FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 217 



time in the atrophy of the alimentary canal, the very extraordinary development of the 

 organs of reproduction (ovaries and testes), and in the cessation of feeding and digestion. 

 It is singularly interesting that the alimentary canal becomes so constricted that 

 nothing whatever can pass through it, and even the katabolic or waste products can- 

 not pass out. The atrophy commences at the posterior part of the alimentary canal 

 and continues forward until the entire tract is but a mere thread. 



Although at first the liver presents the ordinary normal color of that organ, it 

 soon becomes greenish, and later turns as green as grass. This is due to the 

 prevention of the exit of the bile by the occlusion of its duct. The green substance 

 and color soon spread to the flesh, which finally becomes entirely greenish. We 

 believe that if it is eaten in quantities at this time it would prove poisonous, and we 

 offer this as an explanation of the death of one of the kings of England from eating 

 lampreys. By the time that the liver has become green (often sooner) both sexes of 

 this species of lamprey present external features that are characteristic of complete 

 reproductive ripeness. The males have a dorsal ridge extending from the gill 

 openings or branchiopores to the second dorsal fin, and giving the two dorsal fins 

 the appearance of being connected at this time. This becomes so conspicuous that 

 one can readily distinguish the males while on their nests without disturbing them. 

 At the time of running many do not have this ridge, but later in the season it is 

 exhibited by all male specimens. The females do not have the dorsal ridge, but 

 sooner or later they all exhibit a fold of the skin from the vent to the true caudal fin. 

 This anal fin which characterizes the females may not be present in the specimens 

 running early. It has no rays, and appears to be but a fleshy fold of the skin. At 

 this time the male can also be readily recognized upon close examination by the 

 protruding genital papilla, as shown in the illustration. 



Color of Spawning Lampreys. 



Bright colors, which are conspicuous in some parts of the stream, are also charac- 

 teristic of the strongest and most mature lampreys No creature that lives in the 

 v/ater is more somber and inconspicuous in coloration than the lamprey during 

 ordinary seasons. While the larval lamprey is yellowish and pinkish white, the 

 ordinary adult feeding lamprey is dark above and light to dusky beneath, with or 

 without darker or lighter mottlings above. However, it is the spawning lamprey, in 

 its height of perfection and vigor, which presents a coloration of comparatively bright 

 yellowish or reddish, varying from lemon yellow to orange, russet, fuscous or rufous, 

 mottled with dark or light spots. A remarkable feature about this is that all spawning 

 lampreys are not highly colored, and the coloration presents no regular characteristic 



