BULL TROUT. 103 



The following is a description of a male Bull Trout received on the i8th. of November, 

 1878. For distinction's sake I shall call this fish "The Bull Trout or Pale-fleshed Salmon 

 Trout of the Coquet." 



Total length from snout to the end of the tail twenty-eight inches and a half; girth of 

 body twelve inches and a half; length of head seven inches; prseoperculum with distinct lower 

 limb ; vertical margin sinuous ; posterior margin of operculum rounded ; sub-operculum not 

 extending beyond operculum ; line of union between operculum and sub-operculum oblique ; 

 length of maxillary two inches and a half, greatest breadth half an inch ; teeth on the max- 

 illaries and mandibles strong; a few only, two or three, on the head of the vomer; body of 

 vomer destitute of teeth ; mandible hooked, fitting in a recess in the upper jaw ; lateral line 

 distinct, and for nearly all its length straight ; dorsal fin greyish pink, with several round 

 black spots ; pectoral reddish brown, short, and very broad, margin dark ; ventral short and 

 broad ; anal purplish grey ; tail broad, margin somewhat rounded ; adipose fin large and very 

 fleshy, brownish pink with darker spots ; the tip of the margin pink ; head brownish pink ; 

 gill-cover with ten or eleven dark spots ; whole colour of the body brownish pink, with a 

 great number of round or obscurely shaped X marks. The whole appearance of this fish is 

 that of a large Trout, being utterly destitute of the silvery colour of Salmon. This specimen 

 had not parted with all its milt. 



Description of a spent female from the Coquet, received November 29th., 1878: — Total 

 length twenty-six inches and a half; girth eleven inches and three quarters ; length of head 

 five inches and three fourths ; length of maxillary two inches and a quarter ; breadth half an 

 inch, reaching beyond orbit of the eye ; snout rounded ; distance between the end of snout 

 and posterior orbit two inches and five eighths ; sub-operculum rounded, and extending beyond 

 the margin of the operculum; tail square; colour of the top of the head olive brown; gill- 

 cover lighter; back dark, with bluish tinge and numerous dark spots, not very distinctly 

 X-shaped ; fins broad and short ; colour below the lateral line silvery grey. The whole appear- 

 ance of this female fish is more that of a Salmon than a Trout ; there is great difference in 

 colour between the male and the female ; the head of the female, moreover, is less elongate 

 than that of the male. 



In a head of a male fish which measures thirty-two inches, just the size of that described 

 by Yarrell — whose description, with the exception of the form of the gill-cover, already alluded 

 to, is very accurate — the maxillary is narrow but of great length, extending considerably 

 beyond the orbit of the eye ; its length is two inches and four fifths ; greatest breadth two 

 fifths of an inch ; the maxillary of the female is shorter and broader ; the operculum and the 

 maxillary in the male resemble those of the Sal/no trutia; the same parts in the female are 

 more like those of the Sewen, or Saluio cutibricus* 



Young specimens, obligingly sent to me by Mr. F. Buckland, which were hatched in 

 February, 1878, attained the length of about three inches in November; but there is difference 

 in this respect, some being less, others more than three inches ; the parr marks number 

 about eleven. These little fish are much spotted with brown, and are destitute of any red 

 marks ; the dorsal fin is strongly marked with dark brown oblong spots ; the other fins are 

 colourless, except the adipose, which is tinged with red. 



The evidence with regard to this fish is in some respects most conflicting. Since the 

 above has been in type I have received two more letters, one from Mr. W. R. Pape, of New- 

 castle, and the other from Mr. Dunbar. Both these gentlemen have had great opportunities 

 of observing the Bull Trout. The former says, "The Coquet Salmon Trout is, I think, iden- 

 tical with all the Scotch Salmon Trout which I have seen. No fish varies so much in colour 

 according to the sea weed and shades of the rocks where they feed ; this is easily seen in 



* There is difference in the comparative length and breadth of the maxillary; one male in my possession has 

 this organ strong and broad, as in <S. cambricus. 



