SALMONIDÆ
=THE Salmon Family.=—The series or suborder _Salmonoidea_, or allies of
the salmon and trout, are characterized as a whole by the presence of
the adipose fin, a structure also retained in Characins and catfishes,
which have no evident affinity with the trout, and in the
lantern-fishes, lizard-fishes, and trout-perches, in which the affinity
is very remote. Probably these groups all have a common descent from
some primitive fish having an adipose fin, or at least a fleshy fold on
the back.
Of all the families of fishes, the one most interesting from almost
every point of view is that of the _Salmonidæ_, the salmon family. As
now restricted, it is not one of the largest families, as it comprises
less than a hundred species; but in beauty, activity, gaminess, quality
as food, and even in size of individuals, different members of the group
stand easily with the first among fishes. The following are the chief
external characteristics which are common to the members of the family:
Body oblong or moderately elongate, covered with cycloid, in scales of
varying size. Head naked. Mouth terminal or somewhat inferior, varying
considerably among the different species, those having the mouth largest
usually having also the strongest teeth. Maxillary provided with a
supplemental bone, and forming the lateral margin of the upper jaw.
Pseudobranchiæ present. Gill-rakers varying with the species. Opercula
complete. No barbels. Dorsal fin of moderate length, placed near the
middle of the length of the body. Adipose fin well developed. Caudal fin
forked. Anal fin moderate or rather long. Ventral fins nearly median in
position. Pectoral fins inserted low. Lateral line present. Outline of
belly rounded. Vertebræ in large number, usually about sixty.
The stomach in all the _Salmonidæ_ is siphonal, and at the pylorus are
many (15 to 200) comparatively large pyloric cœca. The air-bladder is
large. The eggs are usually much larger than in fishes generally, and
the ovaries are without special duct, the ova falling into the cavity of
the abdomen before exclusion. The large size of the eggs, their lack of
adhesiveness, and the readiness with which they may be impregnated,
render the _Salmonidæ_ peculiarly adapted for artificial culture.
The _Salmonidæ_ are peculiar to the north temperate and Arctic regions,
and within this range they are almost equally abundant wherever suitable
waters occur. Some of the species, especially the larger ones, are
marine and anadromous, living and growing in the sea, and ascending
fresh waters to spawn. Still others live in running brooks, entering
lakes or the sea when occasion serves, but not habitually doing so.
Still others are lake fishes, approaching the shore or entering brooks
in the spawning season, at other times retiring to waters of
considerable depth. Some of them are active, voracious, and gamy, while
others are comparatively defenseless and will not take the hook. They
are divisible into ten easily recognized genera: _Coregonus_,
_Argyrosomus_, _Brachymystax_, _Stenodus_, _Oncorhynchus_, _Salmo_,
_Hucho_, _Cristivomer_, _Salvelinus_, and _Plecoglossus_.
Fragments of fossil trout, very imperfectly known, are recorded chiefly
from Pleistocene deposits of Idaho, under the name of _Rhabdofario
lacustris_. We have also received from Dr. John C. Merriam, from
ferruginous sands of the same region, several fragments of jaws of
salmon, in the hook-nosed condition, with enlarged teeth, showing that
the present salmon-runs have been in operation for many thousands of
years. Most other fragments hitherto referred to _Salmonidæ_ belong to
some other kind of fish.
=Coregonus, the Whitefish.=—The genus _Coregonus_, which includes the
various species known in America as lake whitefish, is distinguishable
in general by the small size of its mouth, the weakness of its teeth,
and the large size of its scales. The teeth, especially, are either
reduced to slight asperities, or else are altogether wanting. The
species reach a length of one to three feet. With scarcely an exception
they inhabit clear lakes, and rarely enter streams except to spawn. In
far northern regions they often descend to the sea; but in the latitude
of the United States this is never possible for them, as they are unable
to endure warm or impure water. They seldom take the hook, and rarely
feed on other fishes. Numerous local varieties characterize the lakes of
Scandinavia, Scotland, and Arctic Asia and America. Largest and most
desirable of all these as a food-fish is the common whitefish of the
Great Lakes (_Coregonus clupeiformis_), with its allies or variants in
the Mackenzie and Yukon.
The species of _Coregonus_ differ from each other in the form and size
of the mouth, in the form of the body, and in the development of the
gill-rakers.
_Coregonus oxyrhynchus_—the _Schnäbel_ of Holland, Germany, and
Scandinavia—has the mouth very small, the sharp snout projecting far
beyond it. No species similar to this is found in America.
The Rocky Mountain whitefish (_Coregonus williamsoni_) has also a small
mouth and projecting snout, but the latter is blunter and much shorter
than in _C. oxyrhynchus_. This is a small species abounding everywhere
in the clear lakes and streams of the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra
Nevada, from Colorado to Vancouver Island. It is a handsome fish and
excellent as food.
[Illustration:
FIG. 49.—Rocky Mountain Whitefish, _Coregonus williamsoni_ Girard.
]
Closely allied to _Coregonus williamsoni_ is the pilot-fish,
shad-waiter, roundfish, or Menomonee whitefish (_Coregonus
quadrilateralis_). This species is found in the Great Lakes, the
Adirondack region, the lakes of New Hampshire, and thence northwestward
to the Yukon, abounding in cold deep waters, its range apparently
nowhere coinciding with that of _Coregonus williamsoni_.
[Illustration:
FIG. 50.—Whitefish, _Coregonus clupeiformis_ Mitchill. Ecorse, Mich.
