REPORT OF STATE BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS. 95 



on the hyoid bone, traces at least of such teeth being found in nearly 

 all other species. Its color is somewhat different from that of the 

 others, the red spots being large and the black more or less mottled 

 and barred with darker olive. The dorsal and caudal fins are likewise 

 barred or mottled, while in the other species they are generally uniform 

 in color. The brook-trout is found only in streams east of the Missis- 

 sippi and Saskatchewan. It occurs in all suitable streams of the Alle- 

 ghany region and the Great Lake system, from the Chattahoochee 

 River in northern Georgia northward at least to Labrador and Hudson 

 Bay, the northern limits of its range being as yet not well ascertained. 

 It varies greatly in size, according to its surroundings, those found in 

 lakes being larger than those resident in small brooks. Those found 

 farthest south, in the headwaters of the Chattahoochee, Savannah, 

 Catawba, and French Broad, rarely pass the dimensions of finger- 

 lings. The largest specimens are recorded from the sea along the 

 Canadian coast. These frequently reach a weight of ten pounds; 

 and from their marine and migratory habits, they have been regarded 

 as forming a distinct variety (Salrelinus fontinali^ immarulafvs), but 

 this form is merely a sea-run lu-ook-trout. The largest fresh-water 

 specimens rarely exceed seven pounds in weight. Some unusually 

 large brook-trout have been taken in the Rangeley Lakes, the largest 

 known to me having a reputed weight of eleven pounds. The brook- 

 trout is the favorite game-fish of American waters, preeminent in wari- 

 ness, in beauty, and in delicacy of flesh. It inhabits all clear and cold 

 waters within its range, the large lakes and the smallest ponds, the 

 tiniest brooks and the largest rivers; and when it can do so without 

 soiling its aristocratic gills on the way, it descends to the sea and grows 

 large and fat on the animals of the ocean. Although a bold biter it is 

 a wary fish, and it often requires much skill to capture it. It can be 

 caught, too, with artificial or natural flies, minnows, crickets, worms, 

 grasshoppers, grlibs, the spawn of other fish, or even the eyes or cut 

 pieces of other trout. It spawns in the fall, from September to late in 

 November. It begins to reproduce at the age of two years, then having 

 a length of about six inches. In springtime the trout delight in rapids 

 and swiftly running water; and in the hot months of midsummer they 

 resort to deep, cool, and shaded pools. Later, at the approach of the 

 spawning season, they gather around the mouths of cool, gravelly 

 brooks, whither they resort to make their beds. (Hallock.) 



The brook-trout adapts itself readily to cultivation in artificial 

 ponds. It has been successfully transported to Europe, and it is already 

 abundant in certain streams in England, in California, and elsewhere. 



In Dublin Pond, New Hampshire, is a gray variety, without red 

 spots, called Salvelinus agassizi. 



The " Dolly Varden " trout, or malma {Salvelinus malma), is very 



