56 Sir W. Jardine on the Loch Trout. 



to be dragged by the teeth for forty or fifty yards, and when ac- 

 cidentallv freed, will immediately again seize it. 



Salmo ferox appears to be entirely confined to the lochs, sel- 

 dom ascending or descending the rivers running into or out of 

 them, and never migrating to the sea. In the spawning, they 

 ascend for a short way up the rivers or streams entering the 

 lochs, but never for the same purpose descend those running out 

 of them, though in Loch Awe, a favourite resort at this period, 

 is a shallow bank of gravel at the narrow gorge where the loch 

 commences its exit to the river, and here during the spawning, 

 which conmiences about the end of September, they rise eagerly 

 at the common large gaudy salmon flies. 



The largest specimens that I am aware of being taken were 

 28 lb. ; a greater weight is given to it, but I cannot with cer- 

 tainty refer to any beyond this : from 10 lb. to 20 lb. is the 

 most common weight. It is a remarkably powerful trout, but 

 does not possess the agility of a salmon of the same weight. 



The characters which principally distinguish this trout are 

 found in the larger size, — the square tail in all its stages of 

 growth, — the form of the gill-covers and teeth, — the relative 

 position of the fins, — the form of the scales, particularly those 

 composing the lateral line, and in the generally delicate skin 

 which is spread over the outside of the body, being extremely 

 strong and tough, and from under which the perfectly transpa- 

 rent scales can be extracted. The fins may be stated nearly thus, 

 though a greater variation may occur: — dorsal, ^\ to ^*j ; pec- 

 toral, 14; ventral, ^^7j ; anal, j^\ ; gill-covers, 12. The greatest 

 variation occurs in the dorsal fin. In Loch Awe, most of the 

 specimens had the full compliment of 15 rays. 



In Loch Loyal we met with what was considered a singular 

 variety of this fish. Two specimens of 5 lb. each were taken. The 

 general ground colour was deep purplish-brown, shading into 

 blackish-grey, the whole upper parts of the body spotted with 

 dark sapio -coloured spots, which were continued of a smaller 

 size also over the whole of the under parts. In ordinary spe- 

 cies, the under parts are generally of a uniform greyish-yellow. 



7. Salmo salviulus or Parr. — This little fish was met with 

 sparingly in a few of the rivers which had an uninterrupted in- 

 tercourse with the sea, but it evidently decreased to the north. 



The difference of opinion among all our ichthyologists, or ra- 



