ICHTHYOLOGY. 



209 



Abdunii- 

 nales. 

 SalinM- 

 nidfle. 



Malacop. species, and in their food consisting in a great measure of 

 minute entoniostraca. TIic best aii'l most familiar exam- 

 ple of this group is the char of England. 



Salmo iimbla, Agassiz, — -apparently confounded by most 

 authors, in consequence of its great variety of aspect, and 

 ' synonymous, according to the above-named naturalist, with 

 S. alpinus and salvelinus, Linn. It is abundant in the 

 Englisli and Welsh lakes, and in the greater mmiber of 

 those in the north of Scotland, when of any considerable 

 extent ; but more seldom seen there, from the absence of 

 the practice of netting, and the general miHillingness of 

 char to take a fly or bait. This fish is of great repute 

 in the Lake of Geneva, and is also found in many of the 

 alpine lakes of northern Europe. The common char 

 reaches a considerable size, being sometimes taken in Bri- 

 t.ain above two pounds in weight, although the more usual 

 weight is under three quarters of a pound. When in full 

 condition, it is a fish of very great beauty, above of a gray- 

 ish green, shading into the most delicate white on the 

 lower parts, and tinted with a blush which is comparable to 

 that seen on the breasts of some of the gull tribe when 

 newly shot in spring. The body is sprinkled over with 

 pale spots of a considerable size. In this state they re- 

 main in the deeper parts of the lakes, and are not frequent- 

 ly taken, although we doubt not they might be so were 

 the practice adopted of hanging a herring-net in the deep 

 water, instead of trying only the xuinter practice of bawling 

 in shore. We ourselves caught them by the former me- 

 thod, in their prime silvery state, in Sutherland, during the 

 month of June. On the approach of the breeding time, 

 they seek the mouths of the small tributaries, and are 

 taken in vast numbers at the very period when their pre- 

 servation ought to be most strictly attended to, and when, 

 in truth, they begin to fall off in their condition. At this 

 season the colour of the upper parts is darkened, the fins 

 are very rich, and the sides and belly become of a beauti- 

 ful and brilliant red, the whole spotted with small marks of 

 a paler tint. 



Although we here follow our friend M. Agassiz in pla- 

 cing the two supposed species under one denon)ination, 

 yet we willingly admit, and indeed particularly desire our 

 readers to remember, that the history of the char, whether 

 single or distinctive, has not yet been clearly made out.' 

 We have already mentioned (in the article Angling of 

 this work) that both kinds occur in Windermere, to wit, 

 the char or case char (Salmo alpinus), and the torgoch 

 or red char (Salmo salveliims). These are usually thus 

 distinguished : — the former by having the first rays of the 

 ventral and anal fins white ; the latter by having those 

 parts plain, that is, of the same colour as the other rays. 

 A remarkable distinction is also observable in their natu- 

 ral habits, — the case char ascending rivers, and spawning 

 about Michaelmas, — the red char depositing its ova along 

 the shores of the lake, and not till the end of December 

 or the beginning of the year." Let these facts be duly 

 regarded in determining upon the distinction or identity 

 of species. We hope ere long to investigate the subject 

 steadily. In the mean time, to illustrate the character of 

 colour, we shall extract from our note-book some memo- 



randa made a few seasons ago, on six specimens of char iMalacop- 

 (supposed to exhibit examples of the different varieties or teOf/ii 

 kinds) selected from a bawl taken (hy net) in Windermere 

 on the 12th December. " No. I is a very beautiful fish, — 

 the ground colour of the body pale ashy brown, somewhat 

 lighter beneath the lateral line. The sides are richly 

 marked with scarlet spots of different sizes ; the whole of 

 the under surface, from the pectoral fins to the tail, are 

 brilliant scarlet. The fins are margined anteriorly with 

 an opake white stripe, followed by a blackish-brown por- 

 tion, passing posteriorly into deep crimson. The tail is 

 blackish brown. The nose and front part of the head are 

 marked by a black spot. The dorsal fin is of the same 

 pale-brown colour as the back, slightly inclining to blue." 

