FISHES OF THE CONNECTICUT LAKES. 49 



It is now well established iu New York, Peuusjivania, Maryland, Missouri, 

 Michigan, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Colorado, and several other states. This trout 

 has proved to be well adapted to the region east of the Rocky ^Mountains, which 

 has no native black-spotted species, though the western streams and lakes con- 

 tain many forms in a high state of development. 



Size. — Under favorable conditions the brown trout has been credited with a 

 weight of 22 pounds and a length of 35 inches. In New Zealand rivers, where 

 It was introduced with unusual success, it now approximates equal size; but 

 iu most localities 10 pounds is about the limit of weight and 5 or 6 pounds is 

 a good average, while iu some regions the length seldom exceeds 1 foot and the 

 weight ranges from one-half to 1 pound. In the United States a wild speci- 

 men, 7 years old, weighed about 11 pounds. In a well in Scotland an individual 

 aged 15 years measured only about 1 foot iu length. These illustrations will 

 serve to show how much the growth of a brown trout is affected by its sur- 

 roundings and food supply. The species has been known to become sexually 

 mature when 2 years old and 8 inches long. 



Habits. — The brown trout thrives iu clear, cold, rapid streams and at the 

 mouths of streams tributary to lakes. In its movements it is swift, and it leaps 

 over obstructions like the salmon. It feeds usually in the morning and evening, 

 is more active during evening and night, and often lies quietly in deep pools 

 or in the shadow of overhanging bushes and trees for hours at a time. It 

 feeds on insects and their larvae, worms, mollusks, and small fishes and like 

 its relative, the rainbow trout, it is fond of the eggs of fishes. In Europe it is 

 described as rising eagerly to the surface in pursuit of gnats and is said to 

 grow more rapidly when fed on insects. 



Reproduction. — Spawning begins in October and continues through December 

 and sometimes into January. The eggs are from one-sixth to one-fifth of an 

 inch in diameter and yellowish or reddish in color ; they are deposited at inter- 

 vals during a period of many days in crevices between stones, under projecting 

 roots of trees, and sometimes in nests excavated by the spavining fishes. The 

 parents cover the eggs to some extent with gravel. The hatching period varies 

 according to temperature from forty to seventy days. Females aged 3 years 

 furnish on the average about 350 eggs each, but individuals of this age have 

 yielded as many as TOO, and even at the age of 2 years some females produce 

 from 400 to 500. When they are 4 or 5 years old, the number of eggs has 

 reached 1,500 to 2,000. The young thrive in water with a temperature of about 

 50° F. Sterility in the females is common, and the breeding females have been 

 observed to cease reproduction when 8 years old. 



Qualities. — The brown trout is in its prime from May to the last of Septem- 

 ber. Its flesh is very digestible and nutritious, and deeper red than that of 

 the salmon when suitable food is furnished ; the flavor and color, however, 

 vary with food and locality. Insect food produces the most rapid growth and 

 best condition. This species has been so long known as one of the noblest of 

 the game fishes and its adaptability for capture with artificial files because of 

 its feeding habits is so well understood that I need not dwell on these familiar 

 details. 



This species was introduced into Connecticut Lakes as follows: 

 1894, 20,000; 1001, 170,000. Although the precise locality is not 

 certain, it was probably in Mud Pond Brook. It is uncertain 

 whether all of those collected are the individuals planted or some or 

 all of them offspring of the planted fish. The great difference in 

 size would seem to indicate that at least the small ones were offspring 



