4 BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
eastern whitefish has been attempted in western lakes without success, it is worth con- 
sidering that we have here one or more deep-water species which may prove to be better 
adapted. Two of the species here described are said to live and spawn in deep water, 
while the other species spawns near shore and returns to the depths immediately after- 
wards.¢ They are therefore only indirectly dependent upon the shore fauna of the lake, 
and they never enter the streams. In life they are all light green on the dorsal surface, 
silvery on the sides, and white beneath. Associated with them in deep water, and 
similarly colored, are large individuals of the trout, Salmo utah.’ The sculpin, Cottus 
semiscaber, was also caught at the same depth. Examples of the latter were covered 
with prickles. They were pale ash gray in color, like the bottom, specimens of which 
adhered to the line anchors. 
The immediate relationships of these whitefishes are not evident. Nothing like 
them occurs within the present confines of the Bonneville system, nor in the Columbia, 
which was its former outlet. In fact they appear to be widely separated from any 
possible allies, unless the latter remain to be discovered in the depths of other western 
mountain lakes of high altitude. It is quite probable that at some time, possibly 
during the high-water stage of Lake Bonneville, these species were much more widely 
distributed than at present. They were probably numerous in Lake Bonneville, and 
their range may have extended to other mountain lakes of the Columbia system, and 
even to Lake Lahontan and the quaternary lakes of eastern Oregon. If such were 
indeed the case, it is remarkable that they should not have been preserved in Lakes 
Chelan, Kaniksu, Tahoe, and others of similar character. The deep waters of these 
lakes have not been explored, and it is not altogether unreasonable to suspect that 
similiar fishes may now be found there.° 
Descriptions of the species and brief notes on their habits follow: 
SYSTEMATIC DISCUSSION OF SPECIES. 
Leucichthys gemmifer, new species. Bonneville cisco. 
The Bonneville cisco is taken during the winter in large numbers. It is caught in gill nets set 
through the ice. It may also be taken in the summer, when it is not so numerously represented on 
the bottom. Large schools may then be seen near the surface. It is at no time found near shore. 
Although of small size, it is an excellent food fish. It is largely used by the local fishermen as 
bait, and when so employed it seems to be selected in preference to other fish by both the larger white- 
fish and the trout. 
This species, locally known as “peak-nose’’ because of its pointed snout, measures about 714 
inches when mature. It is pale moss-green above, with silvery sides which have a pearly iridescence. 
The under parts are white. The tip of the snout is pale pink, and a few scales on the base of the caudal 
are strongly tinged with purple. 
Spawning occurs in deep water during the latter half of January. Examples of both males and 
females collected at that time by Mr. Stock have conspicuous pearly nodules on all the scales from 
head to tail except those of the ventral surface. These nodules are conical in shape, sharply pointed, 
and larger in the region of the lateral line. No trace of the nodules appears in summer specimens, 
when the mucous coating of the scales is rather thin, and the surface is bright and smooth. Similar 
nuptial ornaments have not been reported as occurring on other species of the genus. 
@ Many specimens of two species were collected during the spawning period by J. P. Stock, of Fish Haven, Idaho. Notes 
on the habits of the fishes were also contributed by him. 
The drawings are by W. S. Atkinson. 
b Through some oversight the name Salmo virginalis has been wrongly applied to the trout of the Salt Lake basin, which 
should be called Salmo uiah, the name given it by Suckley. Salmo virginalis is the trout of the Rio Grande. 
¢ Coregonus coulteri Eigenmann was described from young examples of the species. Individuals of the year were collected 
also in Diamond Lake, Wash., where they may, perhaps, reach a large size. 
