44 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
existed in large nimibers in the waters of this county from which they are said to 
have been exterminated by pickerel; even if they did, it is probable that they had 
begun to diminish from other causes before pickerel were introduced to facilitate their 
destruction. Trout do not thrive in waters best suited to iiickerel, while the latter 
species will not do well in the favorite habitat of the trout, and the appearance of an 
occasional pickerel in such places is no cause for alarm. Pickerel are lovers of quiet, 
muddy, weedy streams and lakes. Trout prefer cool, running water, with little of 
such vegetation. Whenever pickerel have existed contemporaneously with the smaller 
fishes, such as chubs, minnows, etc., there, has seldom, according to our experience, 
been any scarcity of the latter. Trout, moreover, generally disappear from their 
former resorts far faster through human than through natural agencies. Excessive 
and destructive methods of fishing, iiollution of the waters, and the destruction of 
forests are far more fatal to trout life than the natural enemies. 
The writer, however, does not wish it understood that he advocates the intro- 
duction of pickerel into such waters, for they would afford an additional factor of 
destruction to those already in operation. Furthermore, it is well known that where 
pickerel or bass exist it is next to useless to endeavor to introduce and propagate the 
brook trout or any of its kin. 
Among the fishes discussed in this paper are also included those salt-water 
species which occasionally or j)eriodically enter the fresh waters for spawning or other 
purposes. 
Local names are always more or less confusing, and they are especially so in many 
instances in Maine, where distinct species in neighboring localities are often known 
by the same name. The name “chub” is applied indiscriminately to the larger fishes 
of the family Gyprimdm; “young chubs” or “shiners” to the intermediate sizes, and 
“minnies” to the young GyprUiidce and to the Gyprinodontidcc. The catfish, Ameiurus 
yiehulosus, is known generally as “hornpout,” as also in some places the sticklebacks, 
Pygosteus, Oasterosteus, and Apeltes. Gatostomus teres is commonly designated as 
“sucker.” Semotilus bidlaris is widely known as “chub;” but the adult Fundulus 
heteroclitus, in places along the coast, are likewise called “chub,” and the young of the 
same species “minny.” Salvelimis fontmalis is everywhere recognized by the names 
“trout,” “brook trout,” and “speckled trout.” Salvelimis namaycush is known as 
“togue,” “lake trout,” or “salmon trout;” Salmo salar sebago as landlocked salmon 
and “salmon trout.” The brook trout, when large, also has sometimes been misnamed 
“salmon trout.” Salmo salar is commonly known as “salmon” or “sea salmon.” 
The local names given in connection with the scientific ones in the lists accom- 
panying this paper are those most often applied to the fishes in the localities to which 
the lists relate. Where the local name was not ascertained the name used in a neigh- 
boring locality has been inserted. 
