Jordan and Evermann. Fishes of North America. 475 



of 14 to 20 rays. Pyloric appendages in increased number. Gill rakers 

 rather numerous. Ova large. Sexual peculiarities very strongly devel- 

 oped ; the snout in the adult males in summer and fall greatly distorted ; 

 the premaxillaries prolonged, hooking over the lower jaw, which in turn 

 is greatly elongate and somewhat hooked at tip ; the teeth on these bones 

 also greatly enlarged. The body becomes deep and compressed ; a fleshy 

 hump is developed before the dorsal fin, and the scales of the back 

 become embedded in the flesh ; the flesh, which is red and rich in spring, 

 becomes dry and poor. Salmon, mostly of large size, ascending the rivers 

 tributary to the North Pacific in North America and Asia, spawning in the 

 fall. Only five species are known. The genus is very close to Salmo, 

 differing only in the increased number of certain organs, (oy/cof , hook ; 

 /tay^of, snout.) 



Concerning the habits and distribution of the salmon we quote the 

 following, based on the observations of Jordan & Gilbert, which has 

 been published elsewhere. (See " The Salmon Family," in Jordan's 

 Science Sketches, 35-82, 1887, A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago.) Some 

 recent observations of Dr. Gilbert and Dr. Evermann are also included : 



Of the species of OncorJiynchus, the Blueback (0. nerka) predominates in Fraser River and in 

 the Yukon River, the Silver Salmon (0. kisutch) in Puget Sound, the Quiunat (0. tschawytscha) in 

 the Columbia and the Sacramento, and the Silver Salmon in most of the streams along the coast. 

 All the species have been seen by us in the Columbia and in Fraser River ; all but the Blueback 

 in the Sacramento and in waters tributary to Puget Sound. Only the King Salmon has been 

 noticed south of San Francisco. Its range has been traced as far as Ventura River. Of these 

 species, the King Salmon and Blueback Salmon habitually "run" in the spring, the others in 

 the fall. The usual order of running in the rivers is as follows : nerka, tschawytscha, kisutch, gor- 

 buscha, keta. According to early authors, the tschawytscha precedes nerka in Kamchatka. 



The economic value of the spring-running salmon is far greater than that of the other species, 

 because they can be captured in numbers when at their best, while the others are usually taken 

 only after deterioration. To this fact the worthlessness of Oncorhynchus keta, as compared with 

 the other species, is probably chiefly due. 



The habits of the salmon in the ocean are not easily studied. King Salmon and Silver Salmon 

 of all sizes are taken with the seine at almost any season in Puget Sound. This would indicate 

 that these species do not go far from the shore. The King'Salmon takes the hook freely in 

 Monterey Bay, both near the shore and at a distance of 6 to 8 miles out. We have reason 

 to believe that these two species do not necessarily seek great depths, but probably remain not 

 very far from the mouth of the rivers in which they were spawned. The Blueback and the Dog 

 Salmon probably seek deeper water, as the former is seldom taken with the seine in the ocean, 

 and the latter is known to enter the Strait of Fuca at the spawning season, therefore coming 

 in from the open sea. The run of the "King Salmon and the Blueback begins generally at the last 

 of March ; it lasts, with various modifications and interruptions, until the actual spawning season, 

 September to November, the time of running and the proportionate amount in each of the subor- 

 dinate runs varying with each different river. By the last of July only straggling Bluebacks 

 ca-.i be found in the lower course of any stream ; but both in the Columbia and in the Sacramento 

 the Quinnat runs in considerable numbers, at least till October. In the Sacramento the run is 

 greatest in the fall, and more run in the summer than in spring. The spring salmon ascends 

 only those rivers which are fed by the melting snows from the mountains, and which have suf- 

 ficient volume to send their waters well out to sea. Those salmon which run in the spring are 

 chiefly adults (supposed to be at least three years old). Their milt and spawn are no more 

 developed than at the same time in others of the same species which are not to enter the rivers 

 until fall. It would appear that the contact with cold fresh water, when in the ocean, in some 

 way causes thorn to run toward it, and to run before there is any special influence to that 

 end exerted by the development of the organs of gene-ration. High water on any of these i ivers 

 in the spring is always followed by an increased run of salmon. The salmon canuers think, 



