338 
ZOOLOGY. 
report, a species known, par excellence , to the inhabitants on the northwest coast as the “ hump- 
backed salmon ,” which enters the rivers on alternate years. The S. Scouleri has a tendency 
towards a hump, and might be called the “hump-backed salmon” if we had not a species 
having that character so much more exaggerated. Besides differences in this respect, there 
are other strong ones in the number and arrangement of the teeth, size of scales, color, total 
length of fish, &c.* The gorbnscha , according to Pennant, never exceeds a foot and a half in 
length. 
Dr. Scouler, in lit. to Sir John Richardson, says of this salmon: “This arm of the sea 
[Observatory inlet] was frequented at the time by such myriads of the salmon that a stone 
could not have reached the bottom without touching several individuals—their abundance 
surpassing the efforts of the imagination to conceive. The little brook that empties itself into 
the inlet was swarming with the fish ascending to spawn, and in the course of about two hours 
we killed sixty with boarding pikes. The hump before the dorsal fin consists of fat, and 
appears to be peculiar to the males, who acquire it after the spawning season, when their 
snouts become elongated and arched.” 
From the wording of the last sentence I am inclined to think that two distinct kinds of salmon 
were entering the rivers at the same time; these being the S. Scoideri , of which he sent a specimen 
which was described and figured by Sir John Richardson, (from which description and figure 
there is no difficulty in proving its identity with the skowitz of Puget Sound,) and the hump¬ 
backed salmon or huddo. In Puget Sound the two species are found arriving at the same 
season and months—the hudclo, however, only coming in alternate years. Perhaps Dr. Scouler, 
in confounding the two species as one, made notes on both, part of which apply only to the 
hump-backed species; and having preserved specimens of the S. Scoideri alone, confusion was 
created not only in Sir J. Richardson’s pages, but in the minds of others studying the subject. 
Confusion, however, in regard to our northwestern salmon is perfectly pardonable, as we 
ourselves can testify. 
Dr. Scouler again says, [this time probably referring to the true S. Scouleri :] “According to 
the best of my remembrance the color of the belly is white, inclined to yellow, and the back 
is of a bluish leaden color. Nothing can be more different than the appearance of the two 
sexes during the spawning season. The female is round and beautiful, with thejaius of equal 
length; while the male is compressed laterally, and has a long, arched snout with power/id teeth.” 
[The italics are our own.] Dr. Scouler again remarks: “I am unable to say whether any 
return to the sea or not; or whether the large teeth drop, and the incurvated snout returns to 
its former dimensions. The females want the large teeth, and so do the males before spawing, 
at least I saw none with large teeth in the Columbia in April or May. We left that river in 
June, and did not return until September.” 
The teeth of all salmon apparently grow as the fish becomes emaciated. This is caused much 
by the shrinking of the “gums,” produced by the absorption of all superfluous fat. The 
Doctor evidently again confounds distinct species, mistaking the spring kinds (S. quinnat and 
S. Gairdneri) for this species. At the time he was in the Columbia (May and June) there were 
no individuals of the present species to be found. September, the month in which be returned, 
is the time when the S. Scouleri comes from the sea in vast numbers. The diagnostic marks 
between those species are well defined and cannot be produced by variations in condition. 
» The subject of the identity of the gorbuscha, and the hump-hacked salmon of Puget Sound is spoken of more in detail, 
under the head of Salmo prolcus. 
