THE LAKE TROUT. 



BY LUTHER PARDEE. 



THE Lake Trout, or Sa/vc linns naniaycush as he is more 

 accurately described in the language of the scientist, is, 

 according to Professor Goode, of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tute, "a non-migratory species, inhabiting the chain of Great 

 Lakes, from Superior to Ontario, as well as Lake Champlain, 

 and many other smaller lakes of the United States and Brit- 

 ish America. * * * The usual type to be found in the Great 

 Lakes is brown or gray, dappled with lighter shades of the 

 same general tints. -^ * * Every lake of Northern New 

 York and New England has its own variety, which the local 

 angler stoutly maintains to be a different species from that 

 found in the next township. Some are as black as a tautog, 

 some brown with crimson spots, some gray, with delicate 

 reticulations like those of a Pickerel. The usual type is brown 

 or gray, dappled with lighter shades of the same general tints. 

 Naturalists have been sadly mistaken by their protean modi- 

 fications. The 'Nainayciish,' of the North, the 'togue' or 

 'tuladi' of Maine and New Brunswick, * * * the Trout of 

 Winnipiseogee and that of the Adirondack lakes, have each 

 been honored with a distinct binominal. The angling authori- 

 ties still refuse to admit that the Lake Trout of the east is 

 identical with the Mackinaw Trout or NamaycusJi, supporting 

 their views by accounts of their different habits. A careful 

 study of the dead fish is sufficient, however, to convince a 

 trained observer that there are no structural characters by 

 which these different forms may be separated into species. 



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