188 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
NOTES ON THE FISHES OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN, WITH DESCRIPTIONS 
OF FOUR NEW SPECIES. 
Ill the following notes on the fishes of the Colninbia Eiver basin we have inclnded 
not only those collected by ns, bnt also the small collections made by Messrs. Bean 
and Woolman in 1892, and the few species obtained in ISTewanknin and Skooknm- 
chnck rivers by Drs. Gilbert and Jenkins, and in Lake Washington and Snoqnalmie 
Eiver in 1892. 
The exact status of several of the species of SaJmonidw, as well as some of the 
minnows and suckers and all the Gottidcv of this region, is a matter Avhich will require 
much additional investigation to determine. Most of the forms which have been 
regarded as good species are but poorly diffei’entiated. The range of variation seems 
to be very great, and characters which are of undoubted specific value when applied 
to Atlan tic-drainage species, do not possess any such value for classification of Pacific 
coast fishes. Each so-called species seems to be in a very unstable state of equilib- 
rium, and not to have yet assumed or been able to retain with any degree of permanence 
any set of specific characters. This is iiarticularly true of the species of Agosia, Gatos- 
tonius, Salmo, and, possibly, Oncorhynclnis. 
In sequence of species in this paper we follow Jordan’s Oatalogne of Fishes of 
North America, 1885. 
1. Entosphenus tiidentatus (G.'iirduer). Three-toothed Lamprey. 
Fetromyzon trideiitatus Gairdner ms.. Richardson, Fauna Boreali- Americana, 293, 183G. Type 
localitj': Falls of 'Walamet (Willamette) River. 
Fetromyzon Urklns Girard, P. R. R. Survey, 379, 1858. Type locality: Wahlahmatli (Willamette) 
River, Oregon. 
Fetromyzon astoi’i Girard, loc. cit., 380. Type locality: Astoria, Oregon. 
This lam])rey was iirst seen by us at Lower Salmon Falls, on Snake River, on August 8. 
Over 10 specimens were here found dead on a sand bar below the falls. They had probably 
died the night before, and had been deposited on the spit, where buzzards were busily feasting 
on them when we arrived. We were informed that the lampreys in their upward migration 
reacli this point in the river sometime during July, after the water has begun to go down. 
They arc said to make good sturgeon bait, and can be best caught in the evening or in the 
early morning, when they are found clinging to the rocks at the falls. On August 11, a large 
. number of decayed siiecimens was found on the banks of the Umatilla River at its month. 
They were higli up on the banks, and had apparently died and drifted ashore several weeks 
before, at a time wlien the river was higher. They ascend the Umatilla., and are c.aught by the 
Indians for food. One dead specimen was seen at Pendleton. Aiiumberofl.arvie, llto2inches 
long, were taken from debris in the bottom of a pool in the Natchess River at North Y.akima. 
The lampreys are well known to the, owners of salmon-wheels on the Lower Snake and the 
Columbia, and are universally called eels. At Lewiston, we learned that the lampreys 
begin their run very early, being already in the stream when tho'salmon-wheel is first put in 
place in the spring. They are occasionally caught by these Avheels in such numbers as to fill 
the boat, and are s.aid to be valuable for the oil they contain. This lanqjrey was seen also by 
Dr. Eigenmauu, at La Grande and Caldwell, in 1892. 
2. Acipenser transmontanus Richardson. Columbia Fiver SUn ejeon. 
Aeipenscr transmnnta7iiis Richardson, Fauna Boreali-Americana, iir, 278, 1836. Type locality: 
Columbia Eiver at Fort Vancouver. 
The sturgeon ascends the Snake Eiver to above the Upper Salmon Falls, between which 
and Anger Falks it is frequently taken. We were unable to learn that they passed the 
Auger Falls, which apparently serve as a barrier to both sturgeon and salmon. We are 
informed by numerous fishermen that the sturgeon are in the river throughout the year, and 
can bo taken at any season. They are found at Glen's Ferry throughout the year, and we 
were told of individuals taken there weighing as much as 600 to 800 pounds. No definite 
information as to their spawning season could be secured. 