]
The common whitefish (_Coregonus clupeiformis_) is the largest in size
of the species of _Coregonus_, and is unquestionably the finest as an
article of food. It varies considerably in appearance with age and
condition, but in general it is proportionately much deeper than any of
the other small-mouthed _Coregoni_. The adult fishes develop a
considerable fleshy hump at the shoulders, which causes the head, which
is very small, to appear disproportionately so. The whitefish spawns in
November and December, on rocky shoals in the Great Lakes. Its food was
ascertained by Dr. P. R. Hoy to consist chiefly of deep-water
crustaceans, with a few mollusks, and larvæ of water insects. "The
whitefish," writes Mr. James W. Milner, "has been known since the time
of the earliest explorers as preeminently a fine-flavored fish. In fact
there are few table-fishes its equal. To be appreciated in its fullest
excellence it should be taken fresh from the lake and broiled. Father
Marquette, Charlevoix, Sir John Richardson—explorers who for months at a
time had to depend upon the whitefish for their staple article of food—
bore testimony to the fact that they never lost their relish for it, and
deemed it a special excellence that the appetite never became cloyed
with it." The range of the whitefish extends from the lakes of New York
and New England northward to the Arctic Circle. The "Otsego bass" of
Otsego Lake in New York, celebrated by De Witt Clinton, is a local form
of the ordinary whitefish.
Allied to the American whitefish, but smaller in size, is the Lavaret,
Weissfisch, Adelfisch, or Weissfelchen (_Coregonus lavaretus_), of the
mountain lakes of Switzerland, Germany, and Sweden. _Coregonus
kennicotti_, the muksun, and _Coregonus nelsoni_, the humpback
whitefish, are found in northern Alaska and in the Yukon. Several other
related species occur in northern Europe and Siberia.
Another American species is the Sault whitefish, Lake Whiting or Musquaw
River whitefish (_Coregonus labradoricus_). Its teeth are stronger,
especially on the tongue, than in any of our other species, and its body
is slenderer than that of the whitefish. It is found in the upper Great
Lakes, in the Adirondack region, in Lake Winnipeseogee, and in the lakes
of Maine and New Brunswick. It is said to rise to the fly in the
Canadian lakes. This species runs up the St. Mary's River, from Lake
Huron to Lake Superior, in July and August. Great numbers are snared or
speared by the Indians at this season at the Sault Ste. Marie.
In the breeding season the scales are sometimes thickened or covered
with small warts, as in the male _Cyprinidæ_.
=Argyrosomus, the Lake Herring.=—In the genus _Argyrosomus_ the mouth is
larger, the premaxillary not set vertical, but extending forward on its
lower edge, and the body is more elongate and more evenly elliptical.
The species are more active and predaceous than those of _Coregonus_ and
are, on the whole, inferior as food.
The smallest and handsomest of the American whitefish is the cisco of
Lake Michigan (_Argyrosomus hoyi_). It is a slender fish, rarely
exceeding ten inches in length, and its scales have the brilliant
silvery luster of the mooneye and the ladyfish.
The lake herring, or cisco (_Argyrosomus artedi_), is, next to the
whitefish, the most important of the American species. It is more
elongate than the others, and has a comparatively large mouth, with
projecting under-jaw. It is correspondingly more voracious, and often
takes the hook. During the spawning season of the whitefish the lake
herring feeds on the ova of the latter, thereby doing a great amount of
mischief. As food this species is fair, but much inferior to the
whitefish. Its geographical distribution is essentially the same, but to
a greater degree it frequents shoal waters. In the small lakes around
Lake Michigan, in Indiana and Wisconsin (Tippecanoe, Geneva, Oconomowoc,
etc.), the cisco has long been established; and in these waters its
habits have undergone some change, as has also its external appearance.
It has been recorded as a distinct species, _Argyrosomus sisco_, and its
excellence as a game-fish has been long appreciated by the angler. These
lake ciscoes remain for most of the year in the depths of the lake,
coming to the surface only in search of certain insects, and to shallow
water only in the spawning season. This periodical disappearance of the
cisco has led to much foolish discussion as to the probability of their
returning by an underground passage to Lake Michigan during the periods
of their absence. One author, confounding "cisco" with "siscowet," has
assumed that this underground passage leads to Lake Superior, and that
the cisco is identical with the fat lake trout which bears the latter
name. The name "lake herring" alludes to the superficial resemblance
which this species possesses to the marine herring, a fish of quite a
different family.
[Illustration:
FIG. 51.—Bluefin Cisco, _Argyrosomus nigripinnis_ Gill. Sheboygan.
]
Closely allied to the lake herring is the bluefin of Lake Michigan and
of certain lakes in New York (_Argyrosomus nigripinnis_), a fine large
species inhabiting deep waters, and recognizable by the blue-black color
of its lower fins. In the lakes of central New York are found two other
species, the so-called lake smelt (_Argyrosomus osmeriformis_) and the
long-jaw (_Argyrosomus_ _prognathus_). _Argyrosomus lucidus_ is abundant
in Great Bear Lake. In Alaska and Siberia are still other species of the
cisco type (_Argyrosomus laurettæ_, _A. pusillus_, _A. alascanus_); and
in Europe very similar species are the Scotch vendace (_Argyrosomus
vandesius_) and the Scandinavian Lok-Sild (lake herring), as well as
others less perfectly known.
The Tullibee, or "mongrel whitefish" (_Argyrosomus tullibee_), has a
deep body, like the shad, with the large mouth of the ciscoes. It is
found in the Great Lake region and northward, and very little is known
of its habits. A similar species (_Argyrosomus cyprinoides_) is recorded
from Siberia—a region which is peculiarly suited for the growth of the
_Coregoni_, but in which the species have never received much study.
=Brachymystax and Stenodus, the Inconnus.=—Another little-known form,
intermediate between the whitefish and the salmon, is _Brachymystax
lenock_, a large fish of the mountain streams of Siberia. Only the skins
brought home by Pallas a century ago are yet known. According to Pallas,
it sometimes reaches a weight of eighty pounds.
[Illustration:
FIG. 52.—Inconnu, _Stenodus mackenziei_ (Richardson). Nulato, Alaska.
