SALMO ALPINUS. 323 



i* 



spots ; like the anal and caudal, its colour is blue, though lighter than the 

 back. The iris is silvery. 



This fish usually weighs less than a pound ; but two or three pounds' 

 weight is not rare. It is not so frequently taken as other Salmon in Lake 

 Constance, because it frequents deep water. It is commoner in the Lake of 

 Geneva, where it also affects great depths, except at spawning-time. It there 

 grows to a larger size, twelve pounds' weight being not unusual, while speci- 

 mens of twenty-five to thirty pounds are said to have been taken. 



The flesh is reddish, and esteemed. The fish spawns in January and 

 February, but never leaves its native lake. According to Blanchard, it spawns 

 in October and November. Its eggs are semi-transparent, and yellow. 



The elder Agassiz united the species of Salmo, which Linnsus had named 

 nmbla, salvehnus, alpinus, and salmarinus, as different conditions of the same 

 species, a view which Professor Nilsson also adopted after examination of the 

 original specimens. And if we have rather followed authors like Heckel and 

 Kner, and Giinther, who keep them distinct, it is not becatise they possess any 

 claims to specific distinction, but because all species consist of varieties, and 

 may give rise to varieties which are limited in geographical range. Salmo umlla 

 is, therefore, to be regarded only as a western form of Salmo salvclimis, 

 and both Charr only differ as varieties from forms met with in Britain and 

 Scandinavia. 



Salmo alpimis 



D. 13, A. 12, P. 13, V. 10. Scales : lat. line 195 to 200. 



This Charr may be regarded as a northern variety of Salmo salvelinus. It 

 is characteristic of Scandinavia, ranging up to Lapland, occurs in Iceland, in 

 the Orkneys, and in, at least, the northern counties of Scotland. The number 

 of vertebras has been observed to vary between fifty-nine in the Orkney fishes, 

 and sixty-two in those of Scandinavia. The length of the body and head, the 

 form of the operculum, and other characters, are variable. 



The back is dark green and the under-part of the abdomen is light red. 

 There are small round spots on the sides, which vary in tint between red and 

 green. In Scandinavia it is limited to the higher lakes, and is said to be 

 found in those which are frozen through the greater part of the year. 



It spawns in September on stony ground, when the abdomen becomes a 

 dark red. The eggs are as large as those of the Trout. It is taken with nets ; 

 is usually between nine and seventeen inches long, but is said to grow to a 

 weight of fifteen pounds. The flesh is red, and accounted delicious. 



Dr. Giinther describes the body as being slightly compressed and clou- 



