10 -REPORT ON THE PROPOSED INTRODUCTION OF THE JAMAICA MOUNT- 
AIN MULLET INTO THE UNITED STATES. 
BV TARLETON H. BEAN. 
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 
Sir : I inclose herewith such material as I could find bearing upon the experiment 
of the introduction of the Jamaica mountain mullet. These data have been gathered 
from various sources and, while they are not in all respects so satisfactory as they 
might be, they appear to me to justify the proposed acclimatization of the species, 
and to indicate that the transfer can be successfully and profitably made. After giv- 
ing a brief differential diagnosis of the genus Agonostoma, contrasting it with our 
marine mullets, I have collated such notes on the habits and characteristics of the 
Jamaica species as I could find in the publications upon that island. 
A general sketch of the Jamaica mountain ranges follows, and after this occur 
notes upon the character of the rivers, their elevation, and the temperature of the air 
at various heights, whenever such data were accessible. 
The same kind of information has been collected from State reports, atlases, and 
newspapers concerning the States of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, in 
the alpine regions of which States, in my opinion, the experiment will be most likely 
to succeed. I believe that streams suitable for the undertaking may be found in all 
of these States, and, jierhaps, in some others which contain elements of the Appala- 
chian chain. 
In North Carolina favorable results may be expected in the Yadkin, Catawba, Big 
Pigeon, and French Broad. In this State the Appalachian chain reaches its greatest 
elevation, and the mountain streams have the general character of Jamaica rivers in 
which the mountain mullet abounds. Brook trout are indigenous to, and abundant 
in, streams in the vicinity of Mount Pisgah, in Haywood County, the Big Pigeon and 
its tributary creeks in particular. Landlocked salmon and rainbow trout have been 
successfully reared in this Commonwealth. I assume that trout streams will prove 
suitable for the species of Agonostoma. 
In South Carolina the Keowee and some of the mountain tributaries of the Con- 
garee would seem to promise the best localities. In 1882 the South Carolina Pish Com- 
mission planted 166,000 salmon and some salmon trout in the waters of the State. 
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