494 Bulletin 4J, United States A^ational Museum. 



compressed. Head comparatively slender and long acuminate, its upper 

 surface very slightly carinated; muzzle somewhat pointed, but blnntish 

 at the tip ; head not convex above ; maxillary rather short, not reaching 

 much beyond the eye. Vomerine teeth as usual ; a small, rather narrow, 

 but usually distinct patch on the hyoid bone. Dorsal fin small ; caudal 

 fin short, rather strongly forked. Scales medium. Coloration dark 

 green in life, in the pure waters of Lake Tahoe ; pale green in the salty 

 waters of Pyramid Lake; the sides silvery, with a strong lateral shade 

 of coppery red : back about equally spotted before and behind ; the spots 

 large and mostly round ; sides with rather distant spots : belly generally 

 with round spots ; head with large black spots above, some even on the 

 snout and on lower jaw ; dorsal and caudal also spotted : a few spots on 

 anal : red dashes on lower jaw ; young specimens less spotted. Length 

 18 inches or more, usually weighing 5 or 6 pounds, but occasionally 20 to 

 29 pounds. Basin of the post-Tertiary Lake Lahoutan ; found in Lake 

 Tahoe, Pyramid Lake, Webber Lake, Donner Lake, Independence Lake, 

 Truckee River, Humboldt River, Carson River, and in most streams of 

 the east slope of the Sierra Nevada ; also in the head waters of Feather 

 River, west of the Sierra Nevada, where it is probably introduced from 

 Nevada Related to Salmo mykiss, but better distinguished than most 

 of the varieties, with a longer and more conical head, and with the spots 

 ditferently arranged. A fine trout, now common in the San Francisco 

 markets. 



In Lake Tahoe there are two forms of this type, (1) the ordinary 

 Tahoe Trout (locally known to fishermen as "Pogy," the young as 

 " Snipe"), weighing from 3 to 6 pounds, dark in color, with coppery 

 sides, ascending the streams to spawn, and (2) the " Silver Trout," a 

 large robust trout profusely spotted, the spots ofteu oblong, the colora- 

 tion more silvery. These trout live in deep water and spawn in the lake 

 itself. A careful comparison of specimens convinces us that there is no 

 specific nor varietal difterence between the one and the other. The 

 largest '"Silver Trout" on record, weighing 29 pounds, was caught at 

 Tahoe City, about 1876, and sent as a present to Gen. U. S. Grant. The 

 following is a description of a Silver Trout taken near Tahoe City in 

 September, 1894, and presented to the Leland Stanford Junior University 

 by Mr. A. J. Bayley, of Tahoe City : 



Specimen 2 feet 4 inches long, weighing 7^ pounds. Head 4-,-< ; depth 

 3^; eye It in fiead. D. 9; A. 12; B. 10; scales 33-205-40 (140 pores). 

 Pectoral If in head. Maxillary If. 



Body very robust, compressed, unusually deep for a trout, the outline 

 elliptical. Head large, rather more compressed than in typical Sahno 

 Jienshdui, (possibly a character of the adult male). Eye small, silvery. 

 Vomerine teeth in two long series, those of the two series alternating in 

 position. Hyoid teeth distinct, in a rather long series. Gill rakers short, 

 thickish, 5-f 13. Mouth large, the maxillary extending well beyond the 

 eye. Preopercle moderate, its lower posterior edge not evenly rounded, 

 but with a slightly projecting, rounded lobe and a slight concavity above 

 and below ; this character not strongly marked. Opercle evenly, but 

 not strongly, rounded. Scales small, reduced above and below, those in 

 or near lateral line largest. Fins moderate, the anal rather high, with 

 one more ray than usual. Caudal slightly lunate, almost truncate when 



