If certain hatcheries, especially in Bavaria report good results frcn the domestication 

 of these fish, we presume that none but rainbow trout ( Salmo Shasta ) were used in these 

 cases. 



The Shasta trout is supposed to have from 1/.5 to 160 scales along the lateral line 

 and to have 63 vertabrae, as against 135 scales and 60 vertebrae in the steelhead. 



According to most fishing laws, in force in Germany, the introduction of rainbow 

 trout, char ( Salmo salvelinus ) and other foreign speci<.s for distribution in open waters 

 requires a Government permit. 



During the last decades, the different forms (varieties) of rainbow trout and steel- 

 head have been crossed so frequently that a distinction between them (in Germany) is today 

 almost impossible. Ehrenbaum maintains that the differentiating characteristics are now 

 obliterated in Germany. Under these conditions, the question about preferences for or 

 against one or the other species is an idle one from the viewpoint of the industrial 

 fishbreeder. 



Ehrenbaum rightly warns not to discriminate against the steelhead (or against the 

 Shasta trout) since it is not at all proven that the steelhead fares worse under intensive 

 culture than the rainbow trout. According to American experiences, the crossing of both 

 varieties has occasionally even counter^acted certain degenerative tendencies. 



All that remains to be said with regard to characteristics and life conditions of 

 the Salmo Shasta also pertains to the rsiinbov/ trout, as encountered in German hatcheries 

 (see Fig. 23). 



The juvenile coat of this , German, rainbow trout is very similar to the juvenile 

 coat of the brown trout, minus the red spots. Along the sides, one finds a row of from 

 11 to 13 large black spots, in the intervals of which may also, upon occasion, occur one 

 or two rows of smaller spots (Fig. 70). 



Thrse spots have disappeared when the fish are about 15 centimeters long, i.e. one 

 or two years old. At that time, the silvery background becomes more pronounced, upon 

 the back appear niomerous small black spots and a red line (ribbon-like) appears along the 

 sides. This red stripe is especially pronounced in males during spawning times. The 

 coloring is more vivid under natural feeding than in case of intensive artificial feeding. 

 Like in brown trout the coloring varies very frequently. 



In Germany, the spaTming season is between January and May, In colder waters spawn- 

 ing maturity is always somewhat retarded. In Denmark, the spawning season is somewhat 

 later than in Germany, while the spawning process is similar to the spawning process of 

 brown trout. 



Fig. 23. Rainbow Trout. 2 years old, 

 230 g. weight, strongly artificial feeding, 



96 



