650 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 
habits of the whitefish. This evidence, which is summarized in the report 
referred to above, consists of the statements of fishermen as to the depths at 
which whitefish are taken in the different lakes, their distribution, migrations, 
and other habits. This report, together with the statements of Prof. H. B. 
Ward in his report on Lake Michigan in the Traverse Bay region (Ward, 1896) 
form the basis of the following account. The earlier works of Milner (1874) 
and Smith (1893) have also been consulted. 
KINDS OF WHITEFISH. 
By the term whitefish as used in this section of the present paper is to be 
understood the true whitefish or common whitefish (Coregonus clupeiformis 
Mitchill) unless otherwise stated. Fishermen, while they distinguish readily 
between the true whitefish and other related species, nevertheless often report 
them together as whitefish and statistical reports are necessarily based on their 
statements. Thus in the most recent statistical reports of the United States 
Bureau of Fisheries, Alexander (1905) separates whitefish, longjaws, and blue- 
fins in Lakes Superior and Michigan, and whitefish, longjaws, and menominees 
in Lake Huron, but lists whitefish only in Lakes Erie and Ontario, although 
the latter lake, at least, contains longjaws (Smith 1895). The Michigan and 
Canadian statistics refer to whitefish only. The data used in the present paper 
are those which refer to true whitefish only. 
DEPTHS AT WHICH WHITEFISH OCCUR. 
The following statements as to the depths at which whitefish are found are 
taken from Rathbun and Wakeham (1897) except that for Lake Michigan, 
which is from Ward (1896): 
Fathoms. 
Wake Osttatig= SS e oe eee i ee een See Se or 10-20 
alte Erie ss sete ee ee See ee eae eee CEE nee pms ae ae ee 12-30 
Wakevbia@roniws o& 22s ee isk ns Seed ao sa dak steel Jae 10-35 
rake WWichigan? <2. csee Ga ee aee oL e e fa Se er ere 12-20 
Wake: Set peniomie ss = en ee ee ee ee ee ee 10-50 
The depth data given for Lake Michigan are specifically stated by Professor 
Ward to be depths of the true whitefish in summer, and to be the range over 
which the fish is the most numerous. It occurs in small numbers in both shal- 
lower and deeper water. The depths given for Lakes Ontario and Erie are no 
doubt also those at which the true whitefish is found during the greater part of 
the year. The greater depths given for Lake Huron possibly cover also the 
range of the longjaw, which is stated by Ward to occur in greatest abundance 
from 20 to 25 fathoms in Lake Michigan, although Smith (1895) states that in 
Lake Ontario they range as deep as 116 fathoms and in August as shallow as 
20 fathoms. The range in Lake Superior also possibly covers more than the 
