206 The Trouts of America 



imported species of salmon-trouts from abroad 

 and from the far West. The trouts proper (Salmo) 

 are the salmon-trouts of foreign importation, and 

 those indigenous to waters west of the Mississippi 

 River. 



This classification of the trouts is based upon 

 anatomical differences of structure in the two 

 genera, the details of which will be given as each 

 fish is treated separately : they consist mainly in 

 the arrangement and location of the teeth. If an 

 angler is in doubt as to the proper generic status 

 of his trout or charr, he has only to put his finger 

 in the mouth of the fish, and if a single or double 

 row of teeth is found on the front and rear part 

 of the bone on the roof of the mouth, he holds in 

 his hand a salmon-trout ; if only a single patch 

 exists in the rear of the bone, he has a charr-trout 

 under inspection. It must be remembered, how- 

 ever, that sometimes these teeth are accidentally 

 lost, and that they disappear gradually with age, 

 and at times they will be found placed alternately 

 rather than in a double or single series ; but in all 

 species of our American trouts, the rule as above 

 given should be found sufficient for identification ; 

 the angler, if in doubt, being careful to examine 

 several fish of the same species. It should also 