]
Still another genus, intermediate between the whitefish and the salmon,
is _Stenodus_, distinguished by its elongate body, feeble teeth, and
projecting lower jaw. The Inconnu, or Mackenzie River salmon, known on
the Yukon as "charr" (_Stenodus mackenziei_), belongs to this genus. It
reaches a weight of twenty pounds or more, and in the far north is a
food-fish of good quality. It runs in the Yukon as far as White Horse
Rapids. Not much is recorded of its habits, and few specimens exist in
museums. A species of _Stenodus_ called _Stenodus leucichthys_ inhabits
the Volga, Obi, Lena, and other northern rivers; but as yet little is
definitely known of the species.
=Oncorhynchus, the Quinnat Salmon.=—The genus _Oncorhynchus_ contains
the salmon of the Pacific. They are in fact, as well as in name, the
king salmon. The genus is closely related to _Salmo_, with which it
agrees in general as to the structure of its vomer, and from which it
differs in the increased number of anal rays, branchiostegals, pyloric
cœca, and gill-rakers. The character most convenient for distinguishing
_Oncorhynchus_, young or old, from all the species of _Salmo_, is the
number of developed rays in the anal fin. These in _Oncorhynchus_ are
thirteen to twenty, in _Salmo_ nine to twelve.
The species of _Oncorhynchus_ have long been known as anadromous salmon,
confined to the North Pacific. The species were first made known nearly
one hundred and fifty years ago by that most exact of early observers,
Steller, who, almost simultaneously with Krascheninnikov, another early
investigator, described and distinguished them with perfect accuracy
under their Russian vernacular names. These Russian names were, in 1792,
adopted by Walbaum as specific names in giving to these animals a
scientific nomenclature. Five species of _Oncorhynchus_ are well known
on both shores of the North Pacific, besides one other in Japan. These
have been greatly misunderstood by early observers on account of the
extraordinary changes due to differences in surroundings, in sex, and in
age, and in conditions connected with the process of reproduction.
There are five species of salmon (_Oncorhynchus_) in the waters of the
North Pacific, all found on both sides, besides one other which is known
only from the waters of Japan. These species may be called: (1) the
quinnat, or king-salmon, (2) the blue-back salmon, or redfish, (3) the
silver salmon, (4) the dog-salmon, (5) the humpback salmon, and (6) the
masu; or (1) _Oncorhynchus tschawytscha_, (2) _Oncorhynchus nerka_, (3)
_Oncorhynchus milktschitsch_, (4) _Oncorhynchus keta_, (5) _Oncorhynchus
gorbuscha_, (6) _Oncorhynchus masou_. All these species save the last
are now known to occur in the waters of Kamchatka, as well as in those
of Alaska and Oregon. These species, in all their varied conditions, may
usually be distinguished by the characters given below. Other
differences of form, color, and appearance are absolutely valueless for
distinction, unless specimens of the same age, sex, and condition are
compared.
The quinnat salmon (_Oncorhynchus tschawytscha_),[7] called quinnat,
tyee, chinook, or king-salmon, has an average weight of 22 pounds, but
individuals weighing 70 to 100 pounds are occasionally taken. It has
about 16 anal rays, 15 to 19 branchiostegals, 23 (9 + 14) gill-rakers on
the anterior gill-arch, and 140 to 185 pyloric cœca. The scales are
comparatively large, there being from 130 to 155 in a longitudinal
series. In the spring the body is silvery, the back, dorsal fin, and
caudal fin having more or less of round black spots, and the sides of
the head having a peculiar tin-colored metallic luster. In the fall the
color is often black or dirty red, and the species can then be
distinguished from the dog-salmon by its larger size and by its
technical characters. The flesh is rich and salmon-red, becoming
suddenly pale as the spawning season draws near.
Footnote 7:
For valuable accounts of the habits of this species the reader is
referred to papers by the late Cloudsley Rutter, ichthyologist of the
_Albatross_, in the publications of the United States Fish Commission,
the _Popular Science Monthly_, and the _Overland Monthly_.
[Illustration:
FIG. 53.—Quinnat Salmon (female), _Oncorhynchus tschawytscha_
(Walbaum). Columbia River.
]
[Illustration:
FIG. 54.—King-salmon grilse, _Oncorhynchus tschawytscha_ (Walbaum).
(Photograph by Cloudsley Rutter.)
]
[Illustration:
FIG. 55.—Male Red Salmon in September, _Oncorhynchus nerka_ (Walbaum).
Payette Lake, Idaho.
]
The blue-back salmon (_Oncorhynchus nerka_),[8] also called red salmon,
sukkegh, or sockeye, usually weighs from 5 to 8 pounds. It has about 14
developed anal rays, 14 branchiostegals, and 75 to 95 pyloric cœca. The
gill-rakers are more numerous than in any other salmon, the number being
usually about 39 (16 + 23). The scales are larger, there being 130 to
140 in the lateral line. In the spring the form is plumply rounded, and
the color is a clear bright blue above, silvery below, and everywhere
immaculate. Young fishes often show a few round black spots, which
disappear when they enter the sea. Fall specimens in the lakes are
bright crimson in color, the head clear olive-green, and they become in
a high degree hook-nosed and slab-sided, and bear little resemblance to
the spring run. Young spawning male grilse follow the changes which take
place in the adult, although often not more than half a pound in weight.
These little fishes often appear in mountain lakes, but whether they are
landlocked or have come up from the sea is still unsettled. These dwarf
forms, called kokos by the Indians and benimasu in Japan, form the
subspecies _Oncorhynchus nerka kennerlyi_. The flesh in this species is
firmer than that of any other and very red, of good flavor, though drier
and less rich than the king-salmon.
Footnote 8:
For valuable records of the natural history of this species the reader
is referred to various papers by Dr. Barton Warren Evermann in the
Bulletins of the United States Fish Commission and elsewhere.
The silver salmon, or coho (_Oncorhynchus milktschitsch_, or _kisutch_),
reaches a weight of 5 to 8 pounds. It has 13 developed rays in the anal,
13 branchiostegals, 23 (10 + 13) gill-rakers, and 45 to 80 pyloric cœca.
