BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 383 



188.— TEN QUESTIOIVS COIVCERIVBIVC; THE IIABITS A!VB> BREEDING 

 OF LANDLOCKED !!tAL.llION, TFITH REPLIES/ 



By CHARLES G. ATKINS. 



Question 1. Do they live only in large lakes Laving a depth of more 

 than 100 feet! 



Answer. The depth of the lakes inhabited by them is not ascertained 

 •with certainty, but I believe that some of them will be found to be less 

 than 100 feet deep. As to area, some of the lakes I believe to measure 

 less thau 1,000 acres. The largest, Lake Sebago, measures about 50 

 square miles. 



Question 2. Do they live only in lakes surrounded by mountains 

 (alpine or sub-alpine lakes) ? 



Answer. The lakes in which they most abound are surrounded by 

 low land. Lake Sebago is in a flat sandy country, and around Grand 

 Lake in the Schoodic chain are probably no hills that rise more than 

 GOO feet above its surface. None of the others are in a strictly mount- 

 ainous country. 



Question 3. Are there many lakes in the United States in which 

 landlocked salmon are found ? 



Answer. All the lakes in the United States containing them are about 

 twenty in number, included in four small river basins in the State of 

 Maine. This is a very small proportion of the lakes of the country, the 

 .State of Maine alone having several hundred of them. 



Question 4. What Is the usual weight in the market ? 



Answer. The usual weight of the landlocked salmon from the Schoo- 

 dic lakes is 2 pounds ; from the Sebago region, 5 pounds. 



Question 5. What is an extraordinary weight? 



Answer. An extraordinary weight is 5 pounds for the Schoodic fish 

 and 12 pounds for the Sebago fish ; though the former sometimes reach 

 10 pounds and the latter 18 or 20. 



Question 6. Are they more esteemed and sold at a higher price than 

 lake trout? 



Answer. They are esteemed higher than any of the trout. 



Question 7. In what month do they spawn ? 



Answer. They begin to spawn in October, but perform the operation 

 mainly in November, finishing about November 20. 



Question 8. Do they spawn in the lake like whitefish, or in rivulets 

 like lake trout ? 



Answer. They spawn in running streams like the brook trout {8. fon- 

 tinalis), which also often lives in lakes, but the true lake trout always 

 spawn in tl)e lakes like whitefish. 



* The questions were asked by Vou Behr, president of the German Fishery Associa- 

 tion. 



