ZOOLOGY. 409 



streams of California at all seasons, and they can be had fresh 

 in the San Francisco market every day in the year. 



The qniunat is the chief salmon of all the streams and bays 

 of California, but Gairdner's salmon (Fario gairclneri) is 

 found in the Klamath River, and the stellatus salmon in Hum- 

 boldt Bay and its tributaries. Gairdner's salmon has a sil- 

 very-gray back, silvery sides, and a yellowish-white belly. 

 The body has numerous indistinct, blackish spots. The stel- 

 latus salmon is light-olive in the back, yellowish-white on the 

 belly, and rarely exceeds two or three pounds in weight. 



326. Halibut. There are two species of halibut on the 

 coast of California, the Californian (Hippoglossus californi- 

 cus) and the common (Hippoglossus vulgaris). There is 

 some doubt whether the latter species is properly named ; if it 

 be, then we have one species of fish found on the Atlantic 

 coast. The Californian halibut is a slender fish, weighing at 

 the largest twenty-five pounds, in color grayish-brown above 

 and white below. The halibut prefer a colder climate, and 

 are not sufficiently abundant in this latitude to sustain a spec- 

 ial fishery ; but a few are in our market throughout the year. 

 They live in deep water, and in places where the bottom is 

 rocky. They eat little fish and shell-fish, and bite readily at 

 the hook. Their meat is very delicate. 



327. Turbot. The turbot (Pleuronychthys rugosus) is 

 the only large flat-fish, except the halibut, found along our 

 shore. It inhabits deep waters and rocky bottoms, eats fish, 

 and bites readily at the hook, is one of the best fish in our 

 market, and sometimes grows to weigh twenty pounds, but 

 the common size is from three to ten pounds. 



328. Sole. We have four species of small flat-fish, com- 

 monly called soles (Psettichthys sordidus, Psettichthys mela- 

 nostictus, Parophrys vetulus, and Platessa bilmeata). They 

 are so much alike, that they are not distinguished from 

 one another by fishermen generally. The Platessa bilmeata is 

 the largest, sometimes weighing two pounds ; the others rarely 



