176 NORTHERN ZOOLOGY. 



[68.] 8. Salmo fontinalis. (Mitchill.) New York Char. 



Common Trout (Satmo fontinalis). Mitchill, New York Ph. Tr„ i., p. 435. 

 Plate 83, f. 1 , half nat. size. Plate 87, f. 2, head nat. size. 



Dr. Mitchill describes this trout in the paper above referred to, making the fol- 

 lowing observations upon it. " He is reckoned a most dainty fish. They travel 

 away to Hempstead and Islip for the pleasure of catching and eating him. He is 

 bought at the extravagant price of a quarter of a dollar for a single fish, not more 

 than ten or twelve inches long. He lives in running waters only, and not in stag- 

 nant ponds ; and therefore the lively streams, descending north and south from 

 their sources on Long Island, exactly suit the constitution of this fish. The hea- 

 viest Long Island trout that I have heard of weighed four pounds and a half." 

 One caught near New York, measuring twenty-four inches in length, weighed four 

 pounds eight ounces : the average weight of those usually caught is about three- 

 quarters of a pound. No opportunity occurred during the progress of the expedi- 

 tion of obtaining this trout in a recent state, but Mr. Todd kindly sent me a pre- 

 pared specimen from Penetanguishene. He states that it ascends the rivers from 

 Lake Huron in the month of May, and readily takes the hook during the summer ; 

 that the flesh is red, and that he never saw one exceeding the weight of a pound and 

 a half. Mr. Todd's specimen was submitted to the inspection of Baron Cuvier, Avho 

 returned it with the following remark : " // nous parait Lien nomme Salmo fonti- 

 nalis de Mitchill. C'est -probablement le Salmo Gcedenii de Bloch." The latter 

 synonym appears very strange, and must have originated in some mistake, for not 

 to mention other differences, the S. Gcedenii has tolerably large scales, while the 

 scales of S. fontinalis are so small, that in Dr. Mitchill's description the skin is 

 said to be " scaleless." The S. Gcedenii inhabits the Baltic, and is considered by 

 M. Agassiz to be the young of the Common salmon. The Salmo fontinalis may 

 be readily distinguished from the other species that we have already described, by 

 the smallness of its scales, the shortness of its intermaxillaries, and the length and 

 narrowness of the labials, exclusive of its colours, which are peculiar. 



DESCRIPTION 

 Of a prepared specimen from Penetanguishene, on Lake Huron. 



Form thickish. Head rather small, being contained five times and one-fifth in the total 

 length. Mouth large. Jaws of equal length. Intermaxillaries very short, being scarcely a 

 quarter as long as the labials. The latter are long, linear, and straight, with still narrower 



