AMERICA'S MOST VALUABLE FISHES 
497 
or fear of contradiction, assign the fore- 
most place among fishes to the sahiions, 
which, entering every stream from Gol- 
den Gate to Bering Strait, constitute the 
most conspicuous element of the fish life. 
The last estimate is the correct one, 
for the Pacific salmons are the most 
valuable fishes not only of the United 
States, but also of the entire western 
hemisphere, and, with the single excep- 
tion of the sea herrings, are commercially 
the leading fishes of the world. 
the; Five; specie;s of pacific salmons 
The Pacific salmons constitute a dis- 
tinct group, closely resembling the At- 
lantic salmon, but separated by marked 
anatomical and physiological peculiarities. 
There are five distinct species, which, 
having many characters in common, 
nevertheless difi:er strikingly in size, 
color, habits, distribution, food value, and 
economic importance. All of the species 
occur on the California coast (to San 
Francisco Bay or a little further south), 
and range thence to the far north, cross- 
ing to Siberia and reaching southward 
into Kamchatka, while three of them ex- 
tend to Japan. 
These fishes were first christened in a 
scientific way by the German physician 
Walbaum, who, in 1792, invested them 
with the vernacular names by which they 
were known among the Russians. The 
rules of nomenclature require that these 
names be retained, and hence these beau- 
tiful creatures must bear for all time 
such outlandish names as kisutch and 
tschaivytscha. It was as late as 1861 that 
Dr. George Suckley, the naturalist of the 
Pacific Railroad Survey, recognizing the 
generic distinctness of these fishes from 
the ordinary salmons (Sahno), gave 
them for the first time a clan name of 
their own, Oncorhynchus, meaning hook 
snout. 
The largest of the genus, and the most 
magnificent of all the salmons, is the 
chinook, quinnat, king, spring, or tyee 
salmon. It has an average weight of 
nearly 25 pounds in the Columbia, and is 
often caught weighing 40 to 60 pounds, 
while occasionally examples of over 100 
pounds are taken. While found from 
California to China, it attains its greatest 
abundance in the Sacramento, Columbia, 
Yukon, and other large streams. 
The species called blueback salmon on 
the Columbia, sockeye on Puget Sound, 
and redfish or red salmon in Alaska, 
averages only five pounds in weight and 
never exceeds twelve. It attains greatest 
abundance in the Columbia, the Eraser, 
and in various streams throughout 
Alaska. Its meat is rich in quality and 
deep red in color, and the fish is there- 
fore in great demand for canning. While 
a beautiful fish when in salt water, with 
bright blue back and silver sides, after 
entering fresh water it deteriorates 
rapidly in food value and appearance, 
the head turns to olive green, and the 
entire back and sides become crimson 
and finally dark blood red. 
The silver or coho salmon, with a gen- 
eral distribution in the coastal streams, 
averages 6 pounds in weight and rarely 
exceeds 25 or 30. 
The smallest species is the humpback, 
so called from the well-marked nuchal 
hump developed by the male in fall. The 
extremes of weight for mature examples 
are 3 and 11 pounds, with 4 pounds as 
the average. The region of greatest 
abundance is Puget Sound to southeast 
Alaska. 
The remaining species, the dog or 
chum salmon, averages 8 pounds in 
weight. It is generally distributed and 
abundant, but, owing to the poor quality 
of the flesh, is the least important of the 
group. The distortion of the jaws in the 
male during the breeding season, while 
characteristic of all the species, is par- 
ticularly marked in i\-2 dog salmon. 
INEVITABLE DEATH AFTER SPAWNING 
The differences in spawning times and 
places of the different species of salmon 
are most interesting. After spending 
most of their lives at sea, sfrowins", ac- 
cumulating fat, and storing energy, the 
salmons move inshore and ascend the 
streams. After once beginning their up- 
ward journey, they take no food, and in 
fact are physiologically incapable of di- 
gesting and assimilating food. 
The quinnat salmon begins to run in 
spring and pushes its way to the head- 
quarters of the larger streams. In the 
