Notes on the Sunapee Trout. A supposed new species from New Hampshire

JAN. 26, 1888.J

FOREST AND ^{STREAM. 9}

fox and Mirer

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Geo.Dawson. Price 50cents. Fljl-

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Price$1.50.

American

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Price$5.50.

NOTES ON THE SUNAPEE TROUT.

A

SUPPOSED

NEW

SPECIES

FROM NEW

HAMPSHIRE.

ON

Commissioner^{Oct.81, 1885,Colonel}of

New

^{E.Hampshire,B.Hodge,Fishsentandtothe}

^Game

^Na-

tional

Museum

a freshtrout from Sunapee Lake weigh- ing5^1bs.

On

Dec.10,1886,he sent several

more

large specimens fromthe sarnelake. It was stipposedatfirst thatthis troutismostclosely allied tothe blueback of Maine, butasourspecimensof oquassa were uniformly smallerthananyoftheSunapee^fishnosatisfactorycom- parisoncould be

made

atthe time.

During the

summer

^of 1887, however, Dr.

John

D.

Quackenbosobtained three

young

specimensoftheSun- apee

Lake

speciesandColonel

Hodge

addedanothersome-

what

larger.

The

longestofthe

young

trout sent byDr.

Quackenbos measured about7in. Ihave compared it

carefullywithbluebacksfrom Maine of about the

same

size

and

find somedifferenceswhich1hadnot observed before.

Ihave^allalong believed that theSunapee LakeSalvc- linuswithoutmottledfins is identicalwithoquassa. It ispossible that the identityofthe

two

formswillyet be established, butso far ithasbeenimpossibleto obtain specimensoftheblueback from Maine which

show

aper- fectagreement withthe large individualsfoundinSun- apee.

TheNational

Museum

hasnumeroussmallexamplesof the blueback, the largestof which is about ten inches long.

One

significantfactwhichIhavenot seenrecorded isthatallofourbluebacks

show

verydistinctparr

marks

andareconsequentlyyoung. It istrue that bluebacks begin the reproductive act before theyhave reacheda lengthofteninches,but the

number

of eggsin trout of thatsizeisalwayssmall,aboutfiftytoone hundred,and parr

marks

arealwayspresent. In

my

opinion theblue- backreaches a largesize. In apamphletentitled

"Down

East LatchStrings,"published at Boston bytheBoston

&

^"MaineRailroadin 1887,page119, willbefoundanillus- tration of a species of SalveliniiscaughtinLake Moosz-

lucmeguntic, Maine, which measured 28|in. inlength and weighed10gibs. It ishighly probable thatthistrout

was

notfontinalis,andit

may

have beentheblueback;it

showsa strongresemblancetothe large troutofSunapee Lake. Itwill be necessaryto determinethe species to whichthistroutbelongs before

we

cansaywithcertainty that thebluebackdoes not reach a largesize.

In

Forest and Stream

ofJune23,1887,

"The

Large Trout Record"isreviewed byGeo.ShepardPage, A. N.

Cheney

and"Special." I do not believe thatallofthe large trout referredto inthat recordwerefontinalis,but Icannotprove that they were not,because I havenot seenanyofthe specimens. It istobehopedthatoneof theMaineanglingassociations willsendsomeofthevery large trout from the Rangeley Lakes to the National

Museum;

specimens which have beeninthecollection a

few

years are usually unsuitable for comparison with fresh material from other sources. Salmon andtrout are

among

themostdifficultofallfishes topreserve.

Forest

and Stream

during the years 1886and1887 published numerous articles relatingtothe trout from Sunapee

Lake

andthe blueback,audtothosecolumnsthe readermustturnforparticulars as tothe discoveryand the subsequent history of the Sunapee trout in

New

Hampsliire, Varioustheories as tothe originofthefish inSunapeeLake have beenproposedanddiscussed.

