844 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
in comparison with that of the Huch — though not so 
small as in the Arctic stagnalis — being usually of the 
same curved form and about the same size as in the 
Scandinavian Salmons. The anal tin is similar in form 
to the true dorsal, but always shorter and lower. The 
distance between it and the tip of the snout is about 
67 (exceptionally 65) — -71 % of the length of the body, 
and as a rule this percentage is less than 70 in the 
Northern Charr, more than 70 in the Saddling. The 
caudal fin consists, here as in the preceding family, of 
17 branched rays and an inconstant number of sup- 
porting rays, of which the hindmost at each margin 
extends cpiite or nearly to the end of the fin-lobe. This 
fin is as a rule more or less deeply forked in the young; 
but in old specimens, especially when in breeding con- 
dition, the hind margin is truncate or slightly concave 
when the fin is expanded. The middle caudal rays, 
which occupy about 9 — 6 % of the length of the body, 
generally measure less than half the length of the 
outermost rays, except in old Charr, especially males, 
where their length may rise to at least 56 % of that 
of the latter. 
The pectoral fins are pointed in old specimens, 
even approaching to the scythe-shape of the Mackerel 
type; but in the young they are blunter at the tip. 
Their length varies considerably, from about 14 — 19 % 
(in alijoes , cf, up to 2l7 2 %) of that of the body, and 
is greater in the males than in the females. The pre- 
abdoininal length (the distance between the foremost 
points in the insertions of the pectoral and ventral fins), 
on the contrary, is as a rule less in the males than in 
the females, varying between about 27 (exceptionally 
25) and 32 % a of the length of the body. The ventral 
fins are obliquely triangular, with the truncate top as 
base. They are also longer as a rule in the males 
than in the females, their length varying between about 
14 and 11 % (exceptionally 10 or, in alines, cf, as 
much as 16 %) of that of the body. The postabdomi- 
nal length (the distance between the beginning of the 
anal fin and the foremost (outermost) point in the in- 
sertions of the ventral fins), which is less as a rule in 
the males than in the females, varies between about 
18 (exceptionally 17) and 22 (exceptionally 26) % of 
the length of the body. 
The scales are both small and thin, without radi- 
ating grooves, but with dense concentric striae. The 
dorsal scales are oblong, elliptical or oval; those of the 
lateral line of a more quadrangular shape but with 
rounded corners; the ventral scales broader (deeper). 
From the beginning of the dorsal fin obliquely back- 
wards and downwards to the lateral line 34 scales, if 
not more, may be counted in a transverse row, and 
from the beginning of the adipose fin a similar row 
contains about 21 — 24 scales. The lateral line runs 
straight, or with a faint downward curve in front, 
from the upper angle of the gill-opening to the middle 
of the base of the caudal fin. 
In its festal dress, just before the spawning, the 
Charr is one of our most beautiful fishes. The back 
is bluish or greenish black — the former predominant 
in the Northern Charr, the latter in the Saddling — , 
the belly flame red or paler — the latter in the fe- 
males — , and the sides of the body bluish gray or green, 
with scattered, red or paler spots, varying in dimen- 
sions but of about the same size as the pupils. The 
dorsal and caudal fins are of the same colour as the 
back, but distally they grow paler. In male Northern 
Charr wearing this dress, the caudal fin is commonly 
edged with red, and the lower margin (sometimes the 
upper as well, at least in part) generally has the same 
white or yellowish white hue as the anterior margin 
of all the inferior fins. The rest of these fins gene- 
rally partake, in the spawning-dress, of the same red 
tint as the belly, but sometimes the posterior (the anal 
and ventral) have a more or less predominant, grayish 
blue colour, which occurs on the pectoral fins only in 
a fainter tone, but has there a still more handsome, 
ash-gray shade. The forepart of the belly and the 
throat, as well as the branchiostegal membranes and 
the lower jaw, are generally of a light, yellow or 
whitish yellow ground-colour, more or less spotted with 
bluish black. The head is commonly coloured above 
like the back, below like the belly, with cheeks and 
opercula of the same ground-colour as the sides of the 
body; but it is often more or less spotted with bluish 
or sooty black, and sometimes entirely, though faintly, 
coated with one of these tints, which in the Northern 
Charr generally extend to the mouth and pharynx as 
well. The iris is brassy yellow, with an irregular, 
ring-shaped shading of black. 
These sharply defined hues of the spawning-dress 
are exchanged during the intervening periods for a 
When the belly is abnormally distended, this percentage may rise to 35. 
