372 EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES, 



0— ON THE SILVER-TROUT OF MONADNOCK LAKE, NEW 



HAMPSHIRE. 



Keene, N. H., October 30, 1872. 



Dear Sir: I send you by express to-day a few specimens of the "silver- 

 trout," or " Dublin trout," as they are called here. They were caught in 

 Center Pond, in Dublin, yesterdaj^, and are fair specimens of the variety 

 found there. 



The pond lies at the foot of Monadnock Mountain, and is sometimes 

 called Monadnock Lake. The shores and bottom are covered with a 

 fine white sand. The water is always much colder than that in the 

 neighboring j)onds, as it is fed only by deep springs, there being no 

 stream running into the pond. The water is also very clear. In the 

 pond are a few dace, perch, and eels, which are not in any way peculiar. 

 I believe the flesh of these trout is a fine salmon-color, and they have a 

 great local reputation for the angler and for the table since the settle- 

 ment of the country. They are caught only in Mayor June and in 

 October, Avheu they seek their spawning-beds in the shallows of the 

 pond. Great numbers were formerly taken from the spawning-beds, 

 but they are now protected by law at that season. They are thought 

 by our anglers to be a different species from the brook-trout of our New 

 Hampshire streams, and by some are claimed to be "land-locked sal- 

 mon." I hope these specimens may enable you to decide these (luestions. 

 As the colors will be damaged by the alcohol in which I send them, I 

 give you the notes of the coloring of a female, measuring nine inches 

 in length and weighing four ounces : iris, dark-brown ; upper part of 

 head, black ; gill-covers, silvery white, with iirismatic reflections ; lower 

 jaw, white, with a dark line near the mouth ; back, light olive-green j 

 sides, light-green to lateral line, and then much lighter, shading rapidly 

 to white of belly, the whole gleaming like silver in the sun-light, even 

 under water ; belly, white, tinged with bright vermilion. Sides covered 

 with golden spots, rather faint in color, from one-eighth to three-six- 

 teenths of an inch in diameter; lateral Hue very distinct; the pectoral, 

 ventral, anal, and caudal fins bright vermilion, with the larger rays in 

 each white; the dorsal and adipose fins olive-green, mottled with 

 brown ; the scales are small, but very distinct. The male is darker 

 colored, with much more red upon the belly, and has small red spots in 

 many of the yellow spots, resembling much more some of our brook- 

 trout. I may add that no other pond, as far as I have learned, has 

 trout marked like these. 



Hoping these specimens may arrive safely and in a satisfactory con- 

 dition, I remain, yours, truly, 



THOS. E. HATCH, 

 Com. on Fisheries for New Hampshire. 



Professor S. F. Baird, 



[These fish proved to belong to the group of lake-trout, probably 

 closely related to what Dr. Prescott called Salmo symmetrica. — S. F. B.] 



