The Ouananiche 



The average size of the ouananiche is 2I to }h pounds, though 

 examples weighing 8 pounds are often taken. 



The ouananiche does not differ greatly from the Atlantic 

 salmon, and is apparently even more closely related to the Sebago 

 salmon. Some ichthyologists and many anglers have maintained 

 that all 3 are identical, and that the Sebago salmon and the 

 ouananiche are not worthy even of a subspecific rank. But spe- 

 cific or subspecific rank is not determined by the amount or 

 greatness of differences, but rather by their constancy. However 

 small the differences may be, if they are real and constant, and 

 do not intergrade, they indicate specific distinctness; however great 

 they may be, if not constant, or if they show intergradation, 

 they can be of no more than subspecific value. Subspecific char- 

 acters are usually associated with more or less definite geographic 

 or environmental isolation, and the characters of the subspecies 

 and those of the parent species* will intergrade where the two 

 habitats join or overlap. 



It seems certain that both the Sebago salmon and the ouanan- 

 iche are geographically isolated forms, each possessing characters 

 by which it is readily distinguished from the other, and from 

 the Atlantic salmon as well. Whether the differential characters 

 intergrade or not has not been fully determined. If they do not, 

 then each should rank as a full species, and bear a binomial 

 instead of a trinomial name. Comparing the ouananiche with 

 the grilse of the Atlantic salmon, Mr. Walter M. Bracket, as 

 quoted by Mr. Chambers, says the eye of the former "is much 

 larger, the profile rounder, the dark spots larger and much more 

 numerous. In fact, the grilse is much more of an aristocrat than 

 his freshwater cousin, being finer in his proportions and much 

 purer in colour — due, no doubt, to his different habitat and 

 food." But Mr. Bracket's use of the term ouananiche includes 

 the Sebago salmon also. 



Mr. Chambers says of the ouananiche, "Its fins are larger and 

 stronger [than those of Salmo salar]. ... Its tail is unusually 

 broad. . . . The eye of the ouananiche is much larger than that 

 of the ordinary salmon, the St. Andrew's cross-marks upon the 

 sides are closer together, and there are larger and more distinct 



* Used for convenience for the earlier described form, which may, in reality, be the 

 derived form. 



^73 



