On the occurrence of <I>Hippoglossus vulgaris</I>, Flem., at Unalashka and St. Michael's, Alaska

(1)

PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

6 J

Table ofMeasurements—Continwcd..

Washington,

May

6, 1879.

(2)

64 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

Dr. Cooper, in mentioning- the Pleuronectoidsof California, says:*

"

The two

tirstare species of Halibut,onecloselyresemblingtheAtlan- tic fish,

and grow

over 4 feet long,the latter (No.105,

H.

vulgarisf)

sometimes weighing five

hundred

or six

hundred

pounds.

Both

are caught near

San

Francisco."

Mr. William

H.

Dall,iiihis

work

on

"Alaska and

itsResources,"1870, p. 484, states,that

"The

halibutaresmaller than those of theeastern fisheries,but near Sitka

and

alongthe coastthey

have

been taken from three tofive

hundred pounds

inweight.

They

are not found north of theice line in Beringsea,except,perhaps,in

summer."

In thereport for 1870 of the

Commissioner

of Agriculture,p.381,the

same

author employsthe

name

^{^^}

B

Ippoglossns vulgarisf^^inconnection with thepara- graph on thelialibut,

and

states that"Their rangeisfrom the Aleutian Islandssouthwestto

Cape

Flattery. . . .

They

extend

westward

into the

Ochotsk

seavfiththecod

and

already form

an

articleof

commerce among

thewest-coast fishermen.

They

are said to surpass theeastern lialibutinflavor

when

properlycured."

Mr.

Henry W.

Elliott, special agentof the Treasury Department, speakstliusoftliehalibut ina

Report upon

theCondition ofAfi'airsin tlieTerritory ofAlaska,

Washington,

1875,p.1G7

:

"Found

throughout the territory

on

soundings south ofthe GOth parallel ofnorthlatitude. Halibutare quite

abundant and

of excellent quality,but theclimateissuchthatthe fishermen cannot properly dry orcure

them

forexportation eveninsmallcargoes.

They

are,however, not

abundaut enough

for exportation,

and must

therefore

be

regarded asonlyoflocalimportance."

In areport

upon

the

Customs

District,PublicService,

and

Resources of Alaslva Territory

by William Gouverneur

Morris, specialagentofthe Treasury Department,1879,p.115,isfound the following information:

"

While

I

was

at

Klawack,

they

were

testingtheboiler,

new

machinery,

and

otlierapparatus,

and

weretryingthe experiment ofcanning clams

and

halibut,bothof

which

are soplenteousin thatneighborhood as to be aperfectdrug. I

have

sinceseenthe result ofthis,

and

can

pronounce

theclams theverybest so treated

on

the whole Pacific coast,

and

the halibut is of superior quality,preservingitsflavorbetterthan

any

yet produced from

any

other locality.

The

supplyof these

two

articlesof

commerce

alone,from this particular place,isonlytobe regulated

by

the

demand."

The

onlyexamplesofthe Pacific halibut in the

United

States

Na-

tional

Museum

are thosecollected

by

Mr.

W. H.

Dall

and

Mr. Lucien

M.

Turner. Mr.Dall's is the single available oneforcomparison,

and

that lacks thecaudalfin,

which

isfortunatelypresentintheother. Al- though both specimens are invery poorcondition, there^isnodifiiculty in perceivingtheir identitywith the Atlantic halibut.

The

individual forwarded

by

Mr. Dall(collector's

number

1098,

museum number

22*66)

'

*Crouise's Nat.WealthC»l., 1868, p. 493.

(3)

^

PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 65 was

takenatTJnalaslilai,

September

13,1S73, in50orGOfathoms. Mr.

Dall informed

me

that Dr. Steindachner

saw

itin

San

Francisco,

and

considereditidenticalwiththe Hipjyoglossusvulgaris. I

have compared

itcarefully with Atlantichalibutfrom Eastport, Me.,

and

fail to see

any means

ofseparating the two.

The Alaska

individuals are alittle thicker; but that

may

be accountedfor

by

the differences in thefood supply. It isverydesirable to

have

perfect specimensof the Pacific fishfor examination; but, inthe absence ofsuch material, I

have

en- deavoredto

make

the

most

of

what

the

museum

has,

and

itisbelieved that the table of

measurements

willserve toconfirm the\iewsofthose

who

regard thehalibut of the Pacific identicalwiththat oftheAtlantic.

DESCRIPTION OF THE UNALASHKA SPECIMEN.

The museum

catalogue

number

is22466,

and

thecollector's

number

1098.

The

lengthofthefishtotheorigin,ofthe middle caudal raysis

463 millimetres.

