CHAR 79 



single example known to me of the Char of Lough 

 Ovvel in Westmeath has I 86 scales in a longitudinal 

 series, and if I had been in doubt as to whether its 

 other peculiarities warranted me in describing it 

 as a new species, the fact that I had examined 

 sixty Char from other parts of Ireland, none of 

 which had more than 168 scales, would have had 

 considerable weight. The species most notable 

 for the large size of the scales is the Lough Melvin 

 Char ; in twenty-six examples of this form I count 

 128 to 162 scales, in striking contrast to the small- 

 scaled Char of Loch Killin, which has 180 to 220. 



The number of fin-rays is of little value in this 

 group ; in the Loch Loyal Char the dorsal fin has 

 from eight to eleven branched rays, and these 

 figures cover the variation in all the British or 

 Irish forms. In Ireland the Char of Wicklow and 

 Kerry usually have a somewhat longer anal fin 

 than those from other localities, the branched rays 

 numbering from eight to eleven instead of from 

 seven to nine. 



The number of gill-rakers on the lower part of 

 the anterior branchial arch varies from eleven to 

 sixteen in Char from Loch Loyal and in those 

 from Windermere. These figures also cover the 

 entire variation in the Irish Char, except the form 

 inhabiting Lough Coomasaharn in Kerry, which 

 has the gill-rakers longer and more numerous than 

 the rest, numbering eighteen or nineteen on the 

 lower limb of the anterior branchial arch. 



In coloration the Char vary as much as the 

 Trout; the back is usually bluish grey or bluish 

 black, but may be lilac, lead-coloured, greenish, 

 brownish, or bright olive ; this hue descends on to 



