598 
SALMO. 
Inhabits the Caspian Sea; three feet long. Body oblong, 
a little compressed, spotted with black, above blackish hoary; 
scales roundish, smooth, silvery. Crown arched, naked, 
very smooth, sub-diaphanous, greenish-brown; eyes lateral, 
large, iris silvery, dotted with black; snout, very obtuse; 
mouth without teeth, very large, square; tongue triangular, 
a little rough; palate flat, broad, rough to the touch. Gill- 
coverts compressed, of four pieces. Dorsal fin pale brown ; 
pectorals pointed, white; ventrals rounded, white, spotted 
with brown on the fore-part the appendage triangular and 
reddish, .spotted with brown: tail perpendicular, semilunar. 
49. Salmo rubus, or the red trout.—Colour entirely red ; 
snout rounded and flat; lower jaw longest; gill-covert 
rounded, and in two pieces. The dorsal fin, which is high 
and rather sickle-shaped, contains 11 rays, the anal 11, 
the pectorals 10 or 11, the ventrals 8 ; tail forked. 
This species is also of a lengthened shape. The ventral 
fins are almost as large as the dorsal and anal, and are nearer 
the head than the dorsal fin, and nearer to the tip of the 
snout than to the anal fin. These marks would seem to 
place it in the second division. The adipous fin is bent, 
and club-shaped; the pectorals rather sickle-shaped. In¬ 
habits the American seas, and near the tropics. 
IV.—Gill-membrane with not more than four rays. 
50. Salmo argentinus, or the piabuca.—This fish is spe¬ 
cifically distinguished by a white stripe along each side, and 
by the length of the anal fin. The membrane of the gills 
has 4 rays, the pectoral fins 12, the ventrals 8, the anal 43, 
the tail 20, and the dorsal 9. This is now brought into the 
fourth division, though placed by Gmelin in the first, it 
having been since discovered that the membrane of the gills 
has not more than four rays. 
The head is small, compressed, and without scales; the 
under jaw is somewhat the longest, both are armed with 
three-pointed cutting teeth. The aperture of the mouth is 
very small; the tongue is smooth, and in the palate there is 
a membrane stretched out in form of a sickle. The nostrils 
are round, and single; the pupil of the eye is black, the iris 
silvery, and both covered with a membrane. The body is 
thin; the belly somewhat large, yet sharp, as is the back; 
the anus is nearer to the tail than to the head. The lateral 
line begins from the neck, at the same point with the silvery 
stripe; then makes an arch towards the belly, and rises again 
at the tail. The rays of the fins are soft, and branched, ex¬ 
cept the first. The back inclines to green, the sides to white, 
the fins are grey. 
This species is found in the rivers of South America. It 
is eight inches long; the flesh is white, and delicate, eating 
like most of the salmons; it may be caught by a hook, baited 
with a worm. Marckgrave says, that meal, mixed up with 
blood, is a very good bait. 
51. Salmo gasteropelecu'v or the pigeon-breasted salmon. 
—This fish, which Linnaeus placed among the e'upea, is 
made a distinct genus by Bloch and Gronovius, on account 
of the particular structure of its body; in which they are 
followed by Cepede. Linnaeus calls it, Clupea sternicla, 
pinnis •oentralibus nullis, “ the broad breasted herring 
without ventral fins;” but, the ventral fins having been dis¬ 
covered since, it is now placed by Gmelin among the salmo . 
And the Specific Character is, the ventral and adipous fins 
very small. There are 3 rays in the membrane of the gills, 
9 in the pectoral fins, 2 in the ventrals, 22 in the tail, 11 in 
the first dorsal. 
The head and body are much compressed, and of a fine 
silvery colour, mixed with steel-blue. The mouth is large, 
so are the scales in proportion to the size of the fish. The 
tongue is white, smooth, and thick. The eyes are round, 
large, placed near the aperture of the mouth, with a black 
pupil and silvery iris. The nostrils are between the upper 
lip and the eyes. The aperture of the gills is wide, and the 
operculum smooth. From the throat to the anus goes a 
sharp bone, as thin as paper, in the form of an arch or semi¬ 
circle, somewhat like a gardener’s knife,' which occasioned 
Bloch to call it serpe: it serves as- a point of resistance to 
the pectoral fin, which is sickle-shaped; the tail is bifur¬ 
cated. All the fins are of a grey colour. 
