146 RESOURCES or CALIFORNIA. 



blooded animals, and the moment after they leave the mother 

 they are seen swimming and taking care of themselves. There 

 are seventeen or eighteen specids belonging to the several 

 genera, amonir which the embiotoca and holconotis are promi- 

 nent. All are marine fishes save one, which is found in fresh 

 water. They weigh from half a pound to three pounds, and 

 most of them are grayish brown above and silvery beneath. 

 They are abundant in the market at all seasons of the year, 

 and are called " perch" by the fishermen, though they have no 

 relationship to the true perch. The meat is not good. The 

 young are born from April to August. 



§ 124. Fresh -Water Fishes. — Among the fresh-water fishes 

 the most important is the brook-trout (Salar iridea), which is 

 fomid in all the mountain- streams of the state, and offers fine 

 sport for fly-fishing. It not unfrequently growls to weigh two 

 pounds, and, if report is to be believed, sometimes reaches ten 

 and twelve pounds. In appearance and flavor it is similar to 

 the trout of other countries. 



A fish called the salmon-trout {Ptychocheilus grandis)^ but 

 not related to the salmon, the trout, or the salmon-trout, is 

 found in all the large rivers and lakes of California. It grows 

 to weigh thirty pounds. Its teeth are not in the mouth, but 

 in the throat, where it crushes such shell-fish as it feeds upon. 

 It bites voraciously, and is caught with the hook and with 

 nets. The meat is poor, bony, and insipid. It is brought to 

 the market in winter. The small ones are called pikes. 



A chub {Tygoma crassicauda), and two suckers (Catosto- 

 onus lahicitus and Catostomiis occidenfalis), never weighing 

 more than three pounds, are also found in our rivers. They 

 are not valuable. 



§ 125. Shell-Fish and Crustaceans. — We have five species 

 of shell-fish valuable for the table : one oyster, two muscles, 

 one cockle, and a soft-shelled clam. The oysters are small, 

 not finely-flavored, nor abundant. We have no lobster, but a 

 prawn [PaUnuris), very similar to the lobster in size, color, 

 flavor, habits, and general appearance, except that it lacks the 



