XXIV REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



ville the previous winter. They appeared to be very healthy for a time, 

 but later in the summer they were attacked by a parasitic trematode, 

 which appeared in large numbers, especially on their fins and jaws. 

 The mortality resulting aggregated over 26,000, leaving only 10,411 for 

 distribution in November. No other species were attacked by this 

 parasite, though all were kept in the same locality and under the same 

 conditions. A large i^ercentage of fish was hatched from the consign 

 ment of Swiss lake-trout eggs received from Switzerland in Februarj^, 

 189G. A few of these were held over and distributed in the spring of 

 1897, but the bulk of them were disposed of in the fall. 



Steelhead trout. — The fish on hand at the beginning of the year were 

 carried through the summer with small loss, and all of them with the 

 excei)tion of 200 were distributed during the i'all. These were placed 

 in one of the new ponds for domestication, and 191 of them survived to 

 the close of the year. From a consignment of eggs received in A])ril 

 94,811 fry were hatched ; all but 10,000 of these, which have been retained 

 for rearing, were distributed in local waters during May and June. 



Qmnnat salmon. — The quinnat salmon on hand at the beginning of 

 the year were the result of a consignment of eggs received from Baird 

 in December, 1895. They were carried through the summer without 

 material loss, and in November 7,0G2 yearlings were liberated in local 

 waters. During the fall 200 of them were transferred to the aquarium 

 in Washington and held until the following spring, when they were 

 sent to Nashville for exposition purposes. Another lot of 200 was 

 retained at the station until the following June, when they were liber- 

 ated, with a loss of only 4, in local waters. In December, 1890, a con- 

 signment of 1,440,000 eggs was received from Battle Creek, Cal. Some 

 sliglit mishaps befell them and it became necessary to crowd them 

 considerably on account of lack of space, but notwithstanding these 

 adverse circumstances 1,255,594, or 87 per cent, of them hatched. Of 

 these, 789,000 were deposited in tlie Penobscot and its branches above 

 Oldtown, 77,449 were liberated in local waters, and 50,000 were trans- 

 ferred to the Maine Commission, making a total distribution of 916,449; 

 250,000 were reserved at the station to be reared and distributed in the 

 fall, and at the close of the year they were in excellent condition. 



The total amount of food used consisted of 42,746 pounds of butcher's 

 offal, beef blood, and horse carcasses, the original cost of which was 

 $592.25, the additional expense of freight and drayage aggregating 

 $105.97. This large increase in cost and amount of food was due to 

 the increased number of fish carried; and it was learned by experiment 

 that quinnat salmon require a larger amount of food than Atlantic 

 salmon and other fishes. 



The stock of fry held for distribution in the fall consisted of 240,000 

 Atlantic salmon, 2,167 domesticated Atlantic salmon, 2,295 landlocked 

 salmon, 250,000 quinnat salmon, 1,894 Scotch sea trout, and 10,000 steel- 

 head trout. 