The

different proportions ofthe

body

are given in hundredthsof this length.

The

greatestheightofthe

body

(.32) is4timesthe lengthofthe oper-

culum

(.08)^; its height at the ventrals (.25) iscontained4times inthe total length,

and

equals the distance of the pectoralfrom the snout

(.25).

The

leastheightofthetail (.07^)^isnearly equalto thelengthof the operculum(.08),

and

to the distance ofthedorsalfrom the snout

(.08).

The

lengthofthecaudal peduncle(.12)equalsthat of the longest analray(.12).

The

lateral linefollows the

same

c6urse as inEastern specimens.

The

greatest lengthofthe

head

(.25|) ^iscontained nearly4timesin thetotallength.

The

distance

between

the eyes(.03)equals ^thedis- tance fromthe snouttothe orbit(.06).

The

lengthofthesnout(.041) equals almostithe lengthofthe

upper jaw

(.01)^).

The

lengtlioftlie

upper jaw

isnot quite equalto that of the pectoral oftheblind side (.10).

The

^maxilla extends to the vertical thrpugh the middleofthe lowereye.

The

lengthofthe mandible(.11^)^is contained 2J timesⁱⁿthelength ofthe head. It extends tothevertical through the posterior

margin

ofthelowereye.

The

long diameterof the

upper

eye(.05) is contained5times inthe lengthof the head,

and

twice in that of thepectoral of the blindside.

The

teethagree perfectly in^all respectswith those of theEastportin- dividuals,thatis,theyare arrangedin

two

seriesinthe

upper

jaw,the outerbeingthe stronger,

and

ina singleseries inthelower jaw.

The

distance ofthe dorsalfrom the snout(.08)equals the lengthof the operculum. Itslongestray(.11^-)does notquiteequalthe longest ofthe anal(.12).

The

^37th

and

38thdorsalraysarethelongest.

The

distance of theanal from the snout(.34)equalsfof the head's length. Itslongest ray, the 17th,(.12) iscontained 8J timesⁱⁿ^the^total length.

Proc.Nat.

Mus.

79 5

July 1,18 70.

(4)

66 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM.

Tlietail is

wanting

in tliisindividual,but presentinthatforwarded

by

Mr. Turner. Itisoftbeusualvulgaris type.

The

distance ofthe pectoral

from

thesnout(.25)equalstwicethelength oftheiDCctoraloftheeyedside(.12^)

and

2^ times thatoftheblind side (.10).

The

distance oftheventralfrom the snout(.25) is contained4 timea in thetotallength.

The

lengthoftheventral_(.05^)iscontained₄Jtimes inthat of thehead.

The

fin-raysare: I).96.

A.

77. P.II,15. Y.^6.

The

radialformulae ofallthespecimensarehere

summarized

:

22436. Uualasbka. D. 9G; A. 77

;

P.II,15; Y.6

;

C. .

224G7. St. Michael's. D.100+; A. 78; P.II,16

;

V. 6; ^C.

+

16+.

10439. Eastport,Me. D. 103; A. 78; P.II,14

; V. 6; C.+,16+.

14622. Eastport,Me. D.103

;

A.broken

;

P.II,14

; V. 6

;

C.

+

¹⁶+.

Tal)leofMcasurcme7ifs.

Currentnumberof specimen.

Locality TJnalashka,Sept.

13,1873.

Eastport, Maine.

Eastpoit, Maine.

SaintMi- cbael's, Alaska.

Milli- metres.

lOOths of length.

MiUi- metres.

lOOthsof length.

Milli.

metres.

lOOths of length.

MiUi- meti-es.

Extremelength

Lengthto originofmiddle caudal

_iays :

Body:

Greatestheight Greatestwidth Heightatventrals Least height oftail Lengthofcaudal peduncle Head:

Greatest length Grc.'itiistwidth A\iatliofinterorbitalarea Lengthofsnout Leugtliofoperculum Lengthofupperjaw Lengthofmandible k..

Bistauciifrom snouttoorbit Diameterofuppereye Dorsal

:

Distance from snout Lengthof longestray Anal:

Distancefromsnout Lengthoflongestray Caudal:

Lengthofmiddle rays Lengthofexternal rays Pectoral

:

Distancefromsnout Length, eyedside Length, blindside Ventral

:

Distance from snout Length Dorsal

Anal ,

Caudal Pectoral Ventral

Lengthof pectoral of blindside.

11,15 6

103 78

+

10

+

U,14 6

103 (Broken.)

+

16

+

II,14

1C7 45 15 2G 48 59 74

II,1C,II 11,16

TVASHlNGTONj

May

10,1879.