308 EEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



Abundance, distribution, etc. — In all the Great Lakes the lake herring, 

 or cisco, is more abundant than any other whiteflsh. It is taken in 

 enormous quantities each year, and in most of the lakes is the object 

 of a special fishery. Considering the entire basin, the quantity of lake 

 herring - taken is greater than that of all other whitefishes combined, 

 but in value of catch and in food value it does not equal the common 

 whitefish. 



We have critically examined specimens from lakes Ontario, Erie, 

 Huron, Superior, and Michigan. We have also examined all the speci- 

 mens of this species now in the National Museum, which represent the 

 following localities: Lake Champlain (Professor Baird); Missisquoi 

 Bay, Lake Champlain (E. W. Marfel) ; Lake Champlain, Vergennes, Vt. 

 (M. E. Hall) ; Labrador (L. M. Turner) ; Nelson Biver, Hudson Bay (Dr. 

 Robert Bell); Hudson Bay (Walter Haydon); Lake Ontario (W. H. 

 Thompson); lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan; Moose Factory, British 

 America (C. Drexler). The specimens from Labrador and Hudson Bay 

 region may represent a slight variety worthy of recognition. 



Mr. John W. Titcomb says this species is quite common in several of 

 the small lakes of Vermont, particularly Bomoseen Lake in Rutland 

 County. In October and November, they appear in large schools close 

 to the rocky shores of the lake for the purpose of spawning. 



This species is abundant in Lake Ontario; its most important 

 spawning-grounds are in the east end of the lake, in Chaumont Bay, 

 Three-mile Bay, and about Grenadier, Stony, and Fox islands. Farther 

 west spawning-grounds are found along the shores and bays, more 

 especially in Great Sodus Bay. On the Canadian side important 

 grounds seem to be in the Bay of Quinte. The spawning-beds are 

 usually in shallow water on hard bottom, though mud bottom is fre- 

 quently used. In the American portions of Lake Ontario the spawning 

 takes place almost entirely in the month of November. The ciscoes of 

 Lake Ontario run from less than a pound to li pounds, though it is said 

 they are sometimes taken weighing 2£ or even 4 pounds. 



In Lake Erie this species exists in greater abundance than elsewhere. 

 Its spawning seasons and habits are not known to differ materially 

 from those of the Lake Ontario fish. 



Common names. — This species is known by many names. The most 

 widely used are lake herring and cisco, either of which is, in most places, 

 distinctive. In Lake Ontario it is commonly called the cisco. The 

 etymology of the word is in dispute. One assigned derivation is from 

 a fish-peddler named Cisco, who, about 1830, took the fish through the 

 northern part of the State and sold it to farmers as " Cisco's herring." 

 "Sisco"is only a recent variation in the orthography. Other names 

 used by the fishermen of this lake are herring, blueback or greenback, 

 blueback herring or greenback herring, and grayback or grayback her- 

 ring. The name most widely used, however, is cisco. These different 

 names are the fishermen's way of distinguishing individual variations 