“ This fish from its shape,” says Bloch, “ must swim with 
great rapidity; as it has but few obstacles to overcome.” 
Cepede, however, thinks differently. Its country is Caro¬ 
lina and Surinam. It is a voracious fish, as may be dis¬ 
cerned from its teeth; but, being small,.it can feed only on 
the spawn of other fish, on worms, ana insects. It is not 
supposed to grow more than three inches long. It resembles 
the cyprinus cultratis, or razor-fish, in having three rays to 
the membrane of the gills, a thin body, and sharp belly; 
but its mouth armed with teeth, excludes from the genus of 
carps, to which the razor-fish belongs. Pallas first disco¬ 
vered the second dorsal fin, and pronounced it an adipous 
fin, which brings it among the salmo; but Bloch says, it is 
a real fin with two rays; but adds, ** indeed tire rays of the 
second dorsal, as well as of the ventral fins, are so minute 
that they cannot be distinguished without a microscope, so 
that it is not to be wondered at that Gronovius and Kohl- 
reuter, should not have discovered the latter, nor Pallas the 
former.” Muller says this fish has no teeth; but they were 
plainly seen by Bloch, who. minutely described the fish, and 
has given a figure of it of the natural size. 
52. Salmo gibbosus.—Black, gibbous, compressed, the 
anal fin has fifty rays. It is found at Surinam. 
53. Salmo notatus.—This species has a black spot on each 
side near the gill-covers. This is also found at Surinam; the 
body is oblong, with a black spot above the lateral line; it 
resembles the 
54. Salmo bimaculatus, of which the body is compressed, 
with two spots; the anal fin is thirty-two-rayed. It inhabits 
South America. 
55. Salmo immaculatus.—The body is without spots; the 
anal fin is twelve-rayed. An inhabitant of America. 
56. Salmo fcetens.—The rays of the dorsal and anal fins 
are twelve. It inhabits Carolina; the body is oval, a little 
pointed, and of a blackish-ash colour. 
57. Salmo cyprinoides.—The first rays of the dorsal fin 
are long, and setaceous. It is found in Surinam; the body 
is of a snow-white. 
58. Salmo niloticus.—The body of this is white; all the 
fins are yellowish. It inhabits the Nile. 
59. Salmo /Egyptius.—The back is greenish; teeth in the 
lower jaw are large. It inhabits, as its name imports, Egypt; 
the tail is scaly at the base. 
60. Salmo pulveruleDtis.—The fins are apparently slightly 
dusted; the lateral line descending. It is an inhabitant of 
America. , 
61. Salmo rhombeus.—The belly is serrate; the anal and 
caudal fins are black at the base ynd edge. It inhabits 
Surinam; the body is compressed, rather oval, but sub- 
angular on the back, and a little gibbous from the nape to 
the dorsal fin ; it is of a grey or yellowish-silvery colour; 
towards the back brownish: it is said to bite off the legs of 
ducks. 
62. Salmo anostomus.—The Specific Character of this is, 
that the mouth is simous. It inhabits South America and 
India. 
63. Salmo salmulus.—The samlet is 1 , according to Pen¬ 
nant, the least of the British species of this genus, and is 
frequently seen in the river Wye, in the upper part of the 
Severn, and in the rivers that run into it, in the north of 
England, and in Wales. It is by several imagined to be the 
fry of the salmon; but Mr. Pennant dissents from this 
opinion for the following-reasons: first, it is well known 
the salmon-fry never continue in fresh water the whole year, 
but, as numerous as they appear on their first escape from the 
spawn, all vanish on the first vernal flood that happens, 
which sweeps them into the sea, and leaves scarcely one be¬ 
hind ; secondly, the growth of salmon-fry is so quick and 
so considerable, as suddenly to exceed the bulk of the largest 
samlet; for example, the fry that have quitted the fresh water 
in spring, not larger than gudgeons, return into it again a. 
foot 
