54 



THE AQUARIUM, JULY, 1893. 



brooks, and to this habit undoubtedly 

 owes its name. Care must be taken not 

 to confound it with tlie European va- 

 riety, salmo fario. 



In the natural state its greatest length 

 is about one foot ; cultivation has both 

 increased its size and weight, the latter 

 not rarely reaching 20 pounds. The 

 body of the trout appears somewhat 

 stunted, which fact may be due to the 

 blunt and rounded mouth. Though 

 possessing minute scales, they are not 

 apparent to either sight or touch. The 

 color of the body varies in the different 

 localities in which the fish is found, 

 often being that of the bottom over 

 which it swims. It is, however, usually 

 olive green on the back, though occa- 

 sionally entirely black ; silvery on the 

 belly, but in all cases is the fish marked 

 with red and black spots. The coloring 

 depends upon the kind of food the 

 trout eats and the depth of water in 

 which it lives. In the first instance, 

 trout subsisting almost exclusively on 

 insects are most abundantly marked 

 with bright red spots ; while in the 

 second instance, dee]) water having the 

 effect of deepening the shading and 

 shallow water the reverse. The usual 

 food of the trout consists of Crustacea, 

 insects, etc., but it frequently preys to 

 no small extent upon its own kind. 

 The color of the flesh may be either 

 white, yellow or red, and is governed by 

 the quality of the diet ; it is very deli- 

 cious, and commands a high price in 

 the markets. The popular idea that 

 trout thrive only in rapidly running, 

 cool water, is an error, for they are suc- 

 cessfully cultivated and fattened in 

 ponds and kept in vats to be colored, 

 all of which is done to supply the de- 

 mands of the market. In almost any 

 clear creek with a gravel bottom, with 

 now and then a shallow spot suitable 



for the deposition of eggs, trout will 

 almost surely be found. 



Trout spawn at the same time of the 

 year and in the manner of the salmon. 

 The little piles of gravel containing the 

 eggs have an appearance of flattened 

 mole hills, the eggs being distributed 

 through them like raisins in a pudding. 

 As a rule, the belly of the female is 

 larger at the near apjiroach of the 

 spawning season, owing, no doubt, to 

 the increase in size of the eggs as they 

 near maturity. The color of the fish 

 also changes at the spawning season, 

 the female becoming dark and sombre, 

 while on the contrary the male becomes 

 brilliant ; the abdominal fins turn scar- 

 let, a scarlet hue, too, often appears at 

 each side of his belly. It is only in the 

 spawning season that the difference 

 between the sexes may be determined 

 with any degree of certainty. Seth 

 Green said that "by handling them 

 much and watching them closely, the 

 trout breeder comes to know the male 

 and female apart almost instinctively, 

 but would be puzzled to tell just how 

 he knows it." 



Trout if in good condition Avill 

 commence spawning as early as the 

 end of the first year. At two years of 

 age they i^roduce from two hundred 

 to five hundred eggs ; at four or five 

 years the number spawned is about two 

 thousand. 



This fish is not any more sensitive to 

 impure water than are other fishes. 

 If the proper care is used in selecting 

 young specimens for transfer, the 

 chances for keeping them in captivity 

 are as good as with the common sun- 

 fish. The trout seems to be endowed 

 with some degree of intelligence, for 

 they may easily be taught to feed from 

 the hand, and have been taught to per- 

 form several tricks. 



