44 REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS. 



to Dr. David S. Jordan for classification. He classifies the fish as Steel- 

 head trout {Salvio gairdneri) , and says: "They correspond more nearly 

 to the Salmon trout of England than do any other of our American 

 species. The name Salmon trout is promiscuously used for all sorts 

 of large trout or small salmon, but if any fish on this west coast is 

 entitled to that name it is the Steel-head." 

 Issued by order of the Board. . 



RAMON E. WILSON, 



Secretary. 



Office of the Board of Fish Commissioners, ) 

 San Francisco, February 15, 1892. j 

 [Bulletin No. 4.] 



By permission of Dr. David Starr Jordan, President of the Leland 

 Stanford, Junior, University, the Board of Fish Commissioners of the 

 State of California take pleasure in presenting the following able and 

 instructive discourse on the subject of " Salmon and Trout of the Pacific 

 Coast." 



Issued bv order of the Board. 



RAMON E. WILSON, 



Secretary. 



SALMON AND TROUT OF THE PACIFIC COAST. 

 By Dr. David Starr .Jordan, President Leland Stanford, .Junior, University. 



Of all the families of fishes, the one most interesting from almost every 

 point of view is that of the Salmonidse, the Salmon family. As now 

 understood, it is not one of the largest families, as it comprises less 

 •than a hundred species; but in beauty, activity, gaminess, quality as 

 food, and even in size of individuals, difierent members of the group 

 stand easily with the first among fishes. 



The Salmonidas are found only in the North Temperate and Arctic 

 regions, and within this range they are everywhere almost equally 

 abundant wherever suitable waters occur. Some of the species, espe- 

 cially the larger ones, are marine and anadromous, living and growing 

 in the sea, and ascending fresh Avaters to spawn. Still others live in 

 running brooks, entering lakes or the sea when occasion serves, but not 

 habitually doing so. Still others are lake fishes, approaching the shore 

 or entering brooks in the spawning season; at other times retiring to 

 waters of considerable depth. Some of them are active, voracious, and 

 gamy, while others are comparatively defenseless and will not take the 

 hook. 



All the Salmonidse feed upon fish; the smaller ones upon worms, 

 insects, and small fish; the larger forms on fishes and Crustacea — what- 

 ever they can find. The eggs of the species are much larger than in 

 fishes generally, and the ovaries are without special duct, the eggs fall- 

 ing into the cavity of the abdomen before they are excluded. The large 

 size of the eggs, the fact that they do not stick together, and the ease 

 with which they may be impregnated, render all the Salmonidx pecul- 

 iarly adapted for artificial culture. 



Naturalists divide the Salmonidse into nine genera: Coregonus, the 

 White Fish; Plecoglossus, a little annual fish Avhich is found in the 