My

opinionatpresent isthat the species havelivedinthe lake a great

many

years. It has probably notbeendis- tinguished from the

common

brook trout (fontinalis) untilColonel Hodge,Dr.Quackenbos and others called attentionto its peculiarities. More than oneichthyolo- gist,including myself,atfirstgl

mce

supposed thespecies tobefontinalis,but after subsequent carefulexamina- tionit

was

foundtobelong to anothergroupof species,

namely

the one havingteeth well developed uponthe hyoidbone. Theseteeth inSalvelinus arefounclonthe bone betweenthe lowerextremitiesof thefirsttwogill- arches. In theSunapeeLakespecies thispatchofteeth isvery conspicuousin

medium

and large-sized individ- uals. Iffuture investigations

show

that largetrout like thoseinSunapee

Lake

are foundin theRangeley Lakes ofMaine, the originoftheSunapeetrout

may

be traced to

some

early introduction of the bluebackinto

New

Hampshire. This,however,isat present only amatter of opinion. Thematerial

now

in theNational

Museum

will not enable

me

to saypositivelythat theSunapee and blueback trout areidentical. Thereisnothingleft forme,therefore,butto describethe speciesfrom

New Hampshire

as probablynew. ThisIhave done inthe current

volume

of the Proceedings of the National

Museum

and have giventoitthe

name

Salvelinus aure- olus.

Thereareat least sixapparent pointsof differencebe- tweentheSunapeetrout

and

the blueback: 1. Salvelinus aureolushas eightdeveloped raysinthe anal finbesides threerudiments,while the blueback has ten developed rays and three rudiments. 2. Blueback trout begin spawning

when

they are about 9m.long,but Sunapee troutofthe

same

lengthinotu- collection are all

imma-

ture. 3. Bluebacktroutinthe fresh state aredescribed ashavingtheback uniformsteelblue,whileinthe

young

Sunapee^troutthere arenumerous dark blotches on the topofthebackwhichgive the fresh fish a mottled ap- pear-nee. 4. It isstatedby FredMatherthat theembryos oftheSunapee^trouthaveawhiteline at theupperand loweredgesofthecaudalfin,andno suchcharacterlias

beenobservedinembryosofthe blueback. 5. It is said thatthebluebackspawnsin streams while the Sunapee troutisa lake spawner. 6. Thegill-rakersoftheSuna.xe troutare shorterandusuallyless numerous than in the blueback,and theyare almost invariably curled

up

at ends, whileintheblueback theyarealwaysstraightand slender. This

may

beduetoa differenceinthecharaoter ofthefood.

InForest

and Stream

ofJan.14,1886,Colonel

Hodge

thus describes thecolorsofSunapeetrout:

"The

females have a brownishback;sides lemon color. Males, small

ones, bluish-black back, largo ones

much

lighter, in fact,almostcreamcolor; someareverylight olive; sides and bellygolden orffhge. Theyare the most brilliant coloredofanyfresh-water fish that I know. The fins areverylarge,

much

largerthan in the

common

trout, andthefishisentirely destituteof mottlingsonthe back, in fact,there are none ofthe usualcharacteristicmot- tlingsofbrooktrout."

Thefresh colorsof the blueback are thus described by Mr.

Hem-y

O.Stanley in FOREST

AND

Stream,

May

5, 1887: "Ihave watched the bluebacks (Salmo oquassa) carefully,habitsandcharacteristics,and have taken ^all the eggs that have everbeentakenat Rangeley,have hatched

them

a

number

of years and watched

them

throughalltheirstagestillturnedloose,and have never noticedany whitelineontheloweredge of the tailfin you speakof.

Had

^therebeenany(evenifveryslight)I thinkIshould nothavefailed tonoticeit. I

am

sorryto say

we

havenot

any

eggshatchingthis season toverify

my

opinion,butIfeelvery sure thereisnone.

The

adult fishdoesnothave

any

white on the.fins at all like the brooktrout.

The

finsofthemalesarebrightred,or the colorofbright

autumn

leaves.

When

taken from the water theyare of a dark color, afterdeath turn to a bright yellowish cast. Thespotsareveryminute,very thick, very bright yellow and red, both thicker

and

brighterthanonthebrooktrout."

Dr.

John

D. Quackenbos ^describes the colorsof the Sunapee trout as follows:

"The

colorationofthesides variesfromadeadlustrecreamtintor adelicate olive to a dazzling orange,whichinsome specimens deepens^into adarksteelblueonthe back;alwaysdestitute ofmottling and with none ^ofthe characteristicofthebrooktrout.