There are about 127 scales in the lateral line. The scales are thin and
all except those of the lateral line readily fall off. This feature
distinguishes the species readily from the red salmon. In color it is
silvery in spring, greenish above, and with a few faint black spots on
the upper parts only. In the fall the males are mostly of a dirty red.
The flesh in this species is of excellent flavor, but pale in color, and
hence less valued than that of the quinnat and the red salmon.
The dog-salmon, calico salmon, or chum, called saké in Japan
(_Oncorhynchus keta_), reaches an average weight of about 7 to 10
pounds. It has about 14 anal rays, 14 branchiostegals, 24 (9 + 15)
gill-rakers, and 140 to 185 pyloric cœca. There are about 150 scales in
the lateral line. In spring it is dirty silvery, immaculate, or
sprinkled with small black specks, the fins dusky, the sides with faint
traces of gridiron-like bars. In the fall the male is brick-red or
blackish, and its jaws are greatly distorted. The pale flesh is well
flavored when fresh, but pale and mushy in texture and muddy in taste
when canned. It is said to take salt well, and great numbers of salt
dog-salmon are consumed in Japan.
The humpback salmon, or pink salmon (_Oncorhynchus gorbuscha_), is the
smallest of the American species, weighing from 3 to 5 pounds. It has
usually 15 anal rays, 12 branchiostegals, 28 (13 + 15) gill-rakers, and
about 180 pyloric cœca. Its scales are much smaller than in any other
salmon, there being 180 to 240 in the lateral line. In color it is
bluish above, silvery below, the posterior and upper parts with many
round black spots, the caudal fin always having a few large black spots
oblong in form. The males in fall are dirty red, and are more
extravagantly distorted than in any other of the _Salmonidæ_. The flesh
is softer than in the other species; it is pale in color, and, while of
fair flavor when fresh, is distinctly inferior when canned.
[Illustration:
FIG. 56.—Humpback Salmon (female), _Oncorhynchus gorbuscha_ (Walbaum).
Cook's Inlet.
]
The masu, or yezomasu (_Oncorhynchus masou_), is very similar to the
humpback, the scales a little larger, the caudal without black spots,
the back usually immaculate. It is one of the smaller salmon, and is
fairly abundant in the streams of Hokkaido, the island formerly known as
Yezo.
[Illustration:
FIG 57.—Masu (female), _Oncorhynchus masou_ (Brevoort). Aomori, Japan.
]
Of these species the blue-back or red salmon predominates in Frazer
River and in most of the small rivers of Alaska, including all those
which flow from lakes. The greatest salmon rivers of the world are the
Nushegak and Karluk in Alaska, with the Columbia River, Frazer River,
and Sacramento River farther south. The red and the silver salmon
predominate in Puget Sound, the quinnat in the Columbia and the
Sacramento, and the silver salmon in most of the smaller streams along
the coast. All the species occur, however, from the Columbia northward;
but the blue-back is not found in the Sacramento. Only the quinnat and
the dog-salmon have been noticed south of San Francisco. In Japan _keta_
is by far the most abundant species of salmon. It is known as saké, and
largely salted and sold in the markets. _Nerka_ is known in Japan only
as landlocked in Lake Akan in northern Hokkaido. _Milktschitsch_ is
generally common, and with _masou_ is known as masu, or small salmon, as
distinguished from the large salmon, or saké. _Tschawytscha_ and
_gorbuscha_ are unknown in Japan. _Masou_ has not been found elsewhere.
The quinnat and blue-back salmon, the "noble salmon," habitually "run"
in the spring, the others in the fall. The usual order of running in the
rivers is as follows: _tschawytscha_, _nerka_, _milktschitsch_,
_gorbuscha_, _keta_. Those which run first go farthest. In the Yukon the
quinnat runs as far as Caribou Crossing and Lake Bennett, 2250 miles.
The red salmon runs to "Forty-Mile," which is nearly 1800 miles. Both
ascend to the head of the Columbia, Fraser, Nass, Skeena, Stikeen, and
Taku rivers. The quinnat runs practically only in the streams of large
size, fed with melting snows; the red salmon only in streams which pass
through lakes. It spawns only in small streams at the head of a lake.
The other species spawn in almost any fresh water and only close to the
sea.
The economic value of the spring-running salmon is far greater than that
of the other species, because they can be captured in numbers when at
their best, while the others are usually taken only after deterioration.
The habits of the salmon in the ocean are not easily studied. Quinnat
and silver salmon of all sizes are taken with the seine at almost any
season in Puget Sound and among the islands of Alaska. This would
indicate that these species do not go far from the shore. The silver
salmon certainly does not. The quinnat pursues the schools of herring.
It takes the hook freely in Monterey Bay, both near the shore and at a
distance of six to eight miles out. We have reason to believe that these
two species do not necessarily seek great depths, but probably remain
not very far from the mouth of the rivers in which they were spawned.
The blue-back or red salmon certainly seeks deeper water, as it is
seldom or never taken with the seine along shore, and it is known to
enter the Strait of Fuca in July, just before the running season,
therefore coming in from the open sea. The great majority of the quinnat
salmon, and probably all the blue-back salmon, enter the rivers in the
spring. The run of the quinnat begins generally at the last of March; it
lasts, with various modifications and interruptions, until the actual
spawning season in November, the greatest run being in early June in
Alaska, in July in the Columbia. The run begins earliest in the
northernmost rivers, and in the longest streams, the time of running and
the proportionate amount in each of the subordinate runs varying with
each different river. In general the runs are slack in the summer and
increase with the first high water of autumn. By the last of August only
straggling blue-backs can be found in the lower course of any stream;
but both in the Columbia and in the Sacramento the quinnat runs in
considerable numbers at least till October. In the Sacramento the run is
greatest in the fall, and more run in the summer than in spring. In the
Sacramento and the smaller rivers southward there is a winter run,
beginning in December. The spring quinnat salmon ascends only those
rivers which are fed by the melting snows from the mountains and which
have sufficient volume to send their waters well out to sea. Those
salmon which run in the spring are chiefly adults (supposed to be at
least three years old). Their milt and spawn are no more developed than
at the same time in others of the same species which have not yet
entered the rivers. It would appear that the contact with cold fresh
water, when in the ocean, in some way causes them to run towards it, and
to run before there is any special influence to that end exerted by the
development of the organs of generation. High water on any of these
rivers in the spring is always followed by an increased run of salmon.
