86 



In November, several seasons ago, when taking our regu- 

 lar supiDly of the eggs of Namaycush, we took some of the 

 Siskiwit eggs for intended observation of their peculiarities. 

 Under some conditions they are slower in hatching than 

 Namaycush, the fry are lighter in color, very decided 

 difference in looks and behavior ; they are not as active, 

 and slower in swimming up, seem to be more delicate and 

 susceptible to the ' ' blue bag ' ' development than the Namay- 

 cush, feed about the same as Namaycush, and were doing- 

 well up to middle of March, when by one of those aggravat- 

 ing incidents hard to guard against in experimental work, 

 they were turned in with a large lot of Namaycush for dis- 

 tribution by one of the men who thought they were so few ; 

 they took up more room than they were worth. 



This hsh, hitherto described in foregoing pages, is of the 

 larger and deepest-water species from the profundity about 

 Isle Royale and that neighborhood. The largest specimens 

 I can learn of weighed 60 lbs. — females always larger 

 than males, whose flesh is always flrmer than the spawners. 

 The smaller species of Siskiwit rarely exceeds 30 lbs. for 

 the female and half that weight for the male. They are 

 taken in water at 100 to 120 fathoms. The flesh of the 

 male is hard and flrm, even wlien compared with Namay- 

 cush. Another very great peculiarity of his is the abundant 

 and inordinate secretion of milt with which he is provided. 

 In quantity and efficiency the milt of one Siskiwit is 

 superior to the yield of six good conditioned Namaycush. 

 It is a well-known fact that certain foods stimulate the 

 generative functions in warm-blooded vertebrates, and 

 no reason appears why the same should not occur among 

 lishes. This may explain the ever-apparent readiness 

 to spawn of certain individuals at all times among the 

 Siskowet. 



