FISHES. 



146 



the Pacific coasts of North America, and a fourth species, ( Osmerus dentex), in the 

 corresponding parts of Asia. 



■ The genus Thaleichthys contains but a single species, the famous eulachon 

 or candle-fish {Thaleichthys pacificus), of the eastern shores of the North Pacific. It 

 differs from Osmerus in the feeble teeth, smaller scales, and dusky coloration. This 

 little fish has the form of the smelt and reaches the length of nearly a foot. In 

 the spring, it ascends in enormous numbers all the rivers north of the Columbia, for a 

 short distance, for the purpose of spawning. These runs take place in Praser River, in 

 May, at the time of the best salmon runs. Various predatory fishes and sea-birds per- 

 secute the eulachon during its runs, and even the stomachs of the sturgeons are 

 often found full of the little fishes, which they have taken in by their sucker-like 

 mouths. At the time of the runs, the eulachon are extremely fat, so much so, that it 



Fig. 94.— Osmej'MS eperlanus, European smelt, eperlan. 



is said that when dried, and a wick drawn through the body, they may be used 

 as candles. On Nass River, in British Columbia, a stream in which their run is 

 greatest, there is a factory for the manufacture of eulachon oil from them. This deli- 

 cate oil is proposed as a substitute for the cod-liver oil used in medicine. Whatever 

 may be its merits in this regard, it has the disadvantage in respect to salability of being 

 semi-solid or lard-like at ordinary temperatures, requiring melting to make it flow as 

 oil. The eulachon is a favorite pan-fish in British Columbia. The writer has had con- 

 siderable experience with it, broiled and fried, in its native region, and has no hesita- 

 tion in declaring it to be the best flavored food-fish in American waters. It is fat, 

 tender, juicy, and richly flavored, with comparatively few troublesome bones. It does 

 not, however, bear transportation well. 



The capelin (Mallotus villosus) closely resembles the eulachon, differing mainly 

 iii its broader pectorals and in the peculiar scales of the males. In the male fish, a 



VOL. III. ■ 



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