A Guide to the Study of Fishes, Volume 2 (of 2)Jordan, David Starr
History
A Guide to the Study of Fishes, Volume 2 (of 2)
Jordan, David Starr
Fishes; Fishes -- Bibliography; Zoology -- History
=Cutthroat or Red-throated Trout.=—This species has much smaller scales
than the rainbow trout or steelhead, the usual number in a longitudinal
series being 160 to 170. Its head is longer (about four times in length
to base of caudal). Its mouth is proportionately larger, and there is
always a narrow band of small teeth on the hyoid bone at the base of the
tongue. These teeth are always wanting in _Salmo irideus_ and
_rivularis_ in which species the rim of the tongue only has teeth. The
color in _Salmo clarkii_ is, as in other species, exceedingly variable.
In life there is always a deep-red blotch on the throat, between the
branches of the lower jaw and the membrane connecting them. This is not
found in other species, or is reduced to a narrow strip or pinkish
shade. It seems to be constant in all varieties of _Salmo clarkii_, at
all ages, thus furnishing a good distinctive character. It is the sign
manual of the Sioux Indians, and the anglers have already accepted from
this mark the name of cutthroat-trout. The cutthroat-trout of some
species is found in every suitable river and lake in the great basin of
Utah, in the streams of Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana, on both sides of
the Rocky Mountains. It is also found throughout Oregon, Washington,
Idaho, British Columbia, the coastwise islands of southeastern Alaska
(Baranof, etc.), to Kadiak and Bristol Bay, probably no stream or lake
suitable for trout-life being without it. In California the species
seems to be comparatively rare, and its range rarely extending south of
Cape Mendocino. Large sea-run individuals analogous to the steelheads
are sometimes found in the mouth of the Sacramento. In Washington and
Alaska this species regularly enters the sea. In Puget Sound it is a
common fish. These sea-run individuals are more silvery and less spotted
than those found in the mountain streams and lakes. The size of _Salmo
clarkii_ is subject to much variation. Ordinarily four to six pounds is
a large size; but in certain favored waters, as Lake Tahoe, and the
fjords of southeastern Alaska, specimens from twenty to thirty pounds
are occasionally taken.
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