FISHES—SALMONIDAE—FA RIO STELLATUS. 
317 
Puget’s Sound, W. T., by Dr. George Buckley,'who made the following observations as to their 
coloration: “ Bands under chin very pale and faint vermilion ; general appearance of the fish 
exsanguine; flesh soft and flabby, as if exhausted from spawning. Head, body, and fins profusely 
spotted with black. Back light olive; belly light yellowish white. The whole fish has a glistening 
silvery appearance, but not a healthy one; it was caught with metal squid in the brackish water 
of the junction of brook current and tide water. Six weeks later (in February) I caught a half 
dozen of these fishes in one day, one of which, a male, weighed two pounds. This I caught 
with a fly; it appeared almost overflowing with milt, and the females could hardly be shaken 
without discharging plentifully mature ova. I regret that my departure from here is so 
immediate that I cannot institute thorough inquiries concerning them. The settlers say that 
the brook trout does not run up in large quantities from the salt water until the fall. This I 
doubt, as I know of a stream, some fifteen miles from Fort Steilacoom, where they are plentiful 
in June. At any rate this trout appears to be very different in its habits from our eastern 
brook trout. Its flesh is more dry, and quite tasteless, compared to the latter. It rises rapidly 
to the fly, and appears to have but little regard whether the feathers have a natural appearance 
or not.” 
Elsewhere he says: “Specimen caught in Steilacoom creek ; water brackish. Bands under 
the chin very pale vermilion or orange; general appearance of fish exsanguine, probably owing 
to the season ; general aspect silvery ; back light olive ; belly light yellowish white. Head, 
fins, and body profusely spotted with black. Caught with the spoon.” 
And still further, under date of April 8, after preparing a skin, the Doctor records: 
“ Brook trout, called opskalloo by the Wasco Indians, a male. Flesh yellowish pink. Spots 
on the body numerous, irregular, and lighter in the centre. Those on dorsal and caudal fin 
like those of salmon trout ( Fario tsuppitch) . Black spots are also found on the cheeks, opercle, 
&c.; color of back bright silvery olive, becoming lighter on the sides and bright silver on the 
belly. Pectoral and ventral fins orange and vermilion. Patch of vermilion on each side, under 
the chin.” And again, under same date: “ Two small brook trout, males. Caught in the 
same stream as preceding. Spots less numerous , vermilion bands and patches under chin 
wanting. Flesh white. They commenced to run up this season (1855) about the 10th of 
February.” 
The name of “brook trout” here applied to this species by Dr. Suckley is merely optional 
with him ; it is' the “ common trout ” of the settlers of Oregon and Washington Territories. 
Other specimens were collected at Portland, Oregon Territory, by Dr. George Suckley ; at 
Shoalwater bay, Washington Territory, by Dr. James G. Cooper ; both under Governor I. I. 
Stevens ; at Cape Flattery, Washington Territory, Astoria, Oregon Territory, and Humboldt 
bay, by Lieutenant W. P. Trowbridge ; and finally, in the upper Des Chutes river, Oregon Ter¬ 
ritory, by Dr. John S. Newberry, under Lieutenant B. S. Williamson. 
References to the figures. —Plate LXIX, fig. 5, represents Fario stellatus, somewhat reduced 
from a specimen caught at Fort Steilacoom, Puget’s Sound. Fig. 6 is a scale from the dorsal 
region, midway between the dorsal fin and the lateral line. Fig. 7, a scale from the lateral 
line in the middle of its course. Fig. 8, a scale from the abdominal region, midway between 
the lateral line and the insertion of the ventrals. 
