THE TALE OF THE FISHES 



the blue back is remarkably tenacious of life, capable 

 of revival even when kept out of water for an hour or 

 two. I have examined specimens of a large sea-run 

 blue back charr (3 to 4 lbs. in weight) from the God- 

 bout River in Canada. 



TTiere is another blueback trout in Lake Crescent, 

 a mountain lake of Washington, 700 feet above the 

 sea, more than 500 feet in depth, and extremely cold. 

 This blueback (not a charr, but a true Salmo) is a 

 deep water dweller, has a nearly square tail, is dotted 

 with small round black spots, and attains a weight of 

 10 and 12 lbs. It is thought by some ichthyologists 

 to be a form of the steel head. 



Note how thickly our blueback is starred with 

 small red spangles. The character and distribution of 

 spots on a fish may change in time with change of water 

 and climate. After a long residence in New Zealand, 

 the English brown trout which had been introduced 

 there and had access to the ocean lost their red spots 

 and donned the silvery sheen of the sea trout (Salmo 

 trutta). And the trout of Loch Leven, Kinrosshire, 

 Scotland, (Salmo levenensis) (Picture No. 5) when 

 removed from his native waters is reported to modify 



42 



