THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN TROUT. 2/3 



do the variations assume any marked importance {j.'ar Hcn- 

 s/iaiut.) Individuals intermediate between this species and 

 5. Gardineri are not rare, and there is no doubt that the 

 latter is simply an offshoot from this general stock, as are 5. 

 iridens and .S. stoniias. It feeds on any living thing it finds 

 near it. In the mountain lakes it spawns in the spring, 

 running into the rivers for that purpose. Its great enemies, 

 at that season, are the various species of Suckers and Chubs, 

 which feed, the former upon its eggs, the latter upon the 

 young Trout. So very destructive are the former in many 

 Trout lakes, as Utah Lake, that the destruction or diminution 

 of the Suckers ought to be accomplished by law. A parasitic 

 tapeworm, Dibothcriuin corticcps, Leidy, is said to frequently 

 infest this species so as to render its flesh uneatable in the 

 summer, in the Yellowstone Lakes. (Yarrow.) 



As a food fish this Trout is excellent. Large numbers of 

 the variety HensJiawi are shipped to the market of San Fran- 

 cisco. Attempts have been made to cultivate it in ports of 

 California, with success. A small hatchery has been estab- 

 lished at Tahoe City for the purpose of keeping stocked a 

 small branch of the lake in which summer visitors may fish. 

 In the opinion of the writer this species is likely to prove 

 much more valuable for introduction into eastern waters than 

 the Rainbow Trout. It is more active, more gamy, reaches 

 a larger size and thrives in a greater variety of waters. 



The habits as well as color and shape of the Rocky Moun- 

 tain Trout vary in different waters, but in all cases are widely 

 different from those of the eastern Brook Trout. The latter 

 loves to hide under a log, a drift, or a rock, while the former 

 seeks an open riffle or rapid for his feeding or lounging ground 

 and when alarmed takes refuge in some deep open pool, but 

 rarely or never under a rock or log. Fontinalis is a lover of 

 dark, shady nooks, while Purptwattis always prefers the sun- 

 niest parts of the lake or stream. The eastern Trout feeds 

 till well into the night, many a basket being filled with him, 



