190 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
This date, Seiitemher 22, is that of our last inspection of Alturas Lake and Inlet. Mr. F. C. 
Parks, however, visited them at various times in October, hut saw no rediish. 
The foregoing extracts from our lield notes have been given in order that the following discus- 
sions of the various more important questions in the life-history of the redfish may he more readily 
intelligible. 
1. Do the small redfish come up from the seaf 
This question can not, in the light of our present information, he definitely answered one way or 
the other. They were already in Alturas Lake .July 20, when our net was first placed in the outlet, and 
it is extremely improbable that any entered the lake from below subsequent to that date. Whether they 
had really come up from the sea and entered the lake j)rior to July 20 can not be positively asserted. 
The evidence that they are anadromons rests chiefly upon analogy and their apparent specific identity 
with the large form. No specimens of the small redfish have ever been obtained or seen by any col- 
lector in the Columbia Basin below these lakes ; indeed, so far as can be determined by an examination 
of the literature upon the matter, the small redfish has never been seen l>y anyone except in certain 
lakes or their inlets. The list of lakes in which it is known to occur is as follows : Chiloweyuck Lake 
(north latitude 49°), near Fraser River; Nicola, Francois, Fraser, and Okanogan lakes, the first three 
tributary to the Fraser, the last to the Columbia (Dr. Dawson); Alturas and Big Payette lakes in 
Idaho ; Wallowa Lake in Oregon ; Lake Washington at Seattle ; Stuart and Shushwap lakes in British 
Columbia. It was seen many years ago at Wallowa Lake by INIajor Beudire, who has always maintained 
that it is an anadromons fish. It probably occurs also in Pettit, Redfish, and Stanley lakes, in Idaho, 
and possibly elsewhere. 
It should be borne in mind, however, that very little search has been made for it in the Columbia by 
ichthyologists and it might well have escaped their observation. That it has never been detected by 
the fishermen is difficult of explanation, unless it be that the small size, color, and general appearance 
of the fish caused it to be mistaken for the black-spotted trout; for, like the large form, these small 
redfish are more or less red only at spawning time. Even during the spawning season many of the 
females and some of the males are not red at all and might very easily be mistaken for trout by anyone 
rrnacquainted with the technical characters separating the species. In fact, several females taken in 
Alturas Inlet were pronounced to be trout by more than one person to wliom they were shown. 
While Ave may be as certain as anyone can be, in the absence of actual proof, that the small 
redfish is anadromous, the question is still an open one and can be settled only by careful examination 
of the Columbia and its tributary streams below the lakes during the period Avhen these fish are 
supposed to be running. 
Do the large redfish ascend to these lakes from the sea? 
This question can be answered positively in the affirmative. The erddence that this form is 
anadromous may be regarded as amounting to absolute proof. 
They are caught every year in great numbers in the lower Columbia and rank second in commer- 
cial Amine only to the chinook salmon. But their movements after jiassing the fishing-grounds of the 
lower Columliia are not so easily traced. They huAm been obtained, however, by Major Bendire and 
also by Dr. Gilbert in the outlet of Wallowa Lake in Oregon. No naturalists haAm ever reported 
specimens from any i)lace in Idaho except in the lakes or their inlets. 
Mr. F. C. Parks has frequently seen them in Alturas Outlet and in Salmon River, near by, and 
others have reported seeing them at Auxrious places in Salmon River, particularly in the vicinity of 
Challis. But no large redfish were seen by us below the lakes, the only places Avhere we saw them 
being in the inlets to Pettit, Alturas, and Big Payette lakes and in Alturas Lake. 
3. What is the spawning period of the redfish at the Idaho lakes ? 
We do not yet know the actual time of arrival at any of these lakes, but more definite data are 
at hand regarding their time of entering the inlets. As previously stated, the redfish Avere already in 
Alturas Lake prior to July 20, began running up the inlet on the night of .July 23, and continued to 
do so until about September 10. The heaviest run was during the time between August 7 and Sep- 
tember 1, although a good many came after that date. Ripe fish were found .as early as August 2, 
and ripe, unspent fish Avere caught as late as September 11. The height of the spawning season, 
however, extended from August 25 to September 5. 
On September 12, 1894, there Avere 128 redfish in Alturas Inlet .and some of them were still 
spawning. No live fish Avere seen in Pettit Lake Inlet September 13, 1894, and only 2 redfish Avere 
seen there in 1895. Both AAmre the large form, one a ripe female caiight August 14, the other August 22. 
