10 



FAMILY 8. RAT-PISHES; CHIMAERIDAE. 



The common Rat-fish, Chimaera coUiaei (Lay and Bennett), (Pig. 

 7) is our only representative of this curious group, which bridges the 

 gap between the elasmobranch and teleost fishes. The gill openings 

 are not exposed as in the shark but are protected by an operculum as 

 in the higher fishes. The head is clumsy and irregular and the body 

 tapers off to a long slender tail. The teeth resemble the incisors of a 

 rat, which accounts for the common name. The eyes are large, promi- 

 nent and of an opalescent greenish color. In the male a strange 

 knobbed structure is found attached to the top of the head. The body 

 is beautifully mottled with gray and silvery white. The rat-fish is 

 valuable for the oil which is extracted from the liver. 



FAMILY 9. STURGEONS; ACIPENSERIDAE. 



Members of this family are recognized by the absence of scales 

 which are replaced by rows of great bony plates which extend along 

 the sides. The snout is shovel-shaped and has five long barbels hang- 

 ing down in front of the mouth. 



Two species of sturgeon occur in our waters. The White Sturgeon, 

 Acipenser transmontanus (Richardson), (Pig. 8) is a fish which at- 

 tains an immense size, specimens weighing 1,000 pounds having been 

 taken. Like the salmon it ascends the rivers to spawn. The sturgeon 

 is a valuable food fish and the roe is suitable for the manufacture of 

 caviare. It was so eagerly fished it has become quite scarce. 



The Green Sturgeon, Acipenser merlirostris (Ayres), is a near rela- 

 tive of the White Sturgeon but does not attain such a great size. It 

 is of a peculiar greenish hue, with light olive stripes on the ventral 

 surface. It is not valued as a food fish and by some is thought to be 

 poisonous, although this belief is not justified. 



FAMILY 10. SNIPE EELS; NEMICHTHYIDAE. 



The Pacific Snipe Eel, Nemichthys avocettn (Jordan and Gilbert), 

 (Pig. 10) is a strange and comparatively rare fish. It is a. long snake- 

 like creature, about two feet in length and one-third of an inch in 

 thickness. The jaws are long and slender like the beak of a snipe, 

 hence the name. It is almost transparent and is practically invisible 

 as it swims through the water. 



FAMILY 11. HERRINGS; CLUPEIDAE. 



The members of this family, of which we have three species in 

 our local waters, are constructed upon the plan of the common herring. 

 The body is covered with large rounded scales. There is no adipose 

 fin and the ventral fins are located well back on the under side. The 

 tail is deeply forked. There are no scales on the head. 



