SALMON. 



601 



brown. This becomes lighter on the sides, and passes 

 into rich orange on the under part, which is also the 

 colour of the pectoral, ventral, and anal fins, except- 

 ing that the first ray of the ventrals and the anals is 

 white. The sides are marked with numerous spots 

 of a red colour both above and below the lateral line. 

 That line is nearly straight, but rises at the posterior 

 extremity, so as to meet the upper corner of the gill- 

 cover. The gill-covers are dull orange with a green- 

 ish and brownish tinge ; the irides are bright orange ; 

 the dorsal and caudal fins brown, with a slight gloss 

 of purple. The scales are very small and ranged in 

 oblique rows across the depth of the body. When 

 out of season, the colours fade or alter so much that 

 some have described it as a different fish. The brown 

 on the upper part has then a dull purplish hue, gra- 

 dually becoming duller on the sides, which are silvery, 

 and the belly is very pale orange. The most remarka- 

 ble change, however, is that of the lateral spots, which 

 are of a fine red when the fish is in good condition, 

 but which fade to white when it is not. The gill- 

 covers and the irides also change to a silvery hue at 

 this time ; the dorsal fin is dull brown, the caudal fin 

 purple brown, and the other fins brownish red. In 

 fact, the changes of colour are so great that one can 

 hardly wonder that the fish in the two states has been 

 very generally described as two distinct species ; and 

 as, in the time of its " bloom," or finest colouring, 

 there are considerable differences that has occasioned 

 the description of it as three species. In its brighter 

 colours it is S. salaclinus of authors, and when the 

 colours fade it is S. albinus. Dr. Fleming, in his ac- 

 count of British animals, has enumerated it as both, 

 calling it by the same local name as the Welsh charr 

 when in its gayest colours, and as such referring to 

 the mountain lakes of Wales and Scotland as its 

 habitat ; and as the case-charr when out of condition, 

 referring it then to Winandermere, as if it were found 

 in that lake only. He has also been misled respect- 

 ing the number of rays in the fins in both, making 

 twenty four in the caudal, where there are only nine- 

 teen ; eleven in the dorsal where there are thirteen ; 

 sixteen in the pectoral when the colours fade, and 

 thirteen when they are at the finest, while there are 

 twelve in both states ; and ten in the anal in the one 

 state and eleven in the other, when there are eleven 

 in both. These blunders are, however, excusable, as 

 the charr is a sort of Proteus among fishes, and has 

 the branchiostigeal rays sometimes in different num- 

 bers on the two sides of the same specimen ; and 

 therefore we can hardly expect that the number of 

 rays in the fins shall be constant. 



WELSH CHARE. (S. salvdinus}. This is the species 

 which Fleming describes as the red-bellied charr. It 

 is in shape a much more clumsy fish than the charr ; 

 but, from the development of its fins, it appears to be 

 more powerful in the water. In Wales it is a very 

 local fish, being found only in one or two of the lakes ; 

 and the fact of its being met with in the Highlands 

 of Scotland wants confirmation. It is rather a small 

 fish, not occurring of a greater length than about 

 seven inches, but it is esteemed a very delicate one 

 for the table, partly, no doubt, on account of its rare- 

 ness. This circumstance may both explain and ex- 

 cuse the mistakes that appear to have been made 

 concerning it. 



It has some resemblance in the form of the body, 

 and the development of the fins, to the parr when 

 that is of mature age, and one can trace the same 



blotches across the lateral line as are in the parr. 

 But the teeth are very different, there being very few 

 on the vomer, still the other teeth are considerably 

 larger than those of the charr of the north of England. 

 The habitats mentioned for the Welsh charr are, the 

 small but deep lakes of Llanberris and Cawellvn on 

 the two sides of Snowdon, and a few other places in 

 North Wales ; but it is said to have been destroyed 

 out of the lake of Llanberris by the discharge of the 

 water from a copper mine into that reservoir, which 

 is very likely, as none of the Salmonidce could live in 

 water impregnated with the discharge from such a 

 mine. 



The length of the head and the depth of the body 

 in the Welsh charr are each one-fourth of the whole 

 length of the fish, whereas in the other charr they 

 are only about a fifth. The dorsal and ventral fins 

 are also farther back ; and all the fins, as already 

 noticed, are much more produced. There are fewer 

 rays in the dorsal, pectoral, and anal fins ; and although 

 the body is shorter in proportion to its depth than 

 almost any other of the Salmonidce have it, the num- 

 ber of vertebrae is greater, being sixty-two, while it 

 is fifty-nine in the northern charr and sixty in the 

 salmon. The whole upper part of the fish is greenish 

 black, or very dark olive ; the sides are olive on the 

 upper part, passing into golden yellow below the 

 lateral line, and again into reddish orange on the 

 belly. The sides above the lateral line are marked 

 with white spots, and upon and below it with red. 

 The irides are hazel, the sides of the head and the 

 gill-covers pale olive, the pectoral, dorsal, and caudal 

 fins brown, and the remaining fins the same colour 

 as the belly. From the brightness of the colours 

 upon this fish, it is probable that they fade when it is 

 out of season, as is generally the case in very bril- 

 liantly-tinted fishes. We have heard a red-bellied 

 trout mentioned in some parts of the Highlands of 

 Scotland; but, as we never saw it, we cannot tell 

 whether it was this species or not. Those whom we 

 heard mention it were not likely to pay attention to 

 the most remarkable character the numerous teeth 

 on the vomer in the trout ; and as the grey trout of 

 the alpine lakes has the belly reddish orange in some 

 of the specimens, it may have been the one to which 

 the name of red-belly was applied. 



GWYNIAD (Conegonus). This fish belongs to 

 another genus, of which there are various species or 

 at least varieties on the continent of Europe, but 

 they are not very clearly made out. The name 

 groyniad means white, which is not undescriptive of 

 the fish, though it gets different names in other parts 

 of Britain. In its general form and in the arrange- 

 ment of its scales, it resembles the grayling more 

 than any of the salmon or trout, and it may be con- 

 sidered as a sort of intermediate link between the 

 typical Salmonidee and the herring family, having 

 a good deal of the character of the latter. 



This fish is found in some of the Welsh lakes, in 

 those of Cumberland, where it is especially numerous, 

 and, as the authorities say, in some parts of Scotland, 

 though this is a little doubtful. In Ireland there is 

 a fish something resembling it, but perhaps not the 

 same ; and there are others in various parts of conti- 

 nental Europe, and probably also in the lakes of at 

 least some parts of North America. Wherever thev 

 occur, they are sometimes called fresh-water herrings"; 

 and though they have not the details of the herring 

 character, they have something of the shape. It is a 