The salmon-canners think—and this is probably true—that salmon which
would not have run till later are brought up by the contact with the
cold water. The cause of this effect of cold fresh water is not
understood. We may call it an instinct of the salmon, which is another
way of expressing our ignorance. In general it seems to be true that in
those rivers and during those years when the spring run is greatest the
fall run is least to be depended on.
The blue-back salmon runs chiefly in July and early August, beginning in
late June in Chilcoot River, where some were found actually spawning
July 15; beginning after the middle of July in Frazer River.
As the season advances, smaller and younger salmon of these species
(quinnat and blue-back) enter the rivers to spawn, and in the fall these
young specimens are very numerous. We have thus far failed to notice any
gradations in size or appearance of these young fish by which their ages
could be ascertained. It is, however, probable that some of both sexes
reproduce at the age of one year. In Frazer River, in the fall, quinnat
male grilse of every size, from eight inches upwards, were running, the
milt fully developed, but usually not showing the hooked jaws and dark
colors of the older males. Females less than eighteen inches in length
were not seen. All of either sex, large and small, then in the river had
the ovaries or milt developed. Little blue-backs of every size, down to
six inches, are also found in the upper Columbia in the fall, with their
organs of generation fully developed. Nineteen-twentieths of these young
fish are males, and some of them have the hooked jaws and red color of
the old males. Apparently all these young fishes, like the old ones, die
after spawning.
The average weight of the adult quinnat in the Columbia, in the spring,
is twenty-two pounds; in the Sacramento, about sixteen. Individuals
weighing from forty to sixty pounds are frequently found in both rivers,
and some as high as eighty or even one hundred pounds are recorded,
especially in Alaska, where the species tends to run larger. It is
questionable whether these large fishes are those which, of the same
age, have grown more rapidly; those which are older, but have for some
reason failed to spawn; or those which have survived one or more
spawning seasons. All these origins may be possible in individual cases.
There is, however, no positive evidence that any salmon of the Pacific
survives the spawning season.
Those fish which enter the rivers in the spring continue their ascent
till death or the spawning season overtakes them. Doubtless not one of
them ever returns to the ocean, and a large proportion fail to spawn.
They are known to ascend the Sacramento to its extreme head-waters,
about four hundred miles. In the Columbia they ascend as far as the
Bitter Root and Sawtooth mountains of Idaho, and their extreme limit is
not known. This is a distance of nearly a thousand miles. In the Yukon a
few ascend to Caribou Crossing and Lake Bennett, 2250 miles. At these
great distances, when the fish have reached the spawning grounds,
besides the usual changes of the breeding season their bodies are
covered with bruises, on which patches of white fungus (_Saprolegnia_)
develop. The fins become mutilated, their eyes are often injured or
destroyed, parasitic worms gather in their gills, they become extremely
emaciated, their flesh becomes white from the loss of oil; and as soon
as the spawning act is accomplished, and sometimes before, _all_ of them
die. The ascent of the Cascades and the Dalles of the Columbia causes
the injury or death of a great many salmon.
[Illustration:
FIG. 58.—Red Salmon (mutilated dwarf male, after spawning),
_Oncorhynchus nerka_ (Walbaum). Alturas Lake, Idaho.
]
When the salmon enter the river they refuse to take bait, and their
stomachs are always found empty and contracted. In the rivers they do
not feed; and when they reach the spawning grounds their stomachs,
pyloric cœca and all, are said to be no larger than one's finger. They
will sometimes take the fly, or a hook baited with salmon-roe, in the
clear waters of the upper tributaries, but this is apparently solely out
of annoyance, snapping at the meddling line. Only the quinnat and
blue-back (there called redfish) have been found at any great distance
from the sea, and these (as adult fishes) only in late summer and fall.
[Illustration:
FIG. 59.—Young Male Quinnat Salmon, _Oncorhynchus tschawytscha_, dying
after spawning. Sacramento River. (Photograph by Cloudsley Rutter.)
]
The spawning season is probably about the same for all the species. It
varies for each of the different rivers, and for different parts of the
same river. It doubtless extends from July to December, and takes place
usually as soon as the temperature of the water falls to 54°. The manner
of spawning is probably similar for all the species. In the quinnat the
fishes pair off; the male, with tail and snout, excavates a broad,
shallow "nest" in the gravelly bed of the stream, in rapid water, at a
depth of one to four feet and the female deposits her eggs in it. They
then float down the stream tail foremost, the only fashion in which
salmon descend to the sea. As already stated, in the head-waters of the
large streams, unquestionably, all die; it is the belief of the writer
that none ever survive. The young hatch in sixty days, and most of them
return to the ocean during the high water of the spring. They enter the
river as adults at the age of about four years.
The salmon of all kinds in the spring are silvery, spotted or not
according to the species, and with the mouth about equally symmetrical
in both sexes. As the spawning season approaches the female loses her
silvery color, becomes more slimy, the scales on the back partly sink
into the skin, and the flesh changes from salmon-red and becomes
variously paler, from the loss of oil; the degree of paleness varying
much with individuals and with inhabitants of different rivers. In the
Sacramento the flesh of the quinnat, in either spring or fall, is rarely
pale. In the Columbia a few with pale flesh are sometimes taken in
spring, and an increasing number from July on. In Frazer River the fall
run of the quinnat is nearly worthless for canning purposes, because so
many are "white-meated." In the spring very few are "white-meated"; but
the number increases towards fall, when there is every variation, some
having red streaks running through them, others being red toward the
head and pale toward the tail. The red and pale ones cannot be
distinguished externally, and the color is dependent on neither age nor
sex. There is said to be no difference in the taste, but there is little
market for canned salmon not of the conventional orange-color.
