail much more deeply cut out almost forked and in having spots on the back and 

 head. It also but seldom attains the large size given above, the average being usually about 

 twenty-five pounds. Valenciennes says that the S. orientalis has numerous crescent-shaped spots 

 above the lateral line. This remark is based on a drawing, taken by Mertens, of a female. 



* The size of the head of most salmon seems to vary in the two sexes, that of the male being larger. 



f The colors, when given under the head of Sp. Ch. in this report, are always those of the fish/resh run from the sea, except 

 when the contrary is stated. 



41 Q 



