RANGELEY LAKES, MAINE: FISHES, ANGLING, AND FISH CULTURE. 543 



Most of the distinctive colors and form characters of Mr. Rich's cedar tree trout 

 and of the upper-water brook trout were obviously the color modifications which take 

 place in the breeding season, which is accounted for by their seldom being caught at 

 any other time. Occasionally, after the breeding season recuperation is delayed and 

 the trout retains the appearance of the breeding fish for an unusual period. 



Mr. Rich referred to the color of the flesh of the trout as though it were a variety 

 characteristic. The cause of this red color has long been a mooted question. A theory 

 that has been entertained for many years is that it was attributable to red-pigmented 

 food, such as some crustaceans. This theory seems to be defective, for other fish feed- 

 ing extensively upon exactly the same kind of food always have white flesh. Young 

 or rapidly growing trout never have red flesh, but under uniform favorable conditions 

 a change from white through various shades of yellow, pink, and red may be traced, 

 the intensity increasing as the fish approaches maturity. Breeding fish often rapidly 

 lose the red or yellow tint, becoming white meated. Apparently, trout of some waters 

 are always white meated and others, while attaining a yellow shade, never reach the 

 red stage. These last two phases are particularly noticeable in fish which pass much 

 of their life in quick water. 



After taking everything into consideration, it would seem that the character or 

 quantity of food influences the color of the flesh only in its fattening effects, and it is 

 only the intrinsic fat or oil in the fish which produces the red flesh and delicious flavor 

 of the red-meated trout. The oil or fat is naturally red as that of some other animals 

 is naturally white or some other color, and it is the amount permeating the fish that 

 gives the color its intensity. A well-fed, comparatively inactive adult trout will present 

 a more intensive shade of the flesh than a fish of the same age living in running water, 

 where its livelihood depends upon its activity, although it may be a well-conditioned, 

 shapely fish. In the latter instance the food has been assimilated and utilized in the 

 development of energy. The fact that, according to Mr. Rich, both red and white 

 meated fish are found in the same school on the spawning beds does not detract from the 

 theory, for probably all individuals are not equally fat or equally advanced in the spawn- 

 ing process, and the meat of such fish inversely and progressively, or sometimes irreg- 

 ularly, becomes white. Besides, as Mr. Rich in another place stated in effect and as 

 has been observed, there are almost always immature males on the ground for other 

 than breeding purposes, which seems to be to augment their diet at the expense of the 

 breeding fish; that is, by eating the eggs as deposited. 



Food. — The trout seems to avail itself of whatever animal life is available, and 

 vegetable food is not always eschewed. A detailed list of what trout have been known 

 to eat would be more astonishing than valuable. However, the general and principal 

 food supply upon which the adult fish depends may be divided into two classes — fishes 

 and insects. 



The trout of brooks subsist largely upon insects, particularly the aquatic larvae of 

 numerous species, such as caddis flies. May flies, Chironomus, and dragon flies, and also 

 upon insects that fall upon the water or hover over the water while depositing their 

 eggs. The food of trout of larger streams, ponds, and lakes, of course, consists of the 

 particular kinds that the waters afford and these often differ materially from each other 

 and seasonably in the same water. In all waters there is a seasonal supply of insects 

 that varies with the season and locality, but where food in the form of fishes is 