[Illustration:
FIG. 60.—Quinnat Salmon, _Oncorhynchus tschawytscha_ (Walbaum).
Monterey Bay. (Photograph by C. Rutter.)
]
As the season advances the difference between the males and females
becomes more and more marked, and keeps pace with the development of the
milt, as is shown by dissection. The males have (1) the premaxillaries
and the tip of the lower jaw more and more prolonged, both of the jaws
becoming finally strongly and often extravagantly hooked, so that either
they shut by the side of each other like shears, or else the mouth
cannot be closed. (2) The front teeth become very long and canine-like,
their growth proceeding very rapidly, until they are often half an inch
long. (3) The teeth on the vomer and tongue often disappear. (4) The
body grows more compressed and deeper at the shoulders, so that a very
distinct hump is formed; this is more developed in the humpback salmon,
but is found in all. (5) The scales disappear, especially on the back,
by the growth of spongy skin. (6) The color changes from silvery to
various shades of black and red, or blotchy, according to the species.
The blue-back turns rosy-red, the head bright olive; the dog-salmon a
dull red with blackish bars, and the quinnat generally blackish. The
distorted males are commonly considered worthless, rejected by the
canners and salmon-salters, but preserved by the Indians. These changes
are due solely to influences connected with the growth of the
reproductive organs. They are not in any way due to the action of fresh
water. They take place at about the same time in the adult males of all
species, whether in the ocean or in the rivers. At the time of the
spring runs all are symmetrical. In the fall all males, of whatever
species, are more or less distorted. Among the dog-salmon, which run
only in the fall, the males are hook-jawed and red-blotched when they
first enter the Strait of Fuca from the outside. The humpback, taken in
salt water about Seattle, have the same peculiarities. The male is
slab-sided, hook-billed, and distorted, and is rejected by the canners.
No hook-jawed females of any species have been seen.
On first entering a stream the salmon swim about as if playing. They
always head towards the current, and this appearance of playing may be
simply due to facing the moving tide. Afterwards they enter the deepest
parts of the stream and swim straight up, with few interruptions. Their
rate of travel at Sacramento is estimated by Stone at about two miles
per day; on the Columbia at about three miles per day. Those which enter
the Columbia in the spring and ascend to the mountain rivers of Idaho
must go at a more rapid rate than this, as they must make an average of
nearly four miles per day.
As already stated, the economic value of any species depends in great
part on its being a "spring salmon." It is not generally possible to
capture salmon of any species in large numbers until they have entered
the estuaries or rivers, and the spring salmon enter the large rivers
long before the growth of the organs of reproduction has reduced the
richness of the flesh. The fall salmon cannot be taken in quantity until
their flesh has deteriorated; hence the dog-salmon is practically almost
worthless except to the Indians, and the humpback salmon was regarded as
little better until comparatively recently, when it has been placed on
the market in cans as "Pink Salmon." It sells for about half the price
of the red salmon and one-third that of the quinnat. The red salmon is
smaller than the quinnat but, outside the Sacramento and the Columbia,
far more abundant, and at present it exceeds the quinnat in economic
value. The pack of red salmon in Alaska amounted in 1902 to over two
million cases (48 pounds each), worth wholesale about $4.00 per case, or
about $8,000,000. The other species in Alaska yield about one million
cases, the total wholesale value of the pack for 1902 being $8,667,673.
The aggregate value of the quinnat is considerably less, but either
species far exceed in value all other fishes of the Pacific taken
together. The silver salmon is found in the inland waters of Puget Sound
for a considerable time before the fall rains cause the fall runs, and
it may be taken in large numbers with seines before the season for
entering the rivers.
The fall salmon of all species, but especially of the dog-salmon, ascend
streams but a short distance before spawning. They seem to be in great
anxiety to find fresh water, and many of them work their way up little
brooks only a few inches deep, where they perish miserably, floundering
about on the stones. Every stream of whatever kind, from San Francisco
to Bering Sea, has more or less of these fall salmon.
The absence of the fine spring salmon in the streams of Japan is the
cause of the relative unimportance of the river fisheries of the
northern island of Japan, Hokkaido. It is not likely that either the
quinnat or the red salmon can be introduced into these rivers, as they
have no snow-fed streams, and few of them pass through lakes which are
not shut off by waterfalls. For the same reason neither of these species
is likely to become naturalized in the waters of our Eastern States,
though it is worth while to bring the red salmon to the St. Lawrence.
The silver salmon, already abundant in Japan, should thrive in the
rivers and bays of New England.
=The Parent-stream Theory.=—It has been generally accepted as
unquestioned by packers and fishermen that salmon return to spawn to the
very stream in which they were hatched. As early as 1880 the present
writer placed on record his opinion that this theory was unsound. In a
general way most salmon return to the parent stream, because when in the
sea the parent stream is the one most easily reached. The channels and
runways which directed their course to the sea may influence their
return trip in the same fashion. When the salmon is mature it seeks
fresh water. Other things being equal, about the same number will run
each year in the same channel. With all this, we find some curious
facts. Certain streams will have a run of exceptionally large or
exceptionally small red salmon. The time of the run bears some relation
to the length of the stream: those who have farthest to go start
earliest. The time of running bears also a relation to the temperature
of the spawning grounds: where the waters cool off earliest the fish run
soonest.
The supposed evidence in favor of the parent-stream theory may be
considered under three heads:[9] (1) Distinctive runs in various
streams. (2) Return of marked salmon. (3) Introduction of salmon into
new streams followed by their return.
Footnote 9:
See an excellent article by H. S. Davis in the _Pacific Fisherman_ for
July, 1903.
