NOTES ON TWO AMERICAN WHITEFISHES. 
9 
SIZE, HABITS, ABUNDANCE, ETC. 
The average length of the lish seems to be about 15 inches, although it reaches a 
much larger size. lu the series of specimens at liand the females have a somewhat 
greater length than the males, the averages being 14-96 inches and 14-40 inches, respect- 
ively. The largest female is 15-25 inches long and the smallest male is 13-37 inches 
long. The extremes of weight are 443 and 602 grams for females, and 402 and 473 
grams for males, the averages being 508 and 447 grams, respectively. 
The average weight of the flsh caught in Lake Ontario at the present time is about 
1 ^ pounds. The smallest taken by the fishermen are under a quarter of a pound. 
The largest of which a definite record has been obtained weighed 5J iiounds and was 
caught off Wilson, N. T., as I am informed by Mr. Wilson, of that place. Mr. Strow- 
ger, of Nine-Mile Point, has seen long-jaws that weighed upwards of 4 pounds and 
has heard of some weighing as much as 6 xiounds. In recent years the use of small- 
meshed gill nets has reduced the size of the fish taken. The range in weight of 
marketable fish is now ^ of a iiound to 2 or 3 imunds. 
The information at hand concerning the movements of the long-jaw whitefish iu 
Lake Ontario goes to show the existence of a definite bathymetrical migration, which 
depends chiefiy on the seasons and is well recognized by most of the fishermen. In 
winter the fish are found in the deepest water of the lake, at a depth of 400 to 700 
feet. Towards spring they begin to axiproach the shores, being taken at a gradually 
decreasing depth until August, when they occur in water about 20 fathoms deep. 
After this time they begin to work out toward the middle of the lake, and by the end 
of November or the beginning of December they have reached a dejith of 45 or 50 
fathoms. In the opinion and exiierience of Mr. Wilson and other fishermen of the 
western end of the lake, the process of spawning then supervenes, after w^hichthe fish 
retire to the deepest water, where the winter is spent. During the period of sxiawning- 
the fishermen of Niagara County find that the fish are apiiarently more xilentiful than 
at other times, the largest catches being then made; this is because the fish scattered 
over large areas are drawn together by the reiiroductive instinct and resort to special 
grounds, where they are found in more conqiact bodies. 
There is a gravelly area off Wilson on which the fish congregate for the purposes 
of spawning. 
Concerning the siiecimens which Mr. Wilson forwarded, he states that they were 
taken Aiiril 18 in water 50 fathoms deep. At that time of the year tlie schools are 
usually more scattered than at other seasons and fewer fish are caught in a given 
time in a given amount of netting. This dispersion seems to be due to the fact that 
the fish are quite voracious after' their sojourn in the deep water and are obliged to 
distribute themselves over a wider area iu order to secure the necessary supxily of 
food. 
Under date of May 17, 1892, Mr. Strowger writes that the first fishing boat to come 
from the lake that season arrived on that day and had two bloaters, taken about 2 
miles from the shore, inside the main schools, which are usually found in 80 to 100 
fathoms of water off that iilace. One of the bloaters had rijie s^iawn, the other very 
immature spawn-sacks. In the opinion of Mr. Strowger, this species probably has a 
prolonged spawning period, extending over ihe entire year, a view which is plausible 
enough and in harmony with the knoAvn habits of certain other salmonoid fishes iiihab- 
