194 SALMONID^ OF BRITAHST. 



(ed. 1) ii, p. 60, 0. fig. (ed. 2) ii, p. 110 (ed. 3) i, p. 288 ; Richards. Fauna Bor.- 

 Amer. Fish. p. 144 j Nilss. Skan. Faun. p. 412 ; White, Catal. p. 78 ; Giinther, 

 Catal. vi, p. 92 ; Day, Brit, and Irish Fishes, ii, p. 96, pi. cxIt, f . 2 (monstrosity) . 



Solar ferox, Guv. and Val. xxi, p. 338. 



JJahe trout or Buddagh, Couch, Fish. Brit. Isles, iv, p. 222. 



Powan-eater, Loch Lomond. Bolaahans in Ireland when small. 



Varietij. Gillaroo Trout.* 



I%e Gillaroo, Barrington, Phil. Trans. Royal Soc. 1?74, Ixiv, p. 116; Watson 

 1. c. p. 121 ; Hunter, 1. c. p. 210; Sowerby, Brit. Misc. t. Ixi ; Tarrell, Brit. Fish, 



figured is similar to Sir W. Jardine's original form of Salmo ferox. Pennant alluded to having 

 heard of Irish specimens weighing 30 lb. In Sampson's Londonderry they were said to reach 

 50 lb. in Lough Neagh : Thompson observed that it attains upwards of 30 lb., and mentioned one 

 from Lough Melvin, taken October 19th, 1840, of 28 lb., and a second of 32 lb., sent to the Dublin 

 University Museum. 



It has been taken in Lochs in the north of Scotland, and as far south as Ulswater and 

 Derwentwater, up to 50 lb. or 60 lb. (Heysham) : also Llanberris in Wales, and many Irish lakes, 

 as Lough Neagh, L. Melvin, L. Eske, L. Erne, and, in short, in most of the larger ones. 



* This has been considered a distinct variety or even species, due to the abnormal thickness 

 of the middle coat of its stomach, otherwise, observed Mr. Barrington, there are no exterior 

 marks by which it can be distinguished from the common trout. Pennant asserted that the 

 increased thickness of the stomach proceeded from the superior quahty of shell-fish which it 

 finds in the waters it inhabits, and which may caU more frequently for the use of its comminuting 

 power than is requisite in those of our common trout. Thompson (1. o.) observed that the coats 

 of other species of Salmones than S. fario (of which only the giBaroo is set down as a variety) 

 become muscular from the same cause. He alluded to having found it in S. ferox, and asks why 

 among these the gillaroo should be deemed a species, and other forms of trout not so, in which 

 the coats of the stomach are similarly indicated, one fails to comprehend. Sir J. Richardson 

 observed: — " We may here note the existence of a strongly-marked and peculiar variety, called 

 the gillaroo trout of Galway. It is remarkable for feeding on shell-fish, in consequence of which 

 (it is supposed) the coats of the stomach acquire a great degree of thickness, from which 

 peculiarity it is sometimes called the gizzard trout." Sir H. Davy observed that " the char of 

 the lakes of Southern Austria feeding similarly (to the gillaroo trout) have a Uke thick stomach." 

 Dr. J. Davy remarked that the river trout when feeding chiefly on incased larvse acquires a 

 stomach of unusual thickness, like the gillaroo trout of many of the Irish lakes, feeding chiefly 

 on shell-fish. While there is a preparation in the Hunterian Museum of the stomach of a 

 common gull which had been kept alive by Dr. John Himter, who had gradually brought it to live 

 entirely on corn. The muscular parieties were found to be as thickened as those of the common 

 trout would be did it select shell-fish as its diet instead of softer food. In the International 

 Fisheries Exhibition in London, 1883, Mr. Capel exhibited two specimens of trout said to be 

 giUaroos reared from eggs from Lough Melvin ; one died and was thrown away, the second I 

 obtained ; on opening it, its stomach was found to be similar to that of the common brook trout. 

 Since then it has been observed that this thickening diminishes or entirely disappears in those fish 

 raised in new localities. It generally prefers a rocky bottom, and is said to breed in theshallower 

 parts of lakes, and not to ascend rivers for this purpose. It is found in the Shannon, Lough 

 Corrib, Lough Mask, Lough Derg, Lough Melvin, <fec. The colours of this variety may be due to 

 the character of the food it indulges in, while in some localities its flavour is considered excellent, in 

 others quite the reverse. In Lough Melvin they are somewhat hog-backed, fine in colour, and well 

 flavoured : in Lough Derg,- soft, colourless, and inferior. Its stomachs are occasionally served up 

 in Ireland as gizzards. Thompson obtained from the stomach of one example, about 8 inches long, 

 above 1000 shells of Limnea peregra, Valvata piseinalis, and a few Spharium eomeum. Stoddart 

 observed, this variety is found in a small tarn or loch, situated on a shoulder of Ben More, in 

 Sutherlandshire, about three miles from Inchnadamph, named Mulach Corrie. In June, 1886, I 

 visited this locality for the express purpose of examining this form, and obtained a good number 

 of specimens, one of which is figured (see plate x, fig. 2). The colours varied, but some examples 

 were very dark, and the fins, especially of the tail, purplish. I found in three examples, 39, 42, 

 and 45 ccecal appendages, while the stomach was but little thickened : in them were small 

 Crustacea, but no sheUs of any description. 



A discussion on the gillaroo in The Field in 1881, was thus concluded by the editor. " To 

 sum up the facts we have gained, the flavour of the gillaroo no doubt is very much a question of 

 locality and of circumstances. It appears that some are of good flavour, and some indifferent. As 

 to its gameness, it varies also, apparently, some fighting well and some lubberly. Both these 

 things may be said of trout out of the same stream and the same reach. With respect to size, 

 it cannot be doubted that it does attain a large size. The fact of its being a very early spawner, 

 with great power of assimilation as regards its food, would vouch for this, if nothing else would. 

 We think, therefore, on the whole, that it may be fairly assumed that it is a most desirable fish 

 to cultivate, which was the query started." 



