THE 
AMERICAN NATURALIST. 
Vot. xv. — JTARCH, 1881. — No. 3. 
OBSERVATIONS ON THE SALMON OF THE PACIFIC. 
BY DAVID S. JORDAN AND CHAS, H. GILBERT. 
wane the most of the present year, the writers have been 
engaged in the study of the fishes of the Pacific coast of the 
United States, in the interest of the U. S. Fish Commission and the 
U.S. Census Bureau. The following pages contain the principal 
facts ascertained concerning the salmon of the Pacific coast. It 
is condensed from our report to the U. S. Census Bureau, by 
permission of Professor Goode, assistant in charge of fishery 
investigations. 
There are five species of salmon (Oncorhynchus) in the waters 
of the North Pacific. We have at present no evidence of the ex- 
istence of any more on either the American or the Asiatic side. 
These species may be called the quinnat or king salmon, the 
blue-back salmon or red-fish, the silver salmon, the dog salmon, 
and the hump-back’ salmon or Oncorhynchus chouicha, nerka, 
kisutch, keta and gorbuscha, All these species are now known 
to occur in the waters of Kamtschatka as well as in those of 
Alaska and Oregon. 
As vernacular names of definite application, the following are 
on record: 
@. Quinnat—Chouicha, king salmon, e’quinna, saw-kwey, Chin- 
nook salmon, Columbia River salmon, Sacramento salmon. 
tyee salmon, Monterey salmon, deep-water salmon, spring 
salmon, ek-ul-ba (“ekewan”) (fall run), 
6. Blue-back—krasnaya ryba, Alaska red-fish, Idaho red-fish, 
sukkegh, Frazer’s river salmon, rascal, oo-chooy-ha, 
¢, Silver. salmon—kisutch, winter salmon, hoopid, skowitz, 
slp Seige ryba, o-o-wun. 
VOL, XV.— 
