844 



SCANI)IXAVlz\N KISllES. 



ill comparison with tlial of tlie llucli — though not so 

 small as in the Arctic sfai/nnlis — lieing usually of the 

 same curved form and about the same size as in the 

 Scandinavian Salmons. The anal fin is similar in form 

 to the true dorsal, luit always shorter and lower. The 

 distance between it and tiu; tip of the snout is about 

 ()7 (excei)tionally 6.5) — 71 % of the length of the body, 

 and as a rule this percentage is less than 70 in the 

 Northern Charr, more than 70 in the Sselbling. The 

 caudal fin consists, here as in the preceding family, of 



17 branched rays and an inconstant number of sup- 

 porting rays, of which the hindmost at each margin 

 extends (piite or nearly to the end of the fin-lobe. This 

 fin is as a rule more or less deeply forked in the young; 

 l)nt in old specimens, especially when in breeding con- 

 dition, tlie liiiid margin is truncate or slightly concave 

 \\ lien tlie tin is expanded. The middle caudal rays, 

 wiiich occupy about 1) — (i % of the length of the body, 

 generally measure less than lialf the length of the 

 outermost rays, except in old Charr, especially males, 

 where their length may rise to at least .56 % of that 

 of the latter. 



The pectoral fins are pointed in old specimens, 

 even approaching to the scythe-shape of the Mackerel 

 type; but in the young they are blunter at the tip. 

 Their length varies considerably, from about 14 — 19 % 

 (in alipes, <f, up to 21 V^ %) of that of the body, and 

 is greater in the males than in the females. The pre- 

 abdominal lengtli (the distance between the foremost 

 points in the insertions of the pectoral and ventral fins), 

 on the contrary, is as a ride less in the males than in 

 the females, varying between about "27 (exceptionally 

 25) and 32 %" of the length of the body. The ventral 

 fins are obliquely triangular, with the truncate top as 

 base. They are also longer as a rule in the males 

 than in the females, their lengtii varying between about 

 14 and 11 % (exceptionally 10 or, in alipes, cf, as 

 much as 16 %) of that of the liody. The postabdomi- 

 nal length (the distance between the beginning of the 

 anal fin and the foremost (outermost) point in the in- 

 sertions of the ventral fins), which is less as a rule in 

 the males than in the females, varies between about 



18 (exceptionally 17) and 22 (exceptionally 26) % of 

 tlie length of the body. 



The scales are both small and thin, \\'ithout radi- 

 ating grooves, but ^vith dense c-oncentric striiv. The 



dorsal scales are oblong, elliptical or oval; those of the 

 lateral line of a more quadrangular shape but with 

 rounded corners; the ventral scales broader (deeper). 

 From the beginning of the dorsal fin obliquely back- 

 wards and downwards to the lateral line 34 scales, if 

 not more, maj' be counted in a transverse row, and 

 from the beginning of the adipose fin a similar row 

 contains about 21 — 24 scales. The lateral line runs 

 straight, or with a faint downward curve in front, 

 from the upper angle of the gill-opening to the middle 

 of the base of the caudal fin. 



In its festal dress, just before the spawning, the 

 Charr is one of our most beautiful fishes. The back 

 is liluish or greenish black — the former jiredoininant 

 in the Northern Charr, the latter in the Sadbling — , 

 the belly flame red or paler — the latter in the fe- 

 males — , and the sides of the body bluish gray or green, 

 with scattered, red or paler spots, varying in dimen- 

 sions but of about the same size as the pupils. The 

 dorsal and caudal fins are of the same colour as the 

 back, but distally they gro\v paler. In male Northern 

 Charr wearing this dress, the caudal fin is commonly 

 edged with red, and the lower margin (sometimes the 

 u]>j)er as -well, at least in part) generally has the same 

 white or yellowish white hue as the anterior margin 

 of all the inferior fins. The rest of these fins gene- 

 rally partake, in the spawning-dress, of the same red 

 tint as the belly, but sometimes the posterior (the anal 

 and ventral) have a more or less predominant, grayish 

 blue colour, which occurs on the pectoral fins only in 

 a fainter tone, but has there a still more handsome, 

 ash-gray shade. The forejiart of the belly and the 

 throat, as well as the branchiostegal membranes and 

 the lo^ver jaw, are generally of a light, yellow or 

 \vhitish yelloAv ground-colour, more or less spotted \vith 

 bluish black. The head is commonly coloured above 

 like the back, below like the bellj', with cheeks and 

 opercula of the same ground-colour as the sides of the 

 body; but it is often more or less spotted with bluish 

 or sooty black, and sometimes entirely, though faintly, 

 coated with one of these tints, which in the Northern 

 Charr generally extend to the mouth and pharynx as 

 well. The iris is brassj- yellow, with an irregular, 

 ring-shaped shading of black. 



These sharply defined hues of the spawning-dress 

 are exchanged during the intervening periods for a 



" When the belly is abnormally distended, this percentage may rise to 35. 



