Conservation Commission. 261 



Ciscoes. 



The whitefishes of New York are at least eight in number of 

 the species, if not more. They include the common whitefish of 

 the Great Lakes and large inland lakes, the frostfish or round 

 whitefish of the Adirondaeks, the ciscoes, represented by five or 

 more species differing notably in size, and the tullibee which is 

 abundant in Oneida lake and other large lakes. The ciscoes, or 

 lake herring, are well separated from the frostfish and the com- 

 mon whitefish by their longer jaws, their projecting lower jaw, 

 and their minute eggs. The tullibee is shad-like in form, and has 

 very deep scales. The tullibee is now extensively propagated by 

 artificial methods at the Oneida station of the Conservation Com- 

 mission. The lake herrings are also reared from eggs secured in 

 the Great Lakes. The whitefish and round whitefish, or frostfish, 

 are developed at the Adirondack hatcheries from eggs taken in 

 Adirondack lakes. 



Although the number of the whitefishes is comparatively small 

 in New York, several of the species have more than one common 

 name, and a good deal of confusion arises on this account. The 

 frostfish is a whitefish with very short jaws, small mouth, and the 

 lower jaw decidely shorter than the upper. The ciscoes are 

 very different in their jaw structure, and they are the species 

 which lend themselves most readily to the sport of angling. 

 They will not only take the hook, but they rise freely, at certain 

 times, to the artificial fly. The ciscoe of Hemlock lake, for in- 

 stance, rises to the surface late in May, when the ephemerae are 

 on the wing and is caught by anglers with the natural mayfly. 

 The late William C. Harris took a few of them with an artificial 

 fly. The anglers go out on the lake to depths of 50 to 100 feet 

 and begin casting with the natural fly. Presently the ciscoes 

 rise from the depths, and in a short time the anglers succeed in 

 taking a goodly number of them. 



In Lake George the little ciscoe is wrongly called " frostfish." 

 Some individuals, taken in July by Mr. Birney Burnett, are 

 about 8 inches long, and they represent the favorite size used by 

 anglers in trolling for lake trout on or near the bottom in deep 

 water. 



