FISHES OF PENNSYLVANIA. 67 
85. Coregonus clupeiformis M:rcuit. 
The Whitefish. (igure 3.) 
The common whitefish of the Great Lakes is so well known that it scarcely needs 
an elaborate description. The body is stout and deep, its depth at the nape greatly 
increased in adults. The greatest depth is two-sevenths of the total length to caudal 
base. Caudal peduncle short, its depth one-half length of head, which is about one- 
fifth of total without caudal. The snout is sharp conic, two-sevenths as long as the 
head and about twice as long as the eye. The maxilla reaches to below front of eye. 
The dorsal origin is above the twenty-third scale of the lateral line and the ventral 
begins under the middle of the dorsal. The longest dorsal ray equals length of head 
without snout. Adipose fin stout and low. The dorsal and anal bases are equal to 
each other and two-thirds length of head. 
D. 10 divided rays; A. 11 divided rays; V. 11; P. 15; scales in lateral line 74 to 80. 
The upper parts are grayish or light olive in color; the sides white and lustrous in 
life. 
Names.—The name whitefish is thoroughly identified with this species 
and is seldom varied except by means of the prefix “common” or “lake.” 
A well-marked variety in Otsego Lake, New York, has long been known 
as the Otsego bass. 
Distribution.—The common whitefish occurs in the Great Lakes and 
northward into British America; its northern limit is not definitely 
known. In Alaska, where the species was formerly supposed to exist, 
it is replaced by a similar, but well-marked form, the Coregonus rich- 
ardsoni of Giinther. The variety known as Otsego bass is found in 
Otsego Lake, N. Y. If we may judge from the yield of the fisheries, 
Lake Michigan has more whitefish than any of the other lakes, Superior 
ranks second, Erie third, Huron fourth and Ontario is sadly in the rear. 
Size.-—The largest individual on record was taken at Whitefish Point, 
Lake Superior; it weighed twenty three pounds. A seventeen-pound 
specimen was caught at Vermillion, in Lake Erie, in 1876. The size 
varies greatly with locality, ranging all the way from one and three- 
fourths pounds, on the average, to fourteen pounds. In Lake Erie in 
1885, the average weight was between two and three pounds. The length 
of adults will average twenty inches. 
Habits.—There is a movement of the whitefish in many lakes from the 
deep water early in the summer into the shoal water near the shore. In 
midsummer, however, the usual retreat of this species is in the deep 
and cold portions of the lakes which it inhabits. Again, as the spawn- 
ing season approaches in October, the whitefish come towards the shore 
to deposit their eggs. It is said that they do not spawn until the water 
has reached a temperature of about 40°. After spawning they again 
retire to deep water, where they remain during the winter. Mr. Milner 
observed that the shoreward migration varies with locality, and is in- 
fluenced also by depth of water and temperature. In Lake Erie, for 
example, which has a high summer temperature, there is no shoreward 
migration in summer. It is to be noted, also, that the whitefish moves 
