SYSTEMATIC CATALOGUE OF FISHES. 135 



The salmonids are characterized by a more or less elongate body; a terminal 

 mouth, with the lateral margins of the upper jaw formed by the maxillary bone, 

 to which is attached a supplemental bone; branchial membranes not connected 

 and not attached to isthmus; gills 4 in number; gill-rakers of various form and 

 number; pseudobranchiae present; branchiostegals numerous; a single dorsal fin 

 of soft rays placed near middle of body; behind this a small adipose fin; lateral 

 line present; scales usually small, cycloid, covering body but not head; air- 

 bladder large, pyloric coeca numerous; species oviparous, with large eggs. 



The genera to which the brook trout and the rainbow trout belong are thus 



separated. 



i. Body red-spotted; vomer boat-shaped, with a strongly depressed shaft containing no teeth. 



Salvelinus. 

 ii. Body black-spotted; vomer flat, with its shaft not depressed and containing teeth in alter- 

 nate rows Salmo. 



Genus SALVELINUS Richardson. Charrs, or Red-spotted Trouts. 

 A numerous genus of moderate sized trouts, distinguished by having a 

 rather large mouth; teeth on jaws, tongue, vomer, and palatines; a boat-shaped 

 vomer without a central elevation; small scales; and rich coloration, with 

 round red spots on body. Species inhabiting lakes and streams, sometimes 

 running to the sea. {Salvelinus, charr.) 



115. SALVELINUS FONTINALIS (MitchiU). 

 "Brook Trout"; "Speckled Trout"; Mountain Trout. 



Salmo fontinalis MitchiU, Transactions Literary and Philosophical Society ofNewYork, i, 1815, 435; vicinity 



of New York City. Cope, 18796, 489; Catawba and French Broad rivers. 

 Salvelinus fontinalis, Jordan, 18896, 139; Bucks Creek (tributary of Catawba) at Pleasant Garden and North 



Fork of Swannanoa River near Mt. Mitchell. Jordan & Evermann, 1896, 506, pi. Ixxxii, fig. 218. 



Diagnosis. — Body moderately long, somewhat compressed, back slightly elevated, depth 

 contained 4 to 4.5 times in total length; head large, broad between eyes, the length about equal 

 to body depth; mouth large, the maxillary often extending beyond eye; eye about .5 length of 

 snout and .16 length of head; scales very small, about 230 in lateral series; gill-rakers small, 

 17 on first arch; dorsal rays 10; anal rays 9. Color: variable, depending on local conditions; 

 back usually grayish, mottled with dark green or black; lower parts in males often bright red; 

 sides with numerous small vermilion spots on brownish background; dorsal and caudal fins 

 barred or mottled with black; lower fins plain dusky, edged anteriorly with a creamy or orange 

 stripe, Behind which is a black stripe, {fontinalis, of the springs.) 



This beautiful and excellent species is native to northern North America 

 from Labrador to the Saskatchewan valley, throughout the Great Lakes region, 

 and the eastern slope of Alleghany Mountains as far south as the headwaters of 

 Chattahoochee River in Georgia. Its distribution has, however, been greatly 

 extended by man; and the fish may now be found in nearly every suitable stream 

 in the United States. 



The natural distribution of the fish in North Carolina is the headwaters of the 

 Catawba and French Broad rivers, although it has been introduced into various 

 other waters, and is now quite generally found in the mountainous sections. It 



