SALMO SALAR.
THE COMMON SALMON OF THE BRITISH WATERS.
ADULT MALE IN THE BREEDING STATE.
» well known tlint thu higher claeses of animals, and partioalarly biids, i e different appearance-s at v
ages. Tbt cliiingus at the period of incubation are very remarkable in the latter,—so much so, that one in tlie nuptial dress
has been with dilEeulty recognised to be the same bird when procured in its winter piumigo. The same change-^ iire 1>pconiiiig
known to occur regularly, and in a manner very marked, among many groups of fishes. The typical Salmon exhil)
it these both in the change of the form, and in the glittering hues of the high conditioned and healthy lish being supplanted
by tiuts of brilliant scarlet or orange, accompanied by blue and yellow, or by more sombre shades of grey and dull black.
On leaving the sea and ascending tJie rivers, the Common Salmon very soon loses the brilliant silvery lustre, and the
rich v'elvet black colour of the spots which contrast so beaiitifiiUy witli it. A few days will partially cause these to appear
dull; and in from three to five weeks, the colouring becomes dark, \iilh a great part of the silvery tints faded, while the
spots become more obscure and less contrasted. As the season advances, the upper parts assume a brownish colour, the gill
uoveis and under jaw turn dark, and ore tinted with yellow or gi'eenish-yellow, and dull bi'ownish patches begin more or
less to cover the sides; when the spawn enlarges these markings increase in depth and brilliancy, and when tlmt state is complete
tlie fish ap|)ears as we have U'ied to represent it. At the same periods do the parts of the head begin to lengthen,
the fins to thicken, and the back to shew a more aiclied outline, iroin tJie deposition of a kind of cartilaginous substance,
;vhich at the full development in a fish of tlio size of our specimen would reach from half to three quarters of an inch in
depth upon t i e back, and gives that rounded and shar)» appearance peculiar to this season.
This deposition seems analogous to the increase or deposit of fat upou those animals which pass a portion of their
year in a state of toi'pidity or hybematioc ; or to the high condition which deer, and many other ruminants attain, previous
to tlie commencement of the rutting season. In the salmon it is very ijuickly absorbed after the process of spawning has
been accomplished, and is a prorision to supjily the loss from exhaustion during a period when little food or nourishmeul
can be obtained.
On the plate to which our description refers, we have endeavoured to represent the Adult Male Salmon of the British
Waters, of the form and colours assumed during tlie height of tho spawning season, and before any exhaustion has taken
place, nie figiuu is reduced from a fish of between sixteen and seventeen ixumds in weight, one of sixteen taken in the
month of December, from a pool in tlio river Annan. The whole of tliese fish were neaily ui the same condition. Tlie
females just ready to deposit their spaTO, being scarcely less brilliant in colouring, but presenting more apparent symmetry,
from their rounder fonn, and comparatively less change ui the shape of the head and dorsal outline. The colonring, when
newly taken from die river, was beautiful beyond description, and is not u> be conveyed by any representation ; independent
of the brighter tints and rich purphsh-grcy running along the lateral line, the whole body was, ai it were, glazed over with
a delicate crimson-pink, changing and lading with tlie hfe of tlie lish.