4G RESULTS OF THE ATTEMPTS TO ACCLIMATISE SALMO SALAK. 



We have, therefore, three races or varieties, if not 

 three species, each with a wide rauf^e of variation. 



1. S. fario var. A7isonii, attaining a very much larger 



size than the English type restricted to fresh water 

 lakes and rivers. 



2. The analogue of the English white trout, S. tnitia. 



3. The intermediate form partaking somewhat of the 



characters of 1 and 2 attaining a much larger size 



and entering salt water freely. This is the grouj) to 



which the fish belongs recently caught by His 



Excellency, Sir Kobert Hamilton, and deemed by 



Sir Thomas Brady to be a true salmon. 



If it be the true analogue of the English S. salar it certainly 



has local characters which serve to distinguish it. And if the 



classifier persists in retaining the maxillary and scale tests, we 



must recognise it for the time being by a local name, and I 



propose for it the name of S. salar var. Tasmanicus, thus 



standing as a variety within the same species as varieties 



Gaimardi and Ansonii within the species «S^. fario. The 



characters given in table are sufiicicnt for its determination. 



By the characters already tabulated the three principal 

 groups in Tasmania may also readily be determined. 



That the introduced fishes will ultimately become an im- 

 portant article of food, and afford a large revenue to the 

 colony, I have little doubt. 



In conclusion, I have only to add that the peculiar 

 nature of the i>roblems demandiug solution in the classifica- 

 tion of our acclimatised fishes demanded of me that I should 

 fearlessly express my convictions, as I have done in this paper. 

 The great respect which I have for the wisdom and learning 

 of the leading ichthyologists of England is none the less 

 sincere because I am now obliged to state fully and clearly the 

 nature of our difficulties, and I only hojic that my obsci'va- 

 tions may be of some use in estaljlishing a more satisfactory 

 basis for the classification of the salmonidse of Tasmania. 



