184 Transactions. — Zoology. 



The Catfish, (Pimelodes cattus) was also obtained in 1877, by Mr. T. 

 Kussell, from America. In all 140 living fish arrived, and these were put 

 in St. John's Lake. This fish is esteemed good eating, and may be caught 

 by hook and line. 



Besides other shipments of brown trout and Californian salmon, this 

 society in 1871 got a direct consignment of salmon ova from England, by 

 way of New York ; but this was altogether a sad failure. The accHmatizing 

 of salmon and of trout does not seem as yet to be a success in the province 

 of Auckland. The temperature of its rivers and lakes is, I believe, not too 

 high for Californian salmon (these can live in water at 83°), but I fear it is 

 so for the brown trout. Unless in high mountain ranges, where the streams 

 flow in a southerly direction, and other conditions are favom-able to a mean 

 temperature of 48° or 50° Fahr., it is doubtful if trout will succeed at all; 

 or, if they do, will they thrive and propagate ? I ought to mention, how- 

 ever, that when fishing in the Deep Stream some years ago I found its 

 temperature up to 62° Fahr. A gentleman just arrived in Dunedin from 

 Victoria has assured me that the trout in that colony are fat, sluggish, and 

 give no sport when caught with rod and hne. The secretary of the Auck- 

 land society, Mr. Cheeseman, F.L.S., in a letter which I received in May 

 last, thus summarizes the results of iheir principal venture in fish rearing: — 

 " With regard to trout, you will find in the report for the last year a state- 

 ment of all our introductions ; but I am sorry to say that we have no 

 evidence to prove that trout exist in any of our streams at the present time. 

 With respect to the Californian salmon, repeated statements have been 

 made during the last year of specimens having been caught in the Thames, 

 Waikato, and their tributaries, and it is probable that there is some founda- 

 tion of truth in them, although I have not myself seen a young salmon." 



Hawke's Bay Society. 



This society, which has been at work for a number of years, has 

 evinced considerable spirit and perseverance in the introduction and estab- 

 lishment of brown trout and Californian salmon, and with a fair amount 

 of success. I cannot illustrate this better than by giving here the chief 

 incidents of fish culture in Napier, as communicated to me by the secre- 

 tary, Mr. J. N. Williams, of Hastings, on May 17th, 1880. He says: — 

 " In reply to yours of the 20th April, I am sorry to say I cannot give you 

 much information about fish-breeding in this district, as so little has been 

 done, and there are no annual reports. I cannot find any record of im- 

 portations previous to 1876, and it was not untU the following year that any 

 attempt was made to form regular fish-breeding ponds. This has been done 

 by making artificial ponds, similar to those in the Christchurch gardens. 

 These ponds are fed from two artesian wells, giving together a water supply 

 of about fifty or sixty gallons a minute. 



