894 FISHES — SALMONID^. 



Salmo confinia, DeKat, N. Y. Fauna Fish. 1842, 238 (Lakes of New York). 

 Salmo symmetrica, Salmo palUdua, Bafineeque (Lake Champlain) ; Salmo adirondacuSy 

 NoBEis (Adirondaoks) ; Salmo toma, Hamden (Maine), etc. 



Var. siscQiiiet. 



Salmo aiscowet Agassiz, Lake Superior, 1850, 333. 



Deacription. — Body elongate, covered with thin skin, there being no special develop- 

 ment of fatty tissue under the skin ; head very long, its upper surface flattened ; mouth 

 very large, the maxillary extending much beyond the eye, the head and jaws propor- 

 tionately lengthened and pointed; teeth very strong; caudal fin well forked; general 

 coloration dark gray ; sometimes pale, often almost black ; everywhere with rounded, 

 paler spots, which are sometimes reddish tinged ; head usually vermiculate ; fins often 

 mottled ; dorsal and caudal reticulate with darker ; eye large, ii in head ; maxillary 

 nearly half the length of the head ; interorbital space nearly 4 ; head 4 ; depth 4 ; D. 

 11 ; A. 11 ; 1. 1. 185-205. Length 2 to 4 feet. Average weight about 4 pounds. Speci- 

 mens of 50 to 80 pounds weight are sometimes taken. 



Habitat, Lake Region and Lakes of Northern and Western New York, New Hamp- 

 shire, and Maine to Montana and northward, very abundant in the larger bodies of water, 

 varying somewhat in size, form, and color in the diiferent lakes. 



Description of var. eiscowet (Agassiz), Siacowet Salmon. 



Body short and deep, covered with thick skin, there being an excessive tendency to 

 the developmcLt of fatty tissue ; head very short and deep, its upper surface broad and 

 short, covered by a skin so thick as to completely hide the bones ; no distinct median 

 carina; mouth very large, its gape narrower than in C. namaycuah; teeth weaker than 

 in C. namaycusli, its supplemental bone also shorter and broader; maxillary a little more 

 than half the length of the head ; caudal fin well forked ; scales email, about 175 in the 

 lateral line ; coloration as in C. namaycuah, but usually paler ; fin-rajs the same. 



Habitat, Ls^ke Superior; abundant, but not jet found elsewhere. This form is very 

 close to the preceding, but differs in the shortness and breadth of the bones of the head 

 and in the extreme fatness of the flesh. 



Diagnosis. — The Lake Trout, when adult, may be readily known by its 

 large size and gray spots. The young much resembles the Brook Trout, 

 and has equally small scales. It can always be distinguished (a) by the 

 presence of teeth on the median line of the vomer, behind the front 

 patch, and (6) by the presence of a patch of distinct, stout teeth on the 

 hyoid bone or root of the tongue. The Brook Trout has teeth on the 

 front of the vomer only, and on the margin of the tongue. 



Habits. — The wide range of this species and the great variety in the 

 waters which it inhabits, and the food on which it lives, render it more 

 than usually subject to variations in size, color, and appearance. It is 

 stated similar variations occur in its habits, but as I have seen the fish 

 alive only in the Great Lakes, I have no means of verifying these state- 

 ments. The following general account is condensed from Milner (Rept. 

 U. S. Fish Commr., 1872-3, 38). 



