64 BRITISH FRESHWATER FISHES 



examples from Aberdeenshire, and in four from 

 Windermere I count forty-eight to seventy-two, 

 figures which clearly show that there is not much 

 to be done with this character. Many authors 

 think that the Lochleven Trout is entitled to 

 specific rank ; it has always been greatly esteemed 

 as a sporting fish and for the table ; the colour is 

 silvery, with black spots. 



The coloration of the Trout in our rivers and 

 lakes varies enormously ; some are silvery white, 

 others quite blackish, such as the small Trout of 

 some Welsh mountain tarns, which have received 

 the name Salmo nigipinnis. The colour of the back 

 varies from bluish grey or bright olive through 

 different shades of green, yellow, brown, and violet 

 to nearly black ; the sides usually have silvery or 

 golden reflections, and the hues of the back are 

 replaced below by white, yellow, or grey. The 

 spots, black, brown or red, stellate, round or oval, 

 and often ocellated, differ greatly in their size, 

 number, and distribution. Our figure (PI. VII, 

 Fig. 2) is of a male fish, 1 1 inches long, from Loch 

 Crocach, where the Trout have the spots ocellated 

 and large. The ground-colour has been experi- 

 mentally shown to change and harmonize with the 

 environment, especially depending on the amount 

 of light and the colour of the bottom ; the nature 

 of the food also probably has its effect. 



Dr. Gunther has written, " Trout with intense 

 ocellated spots are generally found in clear rapid 

 rivers and in small open Alpine pools ; in the large 

 lakes with pebbly bottom the fish are bright silvery, 

 and the ocellated spots are mixed with or replaced 

 by X-shaped black spots ; in pools or parts of lakes 



