ME. F. DAT ON THE LOCH-LEVEN TROUT. 



85 



relationship of tlie Loch-Leven and burn-trout. In November, 

 1883, some eggs of a Locb-Leven trout were milted from a salmon- 

 parr at Howietoun (which specimen I still possess in spirit), and 

 hatched in March 1884. As I have elsewhere related, most of 

 the young died of dropsy, but a few lived, and some are still at 

 Howietoun in pond 16, very many being small, but a few of fair 

 size, some even giving eggs and milt this season. On November 

 24th I removed one of these fish, a beautiful parr, showing the long 

 pectorals and large caudal fin of the salmon, but having only nine 

 finger-marks ; while as to colours it was of a beautiful silvery 

 glossed with gold, the rayed dorsal fin rather densely spotted 

 with black, some of the spots having a deep scarlet edging, and a 

 white margin with a dark base being present at the front upper 

 corner of this fin as well as of the anal. Adipose dorsal red-edged ; 

 caudal straw-coloured, with red upper and lower edges. Numerous 

 black spots in the upper half of the body, also some red ones, but 

 most of the latter along the lateral line and some below it. A 

 large black spot on opercle and some smaller ones. 



Here was a hybrid showing the number of bars of the trout, 

 and also most of the trout-colours, but with this remarkable varia- 

 tion from the Loch-Leven breed, that the orange edging was 

 present on the adipose dorsal * and the light edging on the dorsal 

 and anal fins. In fact the spots on the dorsal fin closely resembled 

 tliose seen in the burn-trout in Sutherlandshire. Unless the 

 Lochlevens have burn-trout blood in them, how could these fish 

 possibly throw back to the colours of the latter race ? 



It is normal for the adipose fin of the Loch-Leven trout to have 

 black spots upon it, but no orange margin. The reason is pro- 

 bably similar to that which causes these fish to have no orange 

 spots on the body, because if orange spots exist upon the body 

 the adipose dorsal is also orange-tipped. Evidently whatever 

 causes this coloration in one part of the body equally does so in 

 the other. 



As to the internal organization of the Loch-Leven trout, we 

 have been told that it possesses from 49 to 90 csecal appendages, 

 and that the teeth along the body of the vomer " form a single 

 series, and are persistent throughout life." In fact from the time 

 Parnell first ascertained that these trout often possess a larger 



* Not only is the adipose dorsal normally destitute of an orange edging or 

 orange spots in both young salmon and young Lochlevens, but this colouring is 

 present in many sea-trout with which young Lochlevens have been compared. 



