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Inconnu — Part 3
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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 can not be closed. (2) The front teeth become very long and canine-like, their growth proceeding very rapidly, until they are often 1/2 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 Oncorhynchus gorbuscha, but is found in all. (5) The scales disappear, especially on the back, by the growth of spongy skin. (6) The colour changes from silvery to various shades of black and red, or blotchy, according to the species. The blueback turns rosy or brick-red, the dog salmon a dull blotchy red, 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 Straits 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 destorted, and is rejected by the canners.
On first entering a stream the salmon swim about as if playing. They always head toward the current, and this appearance of playing may be simply due to facing the moving tide. Afterward 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 2 miles per day; on the Columbia at about 3 miles per day. Those who 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 4 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 can not 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 is little better. The silver salmon with the same breeding habits as the dog salmon, is more valuable, as it is found in the inland waters of Puget Sound for a considerable time before the all rains cause the fall runs, and it may be taken in large numbers with seines before the season for entering the rivers. The quinnat or chinook salmon, from its great size and abundance, is more valuable than all the other fishes on our Pacific Coast taken together. The blueback, similar in flesh, but much smaller and less abundant, is worth much more than the combined value of the three remaining species of salmon.
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, has more or less of these fall salmon.