REVIEW OF LOCAL FISHES 



47 



but the Atlantic Salmon spends much of the rest of its time in the sea, 

 and the Brook Trout sometimes passes the winter in salt water, becoming 

 quite silvery and salmon-like in appearance. The Rainbow Trout has 

 been introduced from the Pacific slope, where it commonly runs into 

 salt water, and the Brown Trout from Europe; the Saibling, which occurs 

 in Europe and is represented by closely allied races further north in this 

 country, has also been introduced. The Brook Trout is quite generally 

 distributed in clear streams where it was formerly common. It has red 



BROOK TROUT 



and blue but no black spots on the back and the sides and its mottled 

 back and tail fins are diagnostic. Trout lie in pools or eddies or behind 

 snags whence they dart away with lightning rapidity when alarmed, or 

 spring upon their prey when it drifts within range. They feed largely 

 on insects which drop by chance upon the surface of the water. The 

 Eastern Brook Trout is one of the wariest and gamest of fishes, and to 

 land it taxes the sportsman's best skill. It seldom exceeds two or three 

 pounds in weight, and a five-pound fish is a very large one, though 

 there are records of still larger. The Saibling, like the Brook Trout, has 

 no black spots but its fins are not mottled; all our other species have 

 black spots. Highly colored Saibling are more or less golden and red 

 below. 



The Rainbow Trout has very small scales (135-140), many small, 

 black, not x-shaped spots, no red spots or blotches, and a rosy length- 

 wise band on the sides in the adult. The average full-grown individuals 

 are less than a foot long, but exceptional ones reach a length of two feet. 

 Our eastern Salmon and the Brown Trout have larger scales (about 120). 

 The black spots of the Atlantic Salmon and Land-locked Salmon are 



