168 Conservation Department 



17-a. Salmo irideus'^ Gibbons.* — Steelhead trout. Rare, Recorded from I 

 Lake Erie by Dymond.2 Dunkirk fishermen on one boat, the Albert E. Baker, 



told of catching in gill nets, one or two trout that fitted the description of j 



this species. Steelheads have been planted in several streams3 tributary to | 



Lake Erie and apparently are established in limited numbers in this lake. ' 



17-b. Salmo iridens shasta Jordan. — Rainbow trout. Common in several j 



streams of the watershed, where it is important for sport fishing. Will i 



^tand warmer water than the brook trout. Large ones tend to migrate j 



downstream. In hatcheries, the shasta rainbow has been crossed with the i 



steelhead, subspecies iridens, so that many of the specimens in streams of j 



the State are not typical of the former subspecies. However, all that we have , 



seen from the region are nearer shasta in characters than they are to the I 



steelhead. j 



18. Cristivomer namaycush namaycush (Walbaum).* — Lake trout. Un- I 

 common. Restricted to the deep parts of Lake Erie where it is sometimes i 

 taken in gill nets. Trout are scarcer in Erie than in deeper ones of the | 

 Great Lakes, and the species is of minor commercial importance for that 1 

 reason. Good catches are sometimes made late in fall. , 



19. Salvelinus fontinaUs fontinaUs (Mitchill). — Brook trout, speckled \ 

 trout. Restricted to cold streams and cold ponds and is common in several > 

 headwater streams. This is a favorite fish of the majority of anglers and j 

 its numbers are kept rather low by heavy fishing in spite of replacement by 1 

 stocking. I 



Catostomidae Suckers ^ 



I 



20. Megastomatohus cyprinella (Cuvier & Valenciennes).* — Big-mouth 

 buff"alo. Rare. One specimen is reported from Lake Erie by Hubbs. The 

 species was planted in the lake. 



21. Carpiodes cyprinus (Le Sueur). — \Miite carp, buff"alo mullet, quillback, 

 swordfin. Common in Lake Erie, going well up into creeks to spawn. Taken 

 in considerable numbers by seines in Cattaraugus creek in the spring and 

 at this time it is of considerable economic value. As a food fish it is com- 

 parable to the red-fin suckers, of good quality although bony. Young were ' 

 found in mouths of creeks, and in Cattaraugus creek they were numerous 

 several miles from the mouth along shallow, mud flats. A specimen taken at \ 

 the mouth of Sister creek, July 12, was i| of an inch long, about the 

 youngest one that was found. 



22. Catostomns commersonnii (Lacepede). — Common sucker, white sucker, i 

 mullet. Abundant. Widely distributed, occurring in nearly all waters of ' 

 the area. Inhabits cold or warm streams as well as Lake Erie. Many live , 

 in streams all the year round, but the greater part of the suckers in Lake : 

 Erie enter streams only to spawn. It seems probable that many of them 

 spawn in the lake, judging from the number of sucker fry collected along 

 the lake shore far away from stream mouths. Lake Erie suckers are large ! 

 and are of considerable commercial value. The flesh is good, even in the ] 

 warm months. The sucker has grown* in importance with the increasing , 

 scarcity of the more choice species. Commercially, it is taken in seines, ] 

 fykes and gill nets. Sport fishermen catch many by hook and line, and by ' 

 spear, mainly in spring. By July 25, young found in the Xiagara river \ 

 averaged about % of an inch in length. Within the region, the sucker is 

 divisible into two races, one being made up of tliose which are permanently | 

 resident in streams, and the other being made up of those in Lake Erie, which | 

 spawn to a large extent in streams but are not resident there. The Lake j 



^ We are not here distinguishing between the Columbia river steelhead, Salmo 

 irideus gairdneri, and the coast range steelhead, Salmo irideus irideus. 



' Recorded as gairdneri. 



* Fish Distribution, Waters in New York State Stocked in 1925. State of New 

 York Conservation Commission 1926. 



Mt now ranks fourlli in importance in Lake Eric. 