The spots are generally secondary,though in some^fish vermilion specks are a conspicuous feature, while in others spots of

any

hue are hardlyperceptible. Occa- sionallythefemales areashighlv colored as the males."

On

Oct. 31, 1886, Colonel

Hodge

thus described the colorsoftheSunapeetroutinalettertothelateProfessor Baird: "Duringthe

summer

they areverylightcolored, almost white; they are not mottledonthebacklikethe other trout in thelake. Thesmallerones,from onetotwo pounds, are almost black on back,but orange onsides.

Thesefish

grow

verylarge,reaching tenpounds andover, andat thisseason(Oct. 31)

when

first taken arein color onsidesadeepgolden orange,andasthemalesroll

up

in thewater lookTikea broad bandof gold. In

swimming

thesefish

move

along exactlylikeasalmon, thatisthey

swim

withtheirwhole bodyfrom headtotail."

On

Dec.10,1886,Colonel'

Hodge

sent

some

fresh speci-

mens

of the Sunapee trout to the National

Museum.

When

received thecolorswere as follows:

Head

and upperpartsbrownishgray;caudal thesame, withthe ex- ception of a narrow white margin on thelowerlobe;

undersurfaceofhead inmost examples brownishgray, in others whitish; bellyorange,this colorextending

up

onthesides,but not tothemiddleline ofthe body,and orange with white margininfront;ventralsorange with broad white margin onthe outerrays;upperhalfofpec- toralgray,lowerhalf orange; dorsal gray,lighteralong the base; sides, both above and belowthelateralline,

with

numerous

orange spots fading out towhitish,the largest of thesespots arealittlemore thanone-thirdas longastheiris;nomottlingsanywhere.

The

young

specimens received from Dr. John D.

Quackenbos, which werecollected inSunapee Lakedur- inglastsummer, havethefollowingcolormarks: Sides, silverywhite; back,withsixor

more

well-defined,band- like dark markings,besides

some

irregularmtervening darkblotches. Thereare about ten parr

marks

onthe sides

and

numerous small roundish white spots.

A

femalellin.long sent byColonel

Hodge

from Sunapee Lake,

November

28, 18S5,has a

few

free eggsintheab- dominalcavity; itseemstobe nearlyspent. Thisexam- plehasnumerousparr

marks

onthesidesandband-like markingsonthebackarestillveryevident.

T.H.Bean,Ichthyologist,U.S.FishCommission.

U.S.National Museum, Washington,D.C,Jan.23.

SENSIBLE ICELANDIC FISHERMEN.

IN

_enough,^{thenineteenthcentury}

^many

^{afishermanis foolish}

inorderto obtain asingle meal,to destroy fishesthatwould havesufficed,ifnot interferedwithin breeding times,tofeedtwentyfamilies foraweek.

A

recentletterfrom Iceland shows a remarkable contrast in thisregard,anditspeople are certainlyentitled to call us barbarians,ascompared withthemselves in thematter ofsecuringapermanentsupplyof fishfood.

Dr.Labonne,

member

ofascientificmissiontoIceland,

met

a

young

Scotchman,who,like

many

of hiscountry- men,passessixweeksevery year in Iceland,fishing for trout, salmon,

and

the red-fleshed char. "Being per- mitted to

accompany

him." he writes, "on lake and river, I

was

astonishedto meet frequently,at shortdis- tances apart,rectangular boxes with gratings at each end,fixedinthemiddleofthestreambycordsattached tothebasalticrocksonthe banks.

On

raising thelidof one he sawinsidea

number

ofsmall troutandsalmon, a fewinches long,groupedonabed ofsmall stones

and

volcanic

mud,

carefullyarrangedonthe bottom.

He

ex- plainedthisto

me

asfollows: '

When

anIcelander catches atrout,salmon, or char,filledwitheggs ormilt,hethinks of others than himself,and does not cookthe whole.

Before eatinghisfishhe neverfailstoplaceintheboxes abovealludedto,the reproductive contents of the fish.

