FISHES OF SACRAMENTO-SAN JOAQUIN BASIN. lat 
the river, the lowest being 12 feet high. Adult salmon were seen immediately 
below this fall, but it is said that none pass it. McCloud River is an important 
salmon stream, and a government hatchery is situated at Baird, about 2 miles above 
its mouth. ; 
Battle Creek is a swift mountain stream, rising by two branches and draining 
the western slope of Lassen Buttes. It empties into the Sacramento about midway 
between Redding and Red Bluff. It is the most important salmon stream of the 
basin, and a government hatchery is located at its mouth. 
Feather River, next to Pitt River, is the largest tributary of the Sacramento. 
It drains the region between Lassen Buttes and Truckee, and is formed by the union 
of several secondary tributaries. 
Duck Lake hes just west of Big Meadows and is tributary to North Fork of 
Feather River. It is a shallow lake, but is an important breeding place for trout. 
Gold Lake lies high in the mountains east of Sierra Valley and is tributary to 
Middle Fork of Feather River. There are many other lakes in the vicinity, the 
more important being the Salmon Lakes and Sardine Lakes, tributary to a branch 
of Yuba River. They are so named from the salmon-colored trout found in the one 
and the small size of the trout found in the other. 
The name Basset Creek is here used for the first time, designating the branch of 
North Fork of Yuba River whose course is followed by the Sierraville—Sierra City 
stage road. 
American River drains the mountains west and south of Lake Tahoe and 
empties into the Sacramento near the city of Sacramento. It is almost dry in its 
lower course during the summer. The streams farther south, the Mokelumne, 
Stanislaus, Merced, and upper San Joaquin, are similar to the American, but larger. 
They rise near the crest of the Sierras, are formed by the union of north, middle, and 
south forks, flow at right angles to the San Joaquin, into which they empty, and 
have but little water in their lower courses during the summer. 
North Fork of Merced River is separated from the main Merced River by a 
-12-foot fall. Mariposa Creek is a mere brook that during the summer empties into 
the dry bed of Mariposa River. Chouchilla and Fresno rivers are small streams 
that are lost in the sand long before they reach the San Joaquin. 
Kings, Kaweah, Tulle, and Kern rivers drain the west slope of the southern 
portion of the Sierras. Their water hardly ever, or never, reaches the San Joaquin, 
being used largely for irrigation. 
Tulare Lake, which at one time furnished fish to San Francisco markets, is 
now dry. 
Two Kern Lakes have been recognized by collectors. One is in Tulare Valley 
and receives the drainage of Kern River during the rainy season; the other is an 
enlargement of the channel of Kern River near Mount Whitney, just below the mouth 
of Volcano Creek. 
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW. 
The following bibliography includes all known records for this basin, with the 
names of the collectors wherever possible. Species recorded as new are distin- 
guished in the tabulated lists by means of italics. A synonymy which includes the 
reference to the original description, a reference to each synonym that has been applied 
