THE SAIBLING. 501 



little triangular bone in the roof of tbe mouth known to anatomists as the "vomer," from its 

 resemblance in shape to a plowshare. 



The Chars are also distinguished from the Salmon by their very small scales, and usuallj' by 

 numerous crimson or orange- colored spots, which are especially conspicuous in the breeding season. 

 The Saibling is, in its habits, perhaps more similar to the well-known Blue-backed Trout or Oquassa 

 Trout of Rangely Lake, Maine, than to our Brook Trout. The Chars of Europe are, as a rule, lake 

 fishes like the Saibling. On the other hand, the Chars of North America are usually found in 

 .streams and rivers, although the Oquassa Trout, just mentioned, and the Lake or Mackinaw Trout, 

 which is apparently nothing but a giant Char, together with the closely related form the " Sisco- 

 wet," resemble in their habits the Chars of Europe. 



Variation. — There is probably no group of fishes in which individual specimens and commu- 

 nities inhabiting certain areas of water show more tendency to variation in color and form than they 

 do in the salmon family. Dr. Gunther has very justly remarked: "We know of no other grouj) of 

 fishes which offers so many difQculties to the ichthyologist with regard to the distinction of the 

 species as well as to certain points in their life-history. Although this may be partly due to tbe 

 unusual attention which has been given to their study, it has revealed rather a greater amount of 

 unexplained fact than a satisfactory solution of the questions raised. The almost infinite varia- 

 tions of these fishes are dependent upon the age, sex, and sexual dievelopment, food, and the 

 properties of the water." 



No one who has ever seen the remarkable display of Brook Trout at the annual trout opening 

 at Blackford's in New York can fail to have been impressed by the wonderful differences which 

 exist between individuals of the same species from different localities — differences which lead an. 

 untrained observer, or even an ichthyologist who has had no experience in the study of this group*, 

 to decide at once that several species were represented among the hundreds of specimens lying oni 

 the marble slabs. 



The tendency of modern ichthyology, with its more exact methods, and with access to 

 better and more comprehensive material for research than was formerly available, has led to the 

 rejection of many of the nominal species formerly recognized. Out of the forty-three species of 

 Salmon ten years ago believed to exist in North America, only thirteen or fourteen are now- 

 recognized. In Giinther's catalogue of "The Fishes in the British Museum," published in 1866,. 

 thirty-one species of Chars were mentioned, while in his lately published "Study of Fishes" th& 

 same author ventures ixi enumerate only thirteen, all others being regarded as insufl&ciently- 

 characterized. In his treatment of the Chars of Europe, Giinther is, notwithstanding, one of 

 the most conservative writers, for he catalogues eight species of these fish, while most other 

 European students, following the lead of the great German ichthyologist, von Siebold, regarded 

 them as members of one polymorphic species. As for American ichthyologists, our sympathies are 

 naturally with the school of von Siebold. It is difflcult to believe, in the light of our bwn obser- 

 vations upon the salmon family in America, that every little lake or group of lakes in Europe 

 possesses a well-characterized species of fish, and for the present it seems safer to consider the 

 Chars of Europe to be of a single well-marked species which undergoes numerous variation's 

 under the influence of changes in temperature, elevation, food, and light, and that the Saibling of 

 Bavaria and Austria is one and the same thing with the "Ombre Chevalier" of France and 

 Switzerland, "Salmarino" of Northern Italy, the "Torgoch" of Wales, the fresh-water "Herring" 

 of Ireland, the ''Char" of England and Scotland, the "Eoding" of Sweden, and the "Kulmnnd'* 

 of Norway. 



