RANGELEY LAKES, MAINE: FISHES, ANGLING, AND PISH CULTURE. 549 



The spawning process is thus described by Mr. Rich : 



The female drops some spawn, then with a dexterous movement of her under fin turns a pebble 

 over it, whirls back and forth around the bed a minute, and then goes through the same operation again 

 the male occasionally sidling up to the female and both touching bellies together for an instant; then 

 the male leaves her and looks after the spawn, and if he finds it he gobbles it up. The above operation is 

 continued for many days, until the female has deposited all her ova. 



The eggs are not all emitted at one time, but a female trout, usually attended by one 

 and the same male, occupies the nest for several days. Mr. Rich says (loc. cit.) that if 

 the female is taken from the bed the male will leave, but if the male is removed the 

 female will remain and ere long another male will take the place of the one removed. 



Trout are not infrequently observed with ripe spawn out of season, during almost 

 any month of the year. A writer in a sportsmen's journal in 1894 stated that in the 

 Rangeley region well into January he had observed through the ice trout spawning, and 

 that in August not long before he had caught a pregnant 7-pound fish from which spawn 

 was dripping. The fish was said to have been caught by slow trolling with worm bait 

 in about 30 feet of water. The writer once caught, in early June, a 2-pound trout that 

 contained ripe spawn. 



The eggs vary in size, but are usually one-sixth of an inch in diameter. The number 

 yielded by one fish depends on its size and age, yearlings usually producing from 150 to 

 250; 2-year-olds, 350 to 500; and older fish, 500 to 2,500." 



Regarding the number and size of the eggs, Livingston Stone stated : * 



The number of eggs to a fish is given as 1,000 to the pound, but it is often more than this and varies 

 much with the size of the eggs, those having small eggs yielding the most in number. I have taken 1,800 

 eggs from a pound trout, and once took over 60 eggs from a trout that weighed just half an ounce imme- 

 diately after being stripped. 



The eggs of the trout are large compared with those of most fish, except the salmon. They average 

 about three-sixteenths of an inch in diameter, varying very considerable in size, the very largest con- 

 taining probably twice the bulk of the very smallest. 



They are sometimes colorless, sometimes orange hued, and sometimes have a rich-red tint. The 

 cause of the variation in the color of the egg is not positively known. It has been thought to be heredi- 

 tary. <^ It has also been attributed to the color of the flesh of its parent, and to the nature of the parent's 

 ioodA A correspondent of Mr. Buckland says that the tints can not depend on the color of tlie 

 parent's flesh, because all graylings' eggs have similar tints and all graylings are white-fleshed. 



The eggs are hatched in the spring, the time being determined by the temperature 

 of the water. Warm water hastens and cold water retards the hatching.* After it is 

 hatched the young trout lies concealed amongst the gravel until the yolk sac is absorbed, 

 when it is capable of feeding. Then it gets into shoal water along the stream's margin 

 or on the ripples, and whenever possible into rivulets and other small waterways. It 

 ascends such places for considerable distances. 



Growth and age. — A correspondent of Forest and Stream, June 23, 1887, asked the 

 questions "What causes the Salmo jontinaiis to grow to such a size in the Androscoggin 



o Manual of Fish Culture. 



b Domesticated trout, how to breed and grow them. Sixth edition, 1901. 

 c Massachusetts, Fisheries report, 1868, p. 31. 

 d Fish Hatching, Buckland. p. 19, 20. 



e Under artificial conditions the time necessary for the development of the eggs has been found to vary from about 135 days in 

 water at 37* F. to 50 days in water at so" F. 



