LIFE HISTORY AND HABITS 



contain as much mineral salts as salt water, and 

 therefore the scale promotion is less. The twenty- 

 one parr rings correspond to one year three and 

 three-quarters months before going to sea. If 

 the parr is hatched in late February or early March 

 it would have gone to sea in June of the following 

 year. This fish was returning to spawn for the 

 first time five and one-half years later, and the 

 total age of the fish was six years nine and three- 

 quarters months. Among the rings formed dur- 

 ing the stay in the sea it may be noticed that they 

 are closer together at some points than at others. 

 That is, not so much scale was formed at times. 

 Malloch attributes this to a scarcity of food sup- 

 ply while at sea, probably in winter. 



Figure 2, scale from a twenty-one-pound male 

 fish, shows twenty-four parr rings. This fish 

 probably went to sea in August, and returned four 

 years and ten months later. The age of the fish 

 was six years and four months when caught. It 

 had not spawned before, as the base of the scale 

 shows no line. 



Figure 3, scale is taken from a twenty-eight- 

 pound Restigouche fish which went to sea at one 

 year and three months, probably early June. It 

 returned and spawned at the age of two years 



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