2l8 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF 



Its stomach is pear-shaped, with walls more than '^ inch thick; it contained numerous 

 small shells of several genera, not yet identified. 



The species is reported b\- fishermen to be very abundant in that lake, and to be 

 destructi\-e of eggs of other fish. They say it comes in great numbers into shallow water 

 near the shore in early summer when the water is roily, and can be caught on set 

 lines. Mr. Annin saw men baiting their set lines with small minnows on Canandaigua 

 Lake, and when they were taken up in the morning the Labrador whitefish was found 

 on the hooks. It is claimed that one of them so taken weighed 6 pounds. Superin- 

 tendent O. H. Daniels, of the New Hampshire Fish Commission, forwarded a specimen 

 from Lake W'innesquam, at Laconia, 19/^ inches long, weighing 46 ounces, and he 

 wrote that individuals weighing jyi pounds had recently been taken. The species 

 was called "blue-fin" and "whitefish." 



The fish-eating habit of the Labrador whitefish was fully \-erified in the Aquarium 

 upon examples obtained in Canandaigua Lake in November, 1896, b}- Mr. Annin. 

 Knowing that the species usually subsists upon small mollusks and crustaceans, efforts 

 were made to provide the fish with Pliysa and Gaimnarus ; but this became difficult 

 in winter, and an experiment was made with small killifish (Fiiiidn/iis Iictcroclitiis and 

 majalis), which proved satisfactory during the cold months. In summer, howe\-er, it 

 was found necessary to return to the use of Gaminanis. The whitefish at first took 

 the killifish without any eagerness, but they soon learned to chase their prey and take 

 it much as trout do. 



A female received from Canandaigua Lake on June 17, 1896, in a fresh state, 

 showed the following colors : Membrane of pectoral fins dusky ; that of the pectorals 

 tinged with lemon yellow ; ventrals dusky at the tip ; anal pale ; caudal pale except a 

 narrow dusky portion of the middle rays; eyes pearly, with golden iridescence. The 

 maxilla reaches about to front of eye. The adipose dorsal extends straight backward, 

 and its base is covered with a sheath of small scales ^ of an inch wide. The gill- 

 rakers are 9 plus 17, the longest -^8 of an inch. Very small teeth are present on the 

 tongue. The eggs are minute. 



In a male example, 17^ inches long, received November 16, 1895, from Upper 

 Saranac Lake, and nearly spent, no tubercles could be seen upon the scales ; but 

 several of the males from Canandiagua Lake had them well developed. There is a 

 great difference in the development of the lingual teeth, some of our individuals 

 showing only a trace of them, and it seems as if there may be some relation between 

 their condition and the sexual maturity of the fish. For example, in a male 14 inches 

 long, sent from the fourth lake of the Fulton Chain, November 9, 1897, the lingual 

 teeth were present in a large patch ; in three males, only a little smaller but sexually 

 immature, from Saranac Lake, November 11, 1897, the teeth on the tongue could be 