Under the first head it is often asserted of fishermen that they can
distinguish the salmon of different streams. Thus the Lynn Canal red
salmon are larger than those in most waters, and it is claimed that
those of Chilcoot Inlet are larger than those of the sister stream at
Chilcat. The red salmon of Red Fish Bay on Baranof Island are said to be
much smaller than usual, and those of the neighboring Necker Bay are not
more than one-third the ordinary size. Those of a small rapid stream
near Nass River are more wiry than those of the neighboring large
stream. The same claim is made for the different streams of Puget Sound,
each one having its characteristic run. In all this there is some truth
and perhaps some exaggeration. I have noticed that the Chilcoot fish
seem deeper in body than those at Chilcat. The red salmon becomes
compressed before spawning, and the Chilcoot fishes having a short run
spawn earlier than the Chilcat fishes, which have many miles to go, the
water being perhaps warmer at the mouth of the river. Perhaps some
localities may meet the nervous reactions of small fishes, while not
attracting the large ones. Mr. H. S. Davis well observes that "until a
constant difference has been demonstrated by a careful examination of
large numbers of fish from each stream taken _at the same time_, but
little weight can be attached to arguments of this nature."
It is doubtless true as a general proposition that nearly all salmon
return to the region in which they were spawned. Most of them apparently
never go far away from the mouth of the stream or the bay into which it
flows. It is true that salmon are occasionally taken well out at sea,
and it is certain that the red salmon runs of Puget Sound come from
outside the Straits of Fuca. There is, however, evidence that they
rarely go so far as that. When seeking shore they do not reach the
original channels.
In 1880 the writer, studying the salmon of the Columbia, used the
following words, which he has not had occasion to change:
"It is the prevailing impression that the salmon have some special
instinct which leads them to return to spawn in the same spawning
grounds where they were originally hatched. We fail to find any evidence
of this in the case of the Pacific-coast salmon, and we do not believe
it to be true. It seems more probable that the young salmon hatched in
any river mostly remain in the ocean within a radius of twenty, thirty,
or forty miles of its mouth. These, in their movements about in the
ocean, may come into contact with the cold waters of their parent
rivers, or perhaps of any other river, at a considerable distance from
the shore. In the case of the quinnat and the blue-back their 'instinct'
seems to lead them to ascend these fresh waters, and in a majority of
cases these waters will be those in which the fishes in question were
originally spawned. Later in the season the growth of the reproductive
organs leads them to approach the shore and search for fresh waters, and
still the chances are that they may find the original stream. But
undoubtedly many fall salmon ascend, or try to ascend, streams in which
no salmon was ever hatched. In little brooks about Puget Sound, where
the water is not three inches deep, are often found dead or dying salmon
which have entered them for the purpose of spawning. It is said of the
Russian River and other California rivers that their mouths, in the time
of low water in summer, generally become entirely closed by sand-bars,
and that the salmon, in their eagerness to ascend them, frequently fling
themselves entirely out of water on the beach. But this does not prove
that the salmon are guided by a marvelous geographical instinct which
leads them to their parent river in spite of the fact that the river
cannot be found. The waters of Russian River soak through these
sand-bars, and the salmon instinct, we think, leads them merely to
search for fresh waters. This matter is much in need of further
investigation; at present, however, we find no reason to believe that
the salmon enter the Rogue River simply because they were spawned there,
or that a salmon hatched in the Clackamas River is more likely, on that
account, to return to the Clackamas than to go up the Cowlitz or the Des
Chûtes."
Attempts have been made to settle this question by marking the fry. But
this is a very difficult matter indeed. Almost the only structure which
can be safely mutilated is the adipose fin, and this is often nipped off
by sticklebacks and other meddling fish. The following experiments have
been tried, according to Mr. Davis:
In March, 1896, 5000 king-salmon fry were marked by cutting off the
adipose fin, then set free in the Clackamas River. Nearly 400 of these
marked fish are said to have been taken in the Columbia in 1898, and a
few more in 1899. In addition a few were taken in 1898, 1899, and 1900
in the Sacramento River, but in much less numbers than in the Columbia.
In the Columbia most were taken at the mouth of the river, where nearly
all of the fishing was done, but a few were in the original stream, the
Clackamas. It is stated that the fry thus set free in the Clackamas came
from eggs obtained in the Sacramento—a matter which has, however, no
bearing on the present case.
In the Kalama hatchery on the Columbia River, Washington, 2000 fry of
the quinnat or king-salmon were marked in 1899 by a V-shaped notch in
the caudal fin. Numerous fishes thus marked were taken in the lower
Columbia in 1901 and 1902. A few were taken at the Kalama hatchery, but
some also at the hatcheries on Wind River and Clackamas River. At the
hatchery on Chehalis River six or seven were taken, the stream not being
a tributary of the Columbia, but flowing into Shoalwater Bay. None were
noticed in the Sacramento. The evidence shows that the most who are
hatched in a large stream tend to return to it, and that in general most
salmon return to the parent region. There is no evidence that a salmon
hatched in one branch of a river tends to return there rather than to
any other. Experiments of Messrs. Rutter and Spaulding in marking adult
fish at Karluk would indicate that they roam rather widely about the
island before spawning. An adult spawning fish, marked and set free at
Karluk, was taken soon after on the opposite side of the island of
Kadiak.
The introduction of salmon into new streams may throw some light on this
question. In 1897 and 1898 3,000,000 young quinnat-salmon fry were set
free in Papermill Creek near Olema, California. This is a small stream
flowing into the head of Tomales Bay, and it had never previously had a
run of salmon. In 1900, and especially in 1901, large quinnat salmon
appeared in considerable numbers in this stream. One specimen weighing
about sixteen pounds was sent to the present writer for identification.
These fishes certainly returned to the parent stream, although this
stream was one not at all fitted for their purpose.
