The Fisheries of California [pp. 469-478]

7'he Fisheries of California.
nia is 420. These may be classified as
follows, according to their distribution:
About I58 species may be referred to
the cold water fauna. These are species
that live near the shore, and whose proper home is found north of Point Concepcion, or in the cold current which sweeps
along our coast, and which renders its
waters less warm than in corresponding
regions on the Atlantic side. About I I7
species belong to the semi-tropical fauna.
This occurs to the south of Point Concepcion, and beyond the reach of the
cold currents of the north. Of course,
these two categories are not sharply divided by Point Concepcion, many of the
northern species are found south of this
point in deeper water, or among the
rocks,- some even of the northern species going far down into Mexico. On
the other hand, many southern species
find their way northward as far as San
Francisco. Others of them come northward in the summer, moving southward
as winter approaches. Thus many even
of properly southern species are found
regularly in the Bay of Monterey.
Of the I58 species that belong to the
north of Point Concepcion, we have two
very distinct categories; the one comprises the Arctic and sub-Arctic fishes,
like the halibut, the sturgeon, and the
herring, and several varieties of the
flounders. With these are a great body
of peculiarly Californian types, which
are scarcely or not at all represented in
other regions, and which evidently had
their origin upon our own coast. Among
these, and most conspicuous, are the
various species of surf fishes, all viviparous, which are commonly and wrongly
known as perch. Scarcely less abundant
are the various species of rock fishes,
red, green, and black in color, which go
by the general name of rock cod. The
presence of these two types, both viviparous, together with the peculiar Pacific Coast type of salmon, may be held
as the most remarkable features of the
fish fauna of California.
The species which belong south of
Point Concepcion are in most cases
closely allied to tropical species, and
have evidently had their origin in migrations from the south. These are, as a
rule, not distinctly Californian, but belong to types which are widely diffused
through the warm waters of the tropics.
Their relations are with the West Indian forms, rather than with the other
fishes of California.
About one hundred species of deep
sea fishes have been obtained by the
Albatross in the depths of the ocean off
the continental slope of California.
These creatures are as a rule very soft
in body, almost black in color, and many
of them covered with phosphorescent
spots, by which they can see their way
in the darkness. They live in the open
sea, at a depth of two to five miles, and
their soft bodies at this depth are rendered firm by the tremendous pressure
of the surrounding waters. In their native haunts the light and heat of the sun
scarcely penetrate; the darkness is almost absolute, and the temperature of
the water is at the point of freezing.
The creatures living at these great
depths are not, generally speaking, descended from the shore species of the
same region; they constitute groups by
themselves; and forms very similar are
found in all parts of the ocean from the
poles to the equator.
About thirty-five species inhabit the
fresh waters of California. These are
about equally divided between the great
basin of the Sacramento, and the San
Joaquin, and the basin of the Colorado.
Beside the species of trout, most of the
fresh water fishes come under the head
of suckers and chubs.
Of the whole number of fishes found,
133 of the marine species are properly to
be called food fishes, occurring more or
less frequently in the markets, and being
more or less fit for table use. The others, either on account of small size, ill
flavor, or tastelessness of flesh, are not
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