 This seemed a male. " No. 2 is a smaller fish, brown 

 upon the back, and becoming gradually paler beneath ; 

 the abdomen and lower parts are dingy white, tinged with 

 bluish colour. The ventral and anal fins are margined 

 with white, their other parts flesh colour; the pectoral 

 fins are reddish brown ; the dorsal fin and tail blackish 

 brown. The sides of this specimen are indistinctly mark- 

 ed with pale yellowish-red spots." This was a male red 

 char, which appeared to have spawned. " No. 3 is of a 

 blackish-brown colour, somewhat silvery, paler beneath the 

 lateral line, and passing into yellowish white on the belly. 

 The pectoral, ventral, and anal fins are brown, tinged 

 with red. The dorsal fin and tail are brownish black. 

 The upper part of the head is also black. The sides of 

 this specimen are distinctly marked with numerous very 

 pale, almost colourless, spots. No. 4 resembles the last 

 described, but is smaller." These the fishermen called 

 two geld fish, full grown and half grown. " No. 5 is a 

 very dark fish, brownish black upon the back and sides, be- 

 coming, as usual, gradually paler beneath the lateral line. 

 77(6 pectoral, ventral, and anal fins are distinctly margined 

 anteriorly with opake white; the central portion of these 

 fins are brownish black, and their interior margins flesh 

 colour. The upper part of the head is dark ; the belly of 

 a dingy red. No. 6 resembles the preceding, except that 

 the under surface, instead of being dingy red, is pale red- 

 dish white. The ventral and anal Jins are reddish brown, 

 jnargined anteriorly with white. The pectoral fins are 

 reddish brown, the dorsal fins are brownish black. Both 

 these specimens are marked on the sides with obscure 

 pale-reddish spots." These two fish were what the fish- 

 ermen called case char (Salmo alpinus ?), male and female, 

 — yet the pectoral, ventral, and anal fins of the former, 

 and the ventral and anal fins of the latter sex, were con- 

 spicuously margined with white, although that character 

 is usually regarded as distinctive of the torgoch or red 

 char. Perhaps the fact of the male having the pectorals 

 so margined, while those of the female were of uniform 

 colour, may be regarded as of some importance, as tend- 

 ing to show that the character itself is in some measure 

 variable, and therefore insufficient to constitute a specific 

 distinction.^ Every angler knows that the under fins of 

 the common trout are frequently margined on one edge 

 w ith an opake line of milky white. 



Although the art of angling is not immediately connect- 



' We understand that Blr Yarre!) has obtained what he considers as a second species of char, from Wales, which will be described 

 in an early number of his Briihh Fishes. We are as yet, however, uncertain whether he makes out the two common kinds to be iden- 

 tical, and has discovered a new species, or whether his observations merely go to prove that the said kinds (as formerly supposed) are 

 distinct from each other. 



'^ The chief feeder or head stream of Windermere is composed of two branches, the Brathay and the Rothay, wliich meet a short 

 way above the lake, into which they speedily pour their united waters. The Brathay is the lefc-hand branch (as we ascend from the 



lake), and draws its sources from the mountain vales of I^angdale, reaching Windermere without any resting place, while the 



Kothay has previously formed and flowed from two consecutive lakes, Grassmere and Kydal. The char,' in ascending from Winder- 

 mere to spawn, invariably turn to the left, and ascend the Brathay (though to no great distance), and as invariably avoid the lake- 

 descended w aters of the Rothay. Tliey also spawn lower down the Lake of Windermere, at the mouth (or a short way upwards) of 

 the stream called Troutbeck, which is also derived from the flow of mountain tributaries, without any lesser or intermediate lake. 



» The specimens above alluded to are now deposited in the Edinburgh College Museum. 



VOL. XII. 2 D 



