SALMON AND SALMON ElVERS OF ALASKA. 
199 
This species, according to Mr. Charles Hirsch, arrives at Karluk in August in 
small numbers. I saw a moderately large number of Steel-heads at Karluk on Sep- 
tember 4, but their abundance was nothing in comparison with that of other species. 
It is seldom used at Karluk. I saw a few small individuals in process of drying there. 
The spawning habits of the Steel-head are scarcely known. At Sitka we were 
told that it spawns in lakes not far from the sea and immediately after spawning goe^ 
into the salt water. 
Another large black spotted species is Clark’s trout {Salmo purpuratus, Plate 
XLix, fig. 11). This occurs in southern Alaska and north to the Bristol Bay region ; it 
grows to a length of 30 inches, and must soon become commercially valuable. 
The Dolly Varden Trout (Salvelinus malma.) 
(Plate XLViii, fig. 8.) 
This handsome species bears a very close resemblance to the sea trout of Labrador. 
It is known to commerce under the nameof Salmon Trout. In some parts of the West 
it is called the Bull Trout, The itussian name of the species is Ooletz, and in Kamt- 
chatka it is the malma. 
The average weight of this trouf in the sea fishery at Kadiak is about 2^ pounds. 
It reaches a length of 30 inches, and individuals weighing 8 pounds are often taken. 
It increases in size to the northward. 
The Dolly Varden is a migratory species and passes much of its time in the sea 
near the river mouths ; it enters the rivers late in the fall and descends in the sjn’ing. 
At St. Paul Mr. Washburn informed me that it arrives at that place in April. It 
remains in the bay near St. Paul throughout the summer. Mr. Charles Hirsch told 
me that it reaches Karluk in the latter part of May and runs through the whole 
season. Dolly Vardens of a pound or more can be found in the streams at any time 
during the summer. We saw them in abundance throughout the Karluk in August, 
and in the small streams tributary to Karluk Lake. Kelson found them at Unalashka 
larly in June, and in the Yukon in the same month, but he says they are most 
numerous in the. fall just before and after the streams freeze over. They enter the 
rivers and go up to their headwaters for the purpose of spawning. The spawning 
season is in winter and may begin very early in this parr of the year. A female, opened 
on the beach at Karluk August 2, contained eggs which seemed to be nearly ripe. 
Individuals taken at sea sometimes have capelin in their stomachs. In Karluk 
Eiver, near its mouth, we saw many examples feeding on eggs of the Red Salmon, which 
had been thrown into the water from the fish-cleaning houses. On the 5th of August 
we found a female Dolly Varden with very small ovaries. This example was long and 
slender. On August 16 a spent or sterile malma was found above the rapids in a little 
stream tributary to Karluk Eiver. At the head of Karluk Lake, August 19, was 
discovered a very much emaciated trout of this species, which was struggling in the 
water and nearly dead. The inside of its mouth was full of large leruman para- 
sites. 
The Dolly Varden spends the entire summer in salt water near the mouths of the 
rivers after it has reached a certain age ; younger individuals remain in the rivers and 
lakes. Many thousands of this trout are caught in the seines hauled for salmon, and 
