72 THE SEA-TROUT 



I 

 stock and the age of the parent fish. It is probable that the feeding of 

 the parents accounts largely for this uniformity in the case of the salmon 

 and variation in the case of trout, because, while the feeding of salmon 

 in the sea all round our coasts is comparatively of a fairly uniform 

 degree of richness, it is common knowledge that the fresh water and 

 estuarial feeding of trout and sea-trout varies both in quality and 

 quantity to an extraordinary extent in different localities. But while 

 feeding conditions undoubtedly affect the colour of sea-trout eggs to 

 some extent, the age of the fish, most probably on account of the 

 frequency with which it has formerly spawned which age implies, affects 

 it more. The older a fish is, the paler are its eggs. They approximate 

 nearly to the generally paler colour of the flesh. The vast majority of 

 salmon caught are " maiden " fish ; all large, or at least old, sea-trout, as 

 will be shown, have previously spawned. 



It may be worth noticing that salmon eggs are uniformly round, 

 while the eggs of sea-trout and trout are very irregular in contour. In 

 Plate II I have endeavoured to show the development of the salmon 

 from the egg to the smolt stage, and in Plate III the parallel develop- 

 ment of the sea-trout. I need not, I think, refer to these plates 

 specifically in connection with each point hereafter discussed. The 

 reader will perhaps bear this general reference in mind and turn to the 

 plates for any point which, up to the smolt stage, is mentioned in the 

 text. 



As to the number of eggs which each species may shed, hatchery 

 operators are inclined to calculate the yield of salmon ova relative to 

 the weight per pound of the parent fish at about 850; sea-trout ova at 

 about 800; and trout ova at about 750. 



Inspired by the example of Frank Buckland I once amused myself 

 by counting the eggs of a salmon, a well-shaped fish of gf lb. weight. 

 I counted individually 1,000 eggs, and weighed the remainder against 

 them, finding the total to be g,ooo less 234 eggs, leaving a balance of 



