OBSERVATIONS REGARDING THE VARIETIES OF 



RAINBOW TROUT AND THE TIME OF THE 



SPAWNING OF THIS SPECIES 



BY E. RAVEEET-AVATTEL 

 Director of the Fisheries Station of the Nid de Verdier, Fecamp, France. 



The piscicultural Station of the Xid de Yerdier lias oeeupied 

 itself for about 15 years in raising of the rainbow trout. ( Sal- 

 moiredeus). The fishes of this species which the establislimcnt 

 possesses in its ponds, come from two lots of eggs, whieli A^cre 

 kindly sent by the station at Wytheville, according to tlie in- 

 structions of the Ignited States commissioner of fisheries. 



The trout obtained from these eggs were at first nearly alike 

 and belonged, we think, to the variety, which Prof. Jordan 

 designated as the "McCloud Elver Trout," (Sal mo irideus 

 Shasta). There were slight differences in color in a few of these 

 fishes but scarcely noticeable. But, little by little, these differ- 

 ences became more accentuated. Although the fish were all 

 placed in conditions absolutely identical, as to nature of water 

 and kind of food, at each generation the differences in color be- 

 came more and more noticeable and in fact there are now in 

 the ponds of our station, specimens presenting the most diverse 

 appearance. Some have a reddish tint, sometimes a little violet, 

 spread over the entire body, and in these fish, the red band of the 

 side is almost always very wide and of very dark shade ; in others 

 this band is of a very light color. Others are of a rather golden 

 yellow, ( jaune dore) sometimes light greenish, with the red band 

 on the sides narroA\' and reduced, so to say, to a simple thread 

 more or less dark. Finally, others, and they are today the most 

 numerous, have an aspect generally ver}^ lighf, almost silvery, 

 which immediately strikes the eye, exen of people not interested 

 in pisciculture. Thus the fisherman and the consumer of this 

 region designate these light colored trout as "white trout" in 

 opposition to the name of "red trout" of the Nid de Yerdier 

 which they give to the rainbow trout, whose general color is a 

 little reddish, and which tlie station has planted in the rivers of 