Theeggs retainedbythe gratingsfind themselves under thesamecircumstancesasifthey had beenlaid in the stream,andhatch outperfectly. The little fishare fed withthe refuseofthe kitchen,

and when

they haveat- tainedasufficient size tolookoutforthemselves, aredis- tributed in the neighboring streams.'"

—

Translatedfor D.T.Curtisby Dr.Samuel Kneeland.

IceFishing.—Worcester, Mass., Jan.28.—Icefishing hasbeenexcellent the past four weeks and

many

fine strings ofpickerelhaveTbeentaken;soplentyhavethey beenin the marketsthat citizens

who

do not careto indulgeinthesportcouldpurchase

them

for theirFriday fare at a verymoderateprice.

—

^E.S.K.

"Rang-eley

Spawning Grounds."—

In Capt. Barker's communication, Jan. 12,page489, first paragraph, the writeris

made

tosay that the

Kennebago

streamempties intothe Cupsuptic stream.

He

wrote,"emptiesinto the Cupsuptic

Lake

about three miles belowthe Cupsuptic stream."

SUNAPEE LAKE.

\\/ORCESTER,

Mass., Jan. 10.—All laBt winter I

T

t watchedthecolumns of Forest

and Stream

for

some

accountofthe fishing atSunapee Lake,N. H., but seeingnone andbeingunable to learn

much

aboutthe lake1gaveupthetripand went

up

to Lake Champlain afterbass again. I once lived in

New Hampshire

and

when

therecontracted(tookitfromtheNe%v

Hampshire

boysIthink)a severe case of "Sunapee fever,"

which

I

have never been ableto entirelyshakeoff. Ihaveseen occasional accountsofthe peculiar trouttakenthere,the re-stocking,etc.,butneveraword,as Iremember, about thefishing.

Why

^{is it? Don't}any one^fishthere? Don't they catchenough to pay for a trip

up

there, ordon't they care to have ^outsiders

come

in and share their sport?

Ialways

commence

laying out

my

vacation plans right afterthe holidays,and havealready severalMaine^lakes under considerationforthe coming season, butI can't get over the glowing description the

New

Hampshire boys usedtogive

me

ofSunapee. NeithercanIlearnof a lakeinMainewherethere is good fishing thatisnot overrun with sportsmen or elsehardtoreach.

By

good fishing I

mean

a fairday's sport with fair sized trout.

Trout running£ to21bs.are largeenoughforme, and^I enjoy paddling along apretty shoreif I don't catch many.

You

see

my

companion andIgofishing tofish,

and

be byourselves.

Now,

don'tsetus

down

forapair of un- socialcranks,for

we

arenot,but

when

afellowislimited to one week's outinga year,he can't afford to spend

much

ofitvisiting. Ican stand a heap of fishing.

A

week

soliddoesnottire

me

of it aparticle,and

when

^I

come

in afteranall day's session I

am

ready tolie off

and

listentoagoodstory,

swap

lieswiththe guides,etc.,

butIdon'tenjoy beingkept

awake

till daylightbythose

members

ofnearlyeverylarge party

who

dotheirheaviest fishing aftersupper,"sounding"forthebottomofaglass baitcan.

They

usuallyfinditbefore theyquit, too.

Now,

ifthiscatches the eyeof any one lucky enough tohave beentoSunapeeIhope hewillgive us thebenefit of his experience there. Tell us

how

toget thereand wheretogo

when we

dogetthere.

We

are bothpoor fishermen

and

mighty unlucky ^at that,but

we

doliketodropinto a place where

we

can haveagoodweek'sfish.

We

feelobligedtospendaboutso

much

of oirryearly stipend

and

a week'stimein somebody's

woods

looking forsomebody'sfishor

game

every

summer,

and

we

would justassoonhaveitin

New

^{Hampsliireas in Maine. In}

i'act

we

wouldpreferto,asitisnearer. Let us hearfrom

Sunapee. Swirl.

CHUBB'S CATALOGUE.

THOS.

^H.

^CHUBB,

^{the weB-known}manufacturer^of fishing tackle,has issuedanewcataloguewhichisavaluable guide totheourchaseofanglingsupplies,andgivesalsoaseries of well- written papers onfishingsubjects. Dr.JamesA.Henshaildis- coursesofblack bassand black bassfishing. Mr.A.N. Cheney writesluminouslyoftrout fishmg. There ars several pages of fishlorefromthepenofGeo.P. Goff,A.M. Mr.

