Jordan and Evermann. Fishes of North America. 511 



Represented in lakes of Western Maine and New Hampshire by 



785d. SALVEL1NUS ALPINUS ATJREOLUS (Bean). 



(SUNAPEE TROUT.) 



Head 4 ; depth 4. D. 9 ; A. 8 ; scales 35-210-40. Maxillary reaching 

 middle of eye, 2 in head ; eye a little longer than snout, 4f- in head ; gill 

 rakers usually* about 6 + 12, quite short, not i diameter of eye, and 

 angularly bent; (in alpinus, longer, straighter, 7+14, and f eye); pec- 

 toral shortish, If in head, longer in males; dorsal rather low. Brownish, 

 sides silver gray, with small orange spots on sides above and below lat- 

 eral line; caudal grayish ; belly orange; anal orange, edged before with 

 white; ventrals orange, with a white band on outer rays; no mottlings 

 anywhere. Length 12 to 18 inches. Sunapee Lake, New Hampshire, 

 Dan Hole Pond, Carroll County, New Hampshire; tributary to Saco 

 River, and Flood's Pond, Ellsworth, Maine, tributary to Union River. 

 Evidently almost or quite identical with the European Charr, and con- 

 sidered by Garman as probably introduced into these ponds from Germany. 



In referring to the trout from Sunapee Lake, Mr. Quackenbos writes : The external character- 

 istics of the Sunapee fish, however, distinguish it conspicuously from the three othercharrs of 

 New England. Its graceful build, small and delicately-shaped head, small mouth, excessively 

 developed fins, more or less markedly emarginate caudal, spots without the blue areola, and 

 unmottled back, at once separate it from the brook trout and link it as closely as its structural 

 peculiarities with Austrian, British, and Swiss congeners. The nuptial coloration is gorgeous 

 beyond example among our indigenous Salmonidse. Throughout the spring and summer the 

 back is dark sea-green, blending on the sides into a flashing silver, which in turn deepens below 

 into a rich cream. But as the October pairing time approaches, the fish is metamorphosed into 

 a creature of indescribable brilliancy. The deep purplish blue of the back and shoulders now 

 seems to dissolve into a dreamy sheen of amethyst, through which the inconspicuous pale lemon 

 spots of midsummer flame out in points of yellow or vermilion fire, while below the lateral line 

 all is dazzling orange. The fins catch the hue of the adjacent parts, and pectoral, ventral, anal, 

 and lower lobe of caudal, are ribboned with a broad white margin. As in the case of the Win- 

 dermere charr, these white margins of the fins are very conspicuous in specimens seen swimming 

 in the water. There are great differences in intensity of general coloration, and the females are 

 not usually as gaudily tinted as the males. The intermediate types and different depths of hue 

 observable in an autumn school recall the public promenade in a West Indian city, where all 

 shades of transition are found from pure white to tawny black. Those who have seen the flash- 

 ing hordes on the spawning beds, in all their glory of color and majesty of action, pronounce it 

 a spectacle never to be forgotten. 



The Sunapee charr is undoubtedly a representative of the European form ; but reasons have 

 been given why it is believed to be a native of this continent. It differs no more extensively from 

 the several European varieties than they do among themselves. Von dem Borne, Professors 

 Benecke, Dalmar, and Wittmack, of Berlin, all speak of important differences in form, size, and 

 color, according to age, sex, season, and habitat. All authorities allude to the solid sea-green or 

 dark-blue of the back, the yellowish sides, and the red or orange belly. Benecke and Dalmar 

 refer picturesquely to the half-moon tail. As to spots, there is endless variety. Some forms have 



* The value of gill rakers as a distinctive character is questioned by Garman, Bean, and Quack- 

 enbos. It is not unlikely that these structures vary with age, food, and condition, and are sub- 

 ject to deterioration in large trout. Garman says that in foreign specimens examined by him 

 the dentition differs, corresponding more or less nearly with that of the New Hampshire fish 

 that differences of age imply radical differences in teeth, fins, stomach, and especially gill 

 rakers which latter Garman believes to be "most important in function early in life 

 and to deteriorate with change to coarser food." The deterioration consists in a distortion not 

 alike in any two individuals ; "the rakers curve and twist in every direction like a lot of writh- 

 ing worms suddenly become rigid." '-In old specimens, they lose their points and grow club- 

 shaped . Quackenbos. " 



