THE SALMON FAMILY. 269 



THE WHITEFISH. 



Coregonus albus. 



There are not less than thirteen distinct species of Corego- 

 ntiS described by ichthyologists. Dr. Richardson, in his Fauna 

 Boreali- Americana, mentions seven: C. albus, the Attihawmeg; 

 G. tulihee, the Tulibee Coregonus ; C. artide, Le Sueur's Her- 

 ring Salmon ; G. quadrilateralis, the Round Fish ; G. Lahrado- 

 ricus, the Musqua River Coregonus ; G. lucidus, the Bear 

 Lake Salmon Herring ; G. Surongus, the Lake Huron Salmon 

 Herring. De Kay describes three species : G. albus (the large 

 Whitefish brought to our markets from the great lakes during 

 the autumn months, and identical with the Attihawmeg of 

 Dr. Richardson) ; G. Otsego, the Otsego Lake Whitefish (now 

 almost extinct) ; and G. clupeiformis, the Lake Herring. 



On the continent of Europe there is the Laverett (in the 

 lakes of Westmoreland, England) ; the Gwynaid (in the lakes 

 of Dumfrieshire, Scotland); and the Vendace, and another 

 species, in Ireland. 



The Round Fish mentioned by Dr. Richardson is as large 

 as our Whitefish ; the remainder, both on this continent and 

 in Europe, do not exceed in size a large Herring, and are 

 mostly known as Lake Herring. 



The geographi -^al range of the Whitefish in the United 

 States, extends fiom the Falls of Niagara through the great 

 lakes up to the head of Lake Superior. They are of larger 

 size in their more northern habitat, the average at the Sault 

 Ste. Marie (the outlet of Lake Superior) being four or five 

 pounds ; while those brought to our markets from the more 

 southern lakes do not average two pounds. The largest 1 



