the difference in taste was pronounced. The artificially fed fish tasted dry, mouldy and 

 muddy. Their flesh was white and less tender than the reddish, juicy and clean tasting 

 flesh of natural feeders. Twelve days later, the difference in taste was less marked 

 although still noticeable. Only 27 days after drainage (and after the last feeding) had 

 all differences in taste disappeared. The flesh of artificially fed fish was still white, 

 though, but the skin not lighter than the skin of natural feeders, 



^. The Char. 



The Char ( Salmo fontinalis . Kitsch) — also introduced from America — has lost in pond- 

 industrial importance during the last decades. One reason for this lies in tte fact that 

 char die easily in their second or third year during the spawning season. It is said of 

 the char that it thrives better in shelterless brooks than brown trout and also requires 

 less oxygen. For these reasons it thrives in oxygen-poor spring regions which are its 

 natural habitat. 



The char is a winter spawner, spawning from October to January. 



Char are distinguished by the marbled designs upon their backs, the black, ribbon- 

 like stripes upon dorsal fin and caudal fin and the white, black and red stripes upon the 

 pectoral, ventral and anal fins. 



B, Artificial Fish Breeding. 



1. Significance and Development . 



The trout "industry" undoubtedly owes its great importance to artificial breeding. 

 Numerous waters would have been depleted, long since, of their stock of salmonoids if 

 artificial breeding methods had not been introduced. Brood for ponds would be lacking 

 and actual fish "culture" would be impossible without rational selection of parent fish. 



By the term "artificial culture" we do not understand rearing of fish in small ponds 

 and by artificial feeding but the manual stripping of the male and female sex products and 

 after artificial fertilization, the brooding of these eggs. 



This "stripping" process was first described by Jacobi. who published an article in 

 the Hannover Magazine in 1765. But it was only from 1850 on, that this method was really 

 introduced upon a large scale and accepted in France and Germany, thanks to the efforts of 

 the French fishbreeder Coste . 



2, Selection and rearing of parent fish . 



The principle to keep spawners separate from marketable fish is more important still 

 •ffith trout than it is vdth carp. It was found again and again that the ovaries of trout — 

 under intensive artificial feeding — degenerate and produce few usable eggs. Only by 

 natural feeding — or alimentation as nearly natural as possible — and by proper care, 

 approaching natural conditions will the eggs retain their red and transparent appearance. 

 The amount of milt may be increased in males through intensified feeding, but the quality 

 will suffer. 



It is quite possible that the chemical properties of fats containing less oleln, and 

 of proteins, contained in artificial foodstuffs differs from those of natural foods, Thia 

 in turn may react upon the compositicn of the roe, which according to KSnig and Grossfeld 

 is mainly composed of the proteins ichthullne and albumin (both rich in sulphur and 

 phosphorus), while its fats contain as much as 59 percent of lecithine and up to Li percent 

 of cholesterine. On the other hand ( Schaepe rclaus ) has demonstrated that even whitish 

 and opaque eggs, from intensively but carefully fed fish can produce efficacious brood. 

 The productivity, and not any other characteristic, or the appearance (even when it is 

 unnatural) are the final determining factors. 



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