FISHES OF PENNSYLVANIA. 83 




Lake region; the latter is used also in New York. Namaycush is of 
course an Indian name. 
Distribution.— The lake trout is native in the Great Lake region, lakes 
of New York and New England, Idaho, and northward into Labrador, 
British America and Alaska. Extending over such a wide range of 
country, it varies greatly in size, form and color, which will in part ac- 
count for the various names which it has received. It has been found 
above the Arctic circle in Alaska. 
Size.—This is one of the largest species of the salmon family resident 
in fresh waters. It reaches a length of three feet and specimens weigh- 
ing forty pounds are not uncommon. It is said that an example of 
ninety pounds and measuring six feet in length has been taken. The 
species is found in its best condition in Lakes Huron, Michigan and Su- 
perior. In Alaska it grows to a large size and is a very shapely and 
beautifully colored fish. 
Halits.—The lake trout is one of the most rapacious fishes of its fam- 
ily. In Lake Michigan it feeds largely upon the cisco and other small 
white fishes. At Two Rivers, Wis., a lake trout measuring twenty-three 
inches was found to contain a burbot about seventeen inches long. The 
gluttony of this species is proverbial. It will devour table refuse, and 
materials of this kind have frequently been taken from its stomach. 
Even twigs, leaves and pieces of wood have been eaten by this trout. 
The species is much more sluggish in its habits than the brook trout 
and is taken on or near the bottom. The gill and pound nets in which 
this species is principally captured are set in deep water. 
Reproduction.—The spawning of the lake trout usually begins in Octo- 
ber and continues into November. For this purpose they come up on 
rocky shoals and reefs in depths of from seventy to ninety feet and 
spawn near the edges of rock caverns, into which the eggs settle. The 
young are hatched late in the winter or early in spring. In some 
localities the depth of the spawning areas ranges from fifteen fathoms to 
only seven feet. Mr. Milner found 14,943 eggs in a lake trout weighing 
twenty-four pounds. In the hatchery, with a water temperature of for- 
ty-seven degrees, the young hatch about the last week of January, but 
their hatching may be retarded several weeks by lower temperatures. 
Capture.—The fishery for the lake trout is most active in. September, 
October and November, and the fish are taken chiefly in pound and gill 
nets. In some regions many of them also are caught with hooks. In 
Lake Erie a few large trout of this species weighing from twenty-five to 
forty pounds are taken off the city of Erie. In 1885, according to the 
statistics of the United States Fish Commission, 100,000 pounds of lake 
trout were taken in Erie county. 
Uses.—This species is very extensively used for food, although it is 
not considered a choice fish. Being very abundant in some of the great 
lakes and a fish of extremely large size, it is important commercially. 
