368 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA. 



indeed than could receive the attention deserved to render them 

 equal to the best smoked or salted varieties of Scotch herring. 



Nearly all the marine species of the west and northwest Pacific, 

 except the salmon, will bite freely at the flesh either of the large 

 crayfish (called lobster by the natives), or at the shell fish known 

 as Haliotus splendeiis. 



Besides the species enumerated there are many others, of more 

 or less commercial or local value. Of the Heterolepids, the best is 

 Chiropsis pictus, which is known as sea trout and rockfish in Cali- 

 fornia. The Indians of Fuca Straits capture another, the Oplopoma 

 pantkerz'na, but for this there is no vernacular. The dorsal and 

 lateral region is spotted black ; beneath it is a reddish-brown, and 

 above a blackish brown. The Chiropsis nebulosus is black on the 

 upper region, olivaceous beneath, and the caudal is sub-concave 

 posteriorly. It seems to prefer the brackish mouths of rivers sub- 

 ject to tide-water. 



There is another so-called sea trout of a dark greenish black 

 color, spotted on its sides with red. Its form is rather long, like 

 the trout family. They are very game and lively, and are a good 

 fish for the table. The sculpins are very numerous, and bite freely 

 at a hook, but they are not used at the table, owing to the insipid 

 character of their flesh. Some of the sturgeon, known there as sea 

 bass, weigh from forty to one hundred pounds. In the spawning 

 season they run as far as the Shoshone Falls, a distance of several 

 hundred miles from the ocean. 



The anchovy (Engraulis mordax) frequents Shoalwater Bay 

 in countless myriads ; they are so dense, in fact, that they can be 

 taken with the hand m large numbers on the flats at any time dur- 

 ing the summer. This is equal to the best French sardine, and if 

 canned like it, could be worked into a prominent industry. The 

 body is subfusiform ; deep bluish brown above, silvery beneath. 



Among the non-recognized fishes of California is a species taken 

 in the salt marshes in Marin county, which lives in a hole in the 

 ground, like an animal. The Academy of Sciences has a speci- 

 men. It looks like an ordinary " bull-head," and the skin is eel- 

 like. They seem to have the habits of an eel more than ordinary 

 fish, and the flavor of their flesh is also similar to an eel's. The 

 holes are similar to those made by swallows, and are in such a 



