FISHES. 401 



those mentioned by Dr. H. R. Storer as .S". fontinalis, 

 which Dr. Suckley referred to his 3". hudsonicus ; but 

 from a comparison of the limited number of specimens, 

 I am yet in doubt whether the Labrador brook trout 

 diifers specifically from the 6". fontinalis of New Eng- 

 land. (Putnam.) 



Mallotus villosus Cuv. The capelin, capelina of the 

 Portuguese fisherman (Parkhurst, 1578), was very late 

 in making its appearance on the coast this season, owing 

 to the great quantity of ice, which likewise detained the 

 cod. At Square Island, the 12th of July was the earliest 

 date of their appearance in great numbers.. July 4th, 

 the young, about one inch in length, were seen swim- 

 ming in the water, their bodies very transparent, so as 

 to enable the vertebrae and ribs to be distinctly seen, and 

 provided with very plainly marked heterocercal tails, in 

 the upper and larger fork of which the vertebral column 

 terminated. 



The capelin spawns on pebbly shores near the water's 

 edge, and I was informed by two fishermen who had 

 each observed the act, that during the spawning of the 

 female, two males swim close to her and press her be- 

 tween them, being enabled by the large and prominent 

 ridge on the sides of the body to retain the female in 

 this position between, and a little below them, so that as 

 the eggs are pressed out they are fecundated by both 

 males. This probably accounts for the much greater 

 proportion of males to the other sex, as in a boat- 

 load of these fish it was often difficult to find a single 

 female, 



A very close observer, the late Capt. rv[athaniel E. 

 Atwood, who fished as far north as Groswater Bay as 

 female. 