W.

H. H.Mnr- ravtalks ofpracticalangling. Hints onsalmon fishingare fol- lowedbv notes on themanufacture andchoice ofhooks by Mr.

JohnR.Bartin,and "Old Izaak" concludes thisportion ofthe book with a talk on angling. ThedescriptionofGhubb's manu- factoryisinstructiveas a setting forthofhow a small business can rapidlygrowintoa big one,ifthepwiductbe onlysomething that the public wants, anditappearstohavetaken a shineto Chubh'srods.

tgishculture.

Addre<ssallcommunicationsto the-Forestand StreamPub.Ce-

BLACK BASS

IN

GERMANY.

COUNT ^{MAX VON DEM BORNE,}

Berneuchen, has issued alittle illustrated pamphlet on the two species of Americanblackbass,introducedby

him

intoGermany.*

He

has not designatedthemasthesmall-mouthandbi«- mouth.buthas followed theobsoletenomenclatureof"black"

bass, forthetirstnamed, andhastranslatedthespecific

name

ofthelast (salmoides) into ''trout-perch,"fortunatelyhe did notadopt the absurd

name

of"Oswego,"for thisfish.

He

callsthem"royal"fish,andsaysthat inMichigan and Ohiotheyare,nexttothewhitefish, themostimportant food fishof fresh water. QuotationsfromDr.HenshailandDr.

Sterling are frequent,and fromthesetwoauthors alone the

German

readers get

much

valuable information concerning thelife,historyandhabitsofthesefishes. In

Germany

the adultfishspawnin

May

andJune,as in

New

York,butour author says thatyoung fish sometimes spawninthe south (inAmerica)from AugusttoNovember,astatement,which

is

new

to us.

A

carefulstudyoftheliterature ofthese fishes has enabled the authortocondense a greatdeal ofvaluable informationina small compass,andyetheiscarefulto credit the authoritiesfrom whichhe draws, amostcommendable thinginacompiler.

The two

men

in

Germany who

havebeen themostenter- prising inexchangingthefishes of theircountryforthoseof America, are Count von Behr, President ofthe

German

FisheryAssociation,and Countvon

dem

Borne,aprivate fishculturist. Theformerconfineshimselftothe introduc- tion ofAmericansalmonidfp,while thelatterinclines tothe percoids, ofwhich Europeanwatershavebuttwo goodnative specimens. Inreturntheyhavesent

many

valuablelotsof eggsofthedifferentEuropeansalmonidaeto thiscountry, audtheirenergyandenterprise willhe rememberedwhile theliterature offishesremains.

*'-Der Schwarzbarsch andder Foreileubarseb.BlackBass;zwei AuierikanischeFischein Beutschiand. Von

Max

von

dem

Borne, Berneuchen,Neudamm. VerlagvonT.Noumann,18s8.

CANADIAN LOBSTERS.—

Ottawa, Jan. 33.

—

The Do- minion Governmenthasadopted afewofthe recommenda- tionscontainedin thereport oftheLobster Commission appointedin

May

last. The lastCanada,Gazette contains an orderinCouncil settingfortbfthat hereafteritwillbe unlawfultocatchorhave

m

possessionanywhereon theAt- lantic coasts,anylobstersbetweenthe1stof Julyandthe 31st ofDecember,andonfebe coasts of theGulfofSt.Law- rencethecloseseasonis"toextend fromthe15th ofJulyto the81stofDecember. It isfurtherprovided,that "It shall be unlawfulat anytime tofish for,catch,kill,buy,selh.

exposeforsale,orhavein possessionanyberried or soft-shell loBsters,oranylobsterunder9in.ialength,measuring from headtotail,exclusive ofclawsorfeelers,and

when

caught in fishingapparatusin legal use,theyshallbe liberated alive bythe proprietor,owner,agent, tenant, occupier, partner, orpersonactually in charge, either asoccupantor servant, on eachof

whom

shalldevolve the proofofsuch actual lib- erations*"