REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 93 
quantities. It has been canned to some extent on the Columbia, and 
is not inferior to the red salmon for that purpose. 
The Dolly Varden trout (Salvelinus malma) is miscalled ‘* salmon 
trout” in Alaska, where it is by far the most abundant of all the trouts, 
swarming in every stream and lake and about the islands from the 
Columbia River to Bering Sea. It attains a weight of 8 to 12 
pounds, though examples of a greater weight than 1 or 2 pounds 
are not often seen. It is a fairly good food fish, but is of little 
economic value except about the towns where it may be consumed 
fresh, since it can not be taken in such numbers as the canning inter- 
ests require and it is too small for advantageous sale in cold storage. 
As a game fish it offers excellent sport to the angler in almost every 
stream or lake in Alaska. In fresh water the color is rich dark blue 
or olive, with crimson or orange spots; in the sea it changes to steel 
gray with spots of paler gray. 
This trout is the most persistent and destructive enemy of the salmon 
eggs and fry. When the red salmon and the humpbacks enter the 
streams, the Dolly Vardens accompany them in great numbers, and 
may be seen at the falls and cascades leaping and jumping quite as 
freely and vigorously as the salmon. They follow the latter to their 
spawning beds, where they devour the eggs and fry by the millions. 
The only compensation for the destruction wrought by them lies in 
the fact that the salmon sometimes feed upon the young trout. 
The cutthroat trout (Sa/mo clarkiz) occurs sparingly in many streams 
in southeast Alaska and southward, and is a superior game fish. In 
Alaska it probably does not exceed 2 or 3 pounds in weight, and is 
of no importance except to the angler. It is a black-spotted trout, 
and may always be known by the dash of red on each side of the throat. 
The rainbow trout (Salmo zrideus) has not previously been recorded 
from Alaskan waters, but was found by the Alaska Salmon Commis- 
sion in the streams and lakes about Loring and Ketchikan and on Bar- 
anof, Chichagof, Admiralty, Kuiu, and Prince of Wales islands. It 
also Occurs in British Columbia, particularly at Texada Island. The 
species reaches a weight of 2 or 3 pounds, and is the greatest game 
fish in Alaska, if not in American waters. It may be distinguished 
from the cutthroat by the absence of red on the throat and the larger 
scales; from the steelhead by the larger head, larger scales, smaller 
size, and more rosy coloration. It is not abundant enough to be of 
any value except to the angler. 
The Great Lakes trout (Cristévomer namaycush) is common in the 
Yukon and other waters tributary to Bering Sea, reaching a weight 
of 30 to 50 pounds in the lakes at the headwaters of the Yukon.  Itis 
of some commercial importance as a fresh fish at Dawson and other 
mining towns in the interior. 
