CULTURE OF THE MONTANA GRAYLING, 



By James Alexander Henshall, 

 Superintendent U. S. Fisheries Station at Bozeman, Mont. 



CHARACTERIZATION OF THE SPECIES. 



The Montana grayling originally existed only in the tributaries 

 of the Missouri River above Great Falls, and was first noticed by 

 Lewis and Clark, during their remarkable journey to the Pacific coast. 

 They described it from fish taken near the headwaters of the Jeffer- 

 son River, but did not name it, alluding to it as a new kind of wliite 

 or silvery trout. It was rediscovered by James W. Milner, of the 

 U. S. Fish Commission, in 1872, in a tributary of the Missouri near 

 Camp Baker, Montana. He described it, and named it Tliymallus mon- 

 tanus. At first it was said to be a variety of the Michigan grayling, 

 but it is now given specific rank. In its affinities it is really more 

 nearly related to the Arctic grayling {T. signifer), as may be seen from 

 the following characterizations: 



Specific Characters of the Graylings. 



Description. — From the examination of a large series of fresh speci- 

 mens the following detailed description of the Montana grayling 

 may be given: 



Head moderate, subconic, its length contained 5 times in length 

 of body, curving regularly from snout to dorsal line, and continuous 

 with it. Mouth moderate, oblique, terminal, the maxillary extend- 

 ing to the anterior border of the eye, its length 3 times in head; jaws 

 equal. Eye large, 3 J in head, nearly equal to interorbital space, 

 and longer than snout, the pupil pyriform or pear-shaped, w^th the 

 apex anterior. Teeth feeble, sparse, and uniform in size; on jaws, 



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