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■*'' »■ National Wumh 



LIST OF FISHES OBTAINED IN THE WATERS OF ARCTIC ALASKA. 



By NoKMAN Bishop Scofield. 



This report is based on a collection of fishes made in 1896 bj' the author and Mr. 

 Alvin Scale, under the auspices of the Hopkins Laboratory of the Leland Stanford 

 Junior University. 



Through the aid of Mr. Timothy Hopkins and of the late Capt. J. N. Knowles, then 

 president of the Pacific Steam Whaling Company, of San Francisco, the writer, with 

 Mr. Seale, received passage on the vessels of the company from San Francisco to 

 Herschel Island and return, and were afforded every opportunity to make collections 

 at the various ports of call. 



Embarking at San Francisco on the J. D. Peters, one of the company's sailing 

 vessels, our first stop was at King Island near Bering Strait, where we arrived on 

 the 3d of July. 



King Island is about 10 miles in circumference, with precipitous, rocky sides, on 

 which it is possible to obtain a footing at only one place. This is occupied by a small 

 Eskimo village, the summer huts supported on stilts and clinging to the face of the 

 clifflike birds' nests. It was impossible to use a seine at this point. With the hook 

 and line we succeeded in catching only one kind of fish, a sculpin {Myoxocephalus ver- 

 rucosus). We remained in the neighborhood of the island about a week waiting for 

 the harbor of Port Olarence to become clear of ice. The winter just passed had been 

 very severe throughout northern Alaska, and the breaking up of the ice at Port 

 Clarence, which usually occurs in the latter part of June, did not begin until the 

 11th of July. We succeeded in entering the harbor on the following day. Herring 

 and salmon were already running. The smelt {Osmerus dentex) was a little later in 

 arriving, and the capelin {Mallotus villosus) did not appear until the 25th, the day of 

 our departure. The lateness of the season retarded the arrival of the anadromous 

 fishes by about two weeks. We learned later that the same was true for that season 

 of the fishes which entered the Mackenzie River. 



Port Clarence is situated 40 miles southeast of Bering Strait. The main harbor, 

 which is circular, is about 13 miles across, and is separated from the ocean on the west 

 by a long, low sand spit. The shores are all low, with gravelly beaches, and the water 

 averages about 6 fathoms in depth. The inner narbor, known as Grautley Harbor, is 

 small and separated from the main port by another sand spit. Flowing into Grantley 

 Harbor is a river, about a quarter of a mile in width, which is fed by a large lake some 

 20 or 30 miles from its mouth. During our stay at Port Clarence we made a two days' 

 trip up this river, and spent the remainder of the two weeks in seining along the 

 beaches of the two harbors. 



From Port Clarence we accompanied the steamer Jeanie on its annual trip to 

 Herschel Island, stopping on the way at Point Barrow. We stopped at Point Barrow 

 on our return also, but on both occasions the ice was so thick along the beaches that 

 we were able to make only a few hauls with the seine. The open season at Point 

 Barrow is short, extending from the middle of July to the latter part of September, 



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