Saibling and Brown Trout Hybrid

June

6, 1889.]

FOREST AND STREAM. 401

SAIBLING AND BROWN TROUT HYBRID. —

³trs. old.

About % ^Natural

^Length.

SAIBLING AND BROWN TROUT HYBRID.

THE

^finestandlargest seriesofhybridtroutwhich

we

have seen belongs to the United States National

Museum,

andistheresultof crossesbetweenthe saibling andthe

brown

troutof