Scientific American Supplement, No. 275, April 9, 1881Various
Science
Scientific American Supplement, No. 275, April 9, 1881
Various
Science -- Periodicals
These 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 testes. 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 hooked-jawed and
red-blotched when they first enter the Straits of Fuca from the outside.
The hump-back, taken in salt water about Seattle, shows 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.
It is not positively known that any hook-jawed male survives the
reproductive act. If any do, their jaws must resume the normal form.
On first entering a stream the salmon swim about as if playing: they always
head toward the current, and this "playing" may be simply due to facing the
flood tide. Afterwards they enter the deepest parts of the stream and swim
straight up, with few interruptions. Their rate of travel on the Sacramento
is estimated by Stone at about two miles per day; on the Columbia at about
three 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 rivers,
and the spring salmon enter the 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 hump-back salmon is little better. The silver salmon, with the same
breeding habits as the dog salmon, is more valuable, as it is found in
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 quinnat salmon, from its great size and
abundance, is more valuable than all other fishes on our Pacific coast
together. The blue back, similar in flesh but much smaller and less
abundant, is worth much more than the combined value of the three remaining
species.
The fall salmon of all species, but especially 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 soon perish miserably,
floundering about on the stones. Every stream, of whatever kind, has more
or less of these fall salmon.
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