154 SALMONIDiE. 



' » 



For some additional remarks on specimens . believed to be of the 

 same species, see Harris, I. c. 



30. Salmo oquassa. 



The Charr of jVloosemegantic Lake. 



Salmo oquassa, Girard, Proc. BoU. Soc. Nat. Hist. iv. 1854, p. 262. 



It is from 8 to 10 inches in total length. The body is subfusiform, 

 slender, and the most graceful in the Trout famUy. The head is 

 proportionally small, conical, coregonoid in shape. The mouth is 

 smaller than in S. fontinalis. Differences are likewise observed in 

 the structure of the opercular apparatus. The fins have the same 

 relative position as in the Brook-Trout, but are proportionally more 

 developed, with the exception of the adipose, which is considerably 

 smaller ; their shape is alike, except that of the caudal, the crescentic 

 margin of which is undulated instead of being rectilinear. The 

 scales are somewhat larger, although they present- the same general 

 appearance as those of the Brook-Trout. The lateral line is similar 

 in both of these species. A bluish tint extends all along the back 

 from the head to the tail ; so that when seen from above, the fish 

 appears entirely blue ; hence the name of Blueback, given to it by 

 the settlers of the neighbourhood. The sides and abdomen are silvery 

 white in the female, and of a deep reddish orange in the male, and the 

 sides are spotted in both sexes with orange of the same hue as the 

 abdomen. The dorsal and caudal fins are brownish blue, bordered 

 with pale orange in the male ; the pectorals, ventrals, and anal of a 

 fiery orange, blackish blue at their base, vrith their margin of the 

 purest white. 



The abode of the ' Blueback ' is, as stated above, the Mooseme- 

 gantic Lake, in which it is concealed during the greater part of the 

 year ; but about the 10th of October it comes near shore and ascends 

 in shoals the Kenebago for the purpose of spawning. Half a mile 

 above its mouth the Kenebago receives the outlet of Lake Oquassa ; 

 the Trout there leaves the Kenebago to the left and runs towards 

 Oquassa Lake, where its voyage comes to a close. After the middle 

 of November it goes back into Moosemegantic Lake and is seen no 

 more until October of the next year. (Gir.) 



An apparently verj' extraordinary Salmonoid is described by Va- 

 lenciennes, which, if the characters given prove to be correct, will be 

 the type of a distinct genus. The specimens are said to come from 

 the River de la Mana in Guiana ; however, it is well known that 

 Valenciennes is very inaccurate in 'his statements as regards the 

 localities whence he obtained his specimens of Salmonoids. "We can- 

 not believe that a Salmonoid occurs in Guiana, and may mention 

 that there is a river of the same name in Greece. 



31. Salmo gracilis. 

 Cuv. Sf Val. xxi. p. 265. 



B. 10. D. 12. A. 1 2. P. 12. V. 10. 

 Body elongate and rounued, its depth being one-eighth or one- 