But this may be accounted for by the topography of the bay. Tomales Bay
is a long and narrow channel, about twenty miles long and from one to
five in width, isolated from other rivers and with but one tributary
stream. Probably the salmon had not wandered far from it; some may not
have left it at all. In any event, a large number certainly came back to
the same place.
That the salmon rarely go far away is fairly attested. Schools of
king-salmon play in Monterey Bay, and chase the herring about in the
channels of southeastern Alaska. A few years since Captain J. F. Moser,
in charge of the _Albatross_, set gill-nets for salmon at various places
in the sea off the Oregon and Washington coast, catching none except in
the bays.
Mr. Davis gives an account of the liberation of salmon in Chinook River,
which flows into the Columbia at Baker's Bay:
"It is a small, sluggish stream and has never been frequented by Chinook
salmon, although considerable numbers of silver and dog salmon enter it
late in the fall. A few years ago the State established a hatchery on
this stream, and since 1898 between 1,000,000 and 2,000,000 Chinook fry
have been turned out here annually. The fish are taken from the
pound-nets in Baker's Bay, towed into the river in crates and then
liberated above the dike, which prevents their return to the Columbia.
When ripe the salmon ascend to the hatchery, some two or three miles
farther up the river, where they are spawned.
"The superintendent of the hatchery, Mr. Hansen, informs me that in
1902, during November and December, quite a number of Chinook salmon
ascended the Chinook River. About 150 salmon of both sexes were taken in
a trap located in the river about four miles from its mouth. At first
thought it would appear that these were probably fish which, when fry,
had been liberated in the river, but unfortunately there is no proof
that this was the case. According to Mr. Hansen, the season of 1902 was
remarkable in that the salmon ran inshore in large schools, a thing
which they had not done before for years. It is possible that the fish,
being forced in close to the shore, came in contact with the current
from the Chinook River, which, since the stream is small and sluggish,
would not be felt far from shore. Once brought under the influence of
the current from the river, the salmon would naturally ascend that
stream, whether they had been hatched there or not."
The general conclusion, apparently warranted by the facts at hand, is
that salmon, for the most part, do not go to a great distance from the
stream in which they are hatched, that most of them return to the
streams of the same region, a majority to the parent stream, but that
there is no evidence that they choose the parental spawning grounds in
preference to any other, and none that they will prefer an undesirable
stream to a favorable one for the reason that they happen to have been
hatched in the former.
=The Jadgeska Hatchery.=—Mr. John C. Callbreath of Wrangel, Alaska, has
long conducted a very interesting but very costly experiment in this
line. About 1890 he established himself in a small stream called
Jadgeska on the west coast of Etolin Island, tributary to McHenry Inlet,
Clarence Straits. This stream led from a lake, and in it a few thousand
red salmon spawned, besides multitudes of silver salmon, dog-salmon, and
humpback salmon. Making a dam across the stream, he helped the red
salmon over it, destroying all of the inferior kinds which entered the
stream. He also established a hatchery for the red salmon, turning loose
many fry yearly for ten or twelve years. This was done in the
expectation that all the salmon hatched would return to Jadgeska in
about four years. By destroying all individuals of other species
attempting to run, it was expected that they would become extinct so far
as the stream is concerned.
The result of this experiment has been disappointment. After twelve
years or more there has been no increase of red salmon in the stream,
and no decrease of humpbacks and other humbler forms of salmon. Mr.
Callbreath draws the conclusion that salmon run at a much greater age
than has been supposed—at the age of sixteen years, perhaps, instead of
four. A far more probable conclusion is that his salmon have joined
other bands bound for more suitable streams. It is indeed claimed that
since the establishment of Callbreath's hatchery on Etolin Island there
has been a notable increase of the salmon run in the various streams of
Prince of Wales Island on the opposite side of Clarence Straits. But
this statement, while largely current among the cannerymen, and not
improbable, needs verification.
We shall await with much interest the return of the thousands of salmon
hatched in 1902 in Naha stream. We may venture the prophecy that while a
large percentage will return to Loring, many others will enter Yes Bay,
Karta Bay, Moira Sound, and other red salmon waters along the line of
their return from Dixon Entrance or the open sea.
=Salmon-packing.=—The canning of salmon, that is, the packing of the
flesh in tin cases, hermetically sealed after boiling, was begun on the
Columbia River by the Hume Brothers in 1866. In 1874 canneries were
established on the Sacramento River, in 1876 on Puget Sound and on
Frazer River, and in 1878 in Alaska. At first only the quinnat salmon
was packed; afterwards the red salmon and the silver salmon, and finally
the humpback, known commercially as pink salmon. In most cases the flesh
is packed in one-pound tins, forty-eight of which constitute a case. The
wholesale price in 1903 was for quinnat salmon $5.60 per case, red
salmon $4.00, silver salmon $2.60, humpback salmon $2.00, and dog-salmon
$1.50. It costs in round numbers $2.00 to pack a case of salmon. The
very low price of the inferior brands is due to overproduction.
The output of the salmon fishery of the Pacific coast amounts to about
fifteen millions per year, that of Alaska constituting seven to nine
millions of this amount. Of this amount the red salmon constitutes
somewhat more than half, the quinnat about four-fifths of the rest.
In almost all salmon streams there is evidence of considerable
diminution in numbers, although the evidence is sometimes conflicting.
In Alaska this has been due to the vicious custom, now done away with,
of barricading the streams so that the fish could not reach the spawning
grounds, but might be all taken with the net. In the Columbia River the
reduction in numbers is mainly due to stationary traps and
salmon-wheels, which leave the fish relatively little chance to reach
the spawning grounds. In years of high water doubtless many salmon run
in the spring which might otherwise have waited until fall.
The key to the situation lies in the artificial propagation of salmon by
means of well-ordered hatcheries. By this means the fisheries of the
Sacramento have been fully restored, those of the Columbia approximately
maintained, and a hopeful beginning has been made in hatching red salmon
in Alaska.