200 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
'While it is true tliiit the salmon are shut out by falls and dams from a large area of the 
Columbia and especially the Snake Eiver basins, and while it is also true that the limitations 
are increasing as streams become useful for irrigation purposes and for ndning, it is never- 
theless certain that the decrease in the numbers of salmon, due to ill-regulated fishing in the 
lower Columbia, has so far outstripped the decrease in area of spawning-beds that the latter 
are now more than ample for all the fish that appear. We do not, therefore, belies-e that 
increasing the spawning-grounds through the removal of obstructions would materially 
benefit the salmon industry. In our judgment, the streams can he repopulated only by regu- 
lating the fishing in the lower Columbia and at the same time increasing the output from the 
hatcheries. 
The young of this species were taken in abundance at the mouth of the Natchess Eiver, 
near North Yakima, W'ash., and in the Fataha Eiver at Starbuck, Wash. The Largest iiuli- 
r idual seen was 88 mm. long, the smallest 55 mm. ; the average is about 70 mm. These are 
evidently the young of the previous year, and their uniformity in size indicates clearly that all 
pass out of the brooks to the sea, or at least to the deeper river channels, during the first and 
second years. We count in these young specimens 133 to 140 scales in the lateral line, 16 or 
17 branchiostegal rays, 7 -j- 12 gill-rakers, and 15 or 16 rays in the anal fin. 
26 . Salmo gairdneri Eichardson. SteeUiead. The steelhead is an abundant fish in the larger streams 
of the Colundda basin, especially about Spokane and the mouth of the Fend d'Oreille. Sev- 
eral fine examjtlcs of this fish were taken with the spoon by Mr. F>. A. Beau in Septeudjer, 
1892, near Spokane. These were called salmon ” by the residents, and Mr. Bean is of the 
opinion that most, if not all, the “ salmon” which they take by trolling are really not salmon, 
but the steelhead. Mr. Bean was also told that the “salmon” about the month of the Fend 
d’Oreille and Salmon rivers are taken by trolling, and it is quite likely that these also are 
steelheads. 
27. Salmo mykiss (Walbaum). Eoc'ky Mountain Trout; “5n-peH-r/»e” of Fort Hall Indians. 
A very large series of trout from the Columbia basin has been examined and from widely 
separated localities. Specimens were not preserved in every case, but an examination was 
made of trout from the following i>laces : Snake Eiver at Idaho Falls; Eoss Fork and Mink 
Creek near Focatello; Little Wood Eiver at Shoshone; Fataha Eiver at Starbuck; Little 
Spokane Eiver at Dart’s !Mill; Lake Coeur d’Alene; Lake Fend d’Oreille at SandFoiut; Fend 
d’Oreille Eiver at various places between Newport .and the mouth of Salmon Eiver; mouth 
of Colville Eiver; Newaukum Eiver at Chehalis; Green Eiver at Hot Springs. 
With every additional collection of black-spotted trout it becomes increasingly difficult 
to recognize any of the distinctions, specific or subspecific, which have been set up. The 
present collection adds not a little to the difficulty. We are now convinced that the greater 
number of the “subspecies” of S. mykiss have no sufficient foundation. We find our speci- 
mens from the Upper Snake Eiver (Eoss Fork and Mink Creek at Focatello) to be typical 
■mykiss, having small scales, in 176 to 180 transverse rows, and a deei) red dash on inner side 
of mandible. The spots are most abundant posteriorly, and the specimens are scarcely to be 
distinguished from the so-called Salmo mykiss 2deuriticus of the Colorado Eivmr. When taken 
in the larger river channels the fish is lighter colored, with finer spots and fainter red mark 
on lower jaw. Between such typical mykiss and the form represented in our collection from 
such coastwise streams as the Newaukum Eiver at Chehalis, Wash,, there seems to be a wide 
difference. The latter ha.s conspicuously larger scales (in 120 to 130 cross rows) and no 
red streak on lower jaw. The sea-run individuals of this latter kind we believe to be the 
steelhead (S. gairdneri), and between it and the mykiss we are now unable to draw any shaiqi 
line. Thus the Wood Eiver specimens have fine scales (150 to 163 transvmrse rows) and usually 
no red dash under the jaw. Some specimens show traces of the latter, and in such it is usually 
faint and irregular. 
From the Umatilla Eiver at Fendleton, the Natchess Eiver at North Yakima, and the 
Fataha Eiver at Starbuck the scales are intermediate in size, ranging from 142 to 163 in 
number, averaging perhaps 148. In these the lower jaw shows no red. Specimens from the 
Canir d’Alene region have the red dashes usually very distinct, but vary greatly in size of 
scales. Wardner examples look much like tyi^ical mykiss, with 165 to 170 scales. From 
Camr d’Alene Lake we find 130 to 166, with the average about 145, while from the Little 
Spokane Eiver at Dart’s Mill specimens with conspicuous red dash on mandibles h.avm the 
