88 REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS. 



northern Mexico, thence northward and coastwise, the sea-running forms 

 passing from stream to stream. 



Of the American species the rainbow trout of California (Salmoiri- 

 deus) most nearly approaches the European Salmo fario. It has the 

 scales comparatively large, although rather smaller than in SdhnofariOy 

 the usual number in a longitudinal series being about 185. The mouth 

 is smaller than in other American trout; the maxillary, except in old 

 males, rarely extending beyond the eye. The caudal fin is well forked, 

 becoming in very old fishes more nearly truncate. The head is relatively 

 large, about four times in the total length. The size of the head 

 forms the best distinctive character. The color, as in all the other 

 species, is bluish, the sides silvery in the males, with a red lateral band, 

 and reddish and dusky blotches. The head, back, and upper fins are 

 sprinkled with round black spots, which are very variable in number, 

 those in the dorsal usually in about nine rows. In specimens taken 

 in the sea this species, like most other trout in similar conditions, is 

 bright silvery, and sometimes immaculate. This species is especially 

 characteristic of the waters of California. It abounds in every clear 

 brook, from the Mexican line northward to Mount Shasta, or beyond, 

 the species passing in the Columbia region by degrees into the variety 

 or form known as Salmo masoni, the Oregon rainbow trout, a small rain- 

 bow trout common in the forest streams of Oregon, with smaller mouth 

 and fewer spots on the dorsal. No true rainbow trout have been anywhere 

 obtained to the eastward of the Cascade range or of the Sierra Nevada, 

 except as artificially planted in the Truckee River. The species varies 

 nuich in size; specimens from northern California often reach a weight of 

 six pounds, while in the streams above Tia Juana in Lower California, the 

 southernmost locality from which I have obtained trout, they seldom 

 exceed a length of six inches. Although not usually an anadromous 

 species, the rainbow trout frequently moves about in the rivers, and it 

 often enters the sea, large sea-run specimens being often taken for steel- 

 heads. Several attempts have been made to introduce it in Eastern 

 streams, but it appears to seek the sea when it is lost. It is apparently 

 more hardy and less greedy than the American charr, or brook-trout 

 {Salvelinus fontinalis). On the other hand, it is distinctly inferior to 

 the latter in beauty and in gaminess. 



Three varieties of some importance have been indicated: Salmo iri- 

 deus fitonei, the Nissui trout of the Klamath, with spots posteriorly 

 only rarely; Salmo irideus shasta, of the upper Sacramento; and the 

 small-scaled Salmo irideus gilherti, of the Kings and Kern rivers. In 

 the headwaters of the Kern the waterfall of Agua-Bonita shuts off 

 the movements of the trout. Above this fall is a dwarf form with 

 bright golden fins, and the scales scarcely imbricated. This is the 

 "golden trout of Mount Whitney," Salvio irideus agua-honita. It will 



