138 MALACOP. ABDOM. SALMON FAMILY. 



^scarcely ever reach five pounds; and they are es- 

 teemed very inferior in quality to those inhabiting 

 ■the greater number of its tributaries. Numerous 

 instances might be quoted of very large Trout, from 

 fifteen to twenty-five pounds, having been caught 

 in different parts of the kingdom. The Thames is 

 celebrated for its gigantic Trout, although they occur, 

 as might be expected, in but small numbers. The 

 Gillaroo Trout, as it is called, has been chiefly 

 noticed as inhabiting Lough Neagh, Lough Con, 

 and other of the Irish lakes. Externally it differs 

 but little from the common varieties, except in hav- 

 ing a greater number of red spots ; but internally its 

 organization is somewhat different, the stomach 

 being thick and extremely muscular in the coats. 

 In this it resembles the Charr, and it is alleged 

 that the peculiarity has been produced by feeding 

 on small shell-fish, such as the different species of 

 JPaludina. The circumstances to which it owes this 

 modification of structure being by no means peculiar 

 to Ireland, we might expect to find this variety 

 elsewhere than in that country, to which it was long 

 thought to be confined ; and accordingly, we are in- 

 formed by Mr. Colquhoun, that the Gillaroo is found 

 in Scotland in Lochs Earn, Lubnaig, Voil, and 

 others, and sometimes grows to a great size.* 



Almost every angler of experience must remember 

 of having occasionally taken Trout more or less de- 

 formed. The most common case of this kind consists 

 of an upward curvature of the spine, a little behind 

 * The Moor and the Loch, p. 112. 



