FISHES. 149 



Another American species is the lake whiting or Musquaw River white-fish 

 {Coregonus labradoricus). Its teeth are stronger, especially on the tongue, than in 

 any of our other species, and its body is slenderer than that of the white-fish. It is 

 found in the upper great lakes, in the Adirondack region, in Lake Winnepisaukee, and 

 in the lakes of Maine and New Brunswick. It is said to rise to the fly in the 

 Canadian lakes. 



The smallest and handsomest of the American white-fish is the cisco of Lake Michi- 

 gan ( Coregomis hoyi). It is a slender fish, rarely exceeding ten inches in length, and 

 its scales have the brilliant silvery lustre of Hyodon or Albula. The lake herring, or 

 cisco {Coregonus artedii), is, next to the white-fish, the most important of the Ameri- 

 can species. It is more elongate than the others, and has a comparatively large mouth, 

 with projecting under jaw. They are more voracious, and often take the hook. Dur- 

 ing the spawning season of the white-fish, they feed on the ova of the latter,- thereby 

 doing a great amount of mischief. As food, this species is fair, but much inferior to 

 the white-fish. Its geographical distiibution is essentially the same, but to a greater 

 degree it frequents shoal waters. 



In the small lakes around Lake Michigan (Tippecanoe, Geneva, Oconomowoc, etc.), 

 the cisco has long been established, and in these its habits have undergone some 

 change, as well as its external appearance. These lake ciscoes remain for most of the 

 year in the depths of the lake, coming to the surface only in searcli of certain insects, 

 and to shallow water only in the spawning season. This periodical disappearance of 

 the cisco has led to much nonsensical discussion as to the probability of their return- 

 ing by an underground passage to Lake Michigan during tlie periods of their absence. 

 The name lake herring alludes to the superficial resemblance which this species pos- 

 sesses to the marine herring, a fish of quite a different family. 



Closely allied to the lake herring is the blue-fin of Lake Michigan {Coregonus 

 nigripiims),. a fine large species inhabiting deep waters, and recognizable by the blue- 

 black color of its lower fins. In Alaska and Siberia are still other species of the cisco 

 type (C. laurettoB, C. merM, C. nelsoni), and in Europe very similar species are the 

 Scotch vendace (C vandesius), and the Scandinavian Loke-Sild (lake herring), as 

 well as others less perfectly known. 



The tuUibee, or mongrel white-fish {Coregonus tidlibee), has a deep body, like the 

 shad, with the large mouth of the ciscoes. Fishermen think it a hybrid between C. 

 clupeiformis and C. artedii. It is found in the great lake region and northward, and 

 very little is known of its habits. A similar species ( C. cyprinoides) is recorded from 

 Siberia,' a region which is peculiarly suited for the growth of the Coregoni. 



Allied to the Coregoni is Plecoglossus altivelis, a small fish of the waters of Japan 

 and Formosa, which has small, compressed, serrated, movable teeth in the ja\ys. This 

 is said to be an annual fish, the life of each individual ceasing at the end of the season 

 of reproduction. 



Another little known form, intermediate between the white-fish and the salmon, is 

 JBrachymystax lenoJc, a large fish of the mountain streams of Siberia. Only the skins 

 brought home by Pallas, about a century ago, seem to be known as yet. According 

 to Pallas, it sometimes reaches a weight of eighty pounds. Still another genus, inter- 

 mediate between the white-fish and the salmon, is Stenodics, distinguished by its elon- 

 gate body, feeble, teeth, and projecting lower jaw. The incoimu, or Mackenzie 

 River salmon {Stenodus mackenzii), belongs to this genus. It reaches a weight of 

 twenty pounds or more, and in the far north is a food fish of good quality. Little is 



