124 SALMONJD^. 



the authority of Smith, as a fish of New England, stands in the 

 same category with the last-mentioned. 



There is no such fish on the continent of America; and, 

 indeed, even on the European continent, where alone it is 

 found, its limits are narrower, and its geographical range 

 smaller, than that of any known fish. It is, in fact, found only 

 in tributaries of the Danube, more especially in the Traun, the 

 Saave, the Draave, and the Laybach rivers. Some writers have 

 supposed him to be purely a fresh-water fish ; but it is believed 

 by Davy that, in his largest state, he is an inhabitant of the 

 Black Sea. He is said to spawn in the Muir between March 

 and May, and in the Danube in June. 



He is the fiercest and most predatory of all the Salmonidce, 

 and it is useless to attempt the capture of large ones with the 

 fly. Spinning tackle, the bleak, the minnow, and small trout, 

 or parr, are the only modes, and the only bait which he cares to 

 take. 



In shape, he resembles an ill-fed Trout, being the longest and 

 slenderest of all the Salmonidce, the ratio of his length to his 

 girth being as eighteen to eight, or in well-fed fish, twenty to 

 nine. He has a silvery belly, and dark spots only on the back 

 and sides, which, in itself, shows sufficiently that he is not the 

 fish described by Smith under this name. 



Smith's fish is described " as resembling much the Sea Trout ; 

 but being found, on a careful examination, to be more slender, 

 and to have a greater number of red spots. The back is dusky ; 

 the ventral fin has a yellowish tinge; all the others are of a 

 palish purple; the tail is forked, and the fish measures some- 

 times four feet through — ordinarily they are only about two. 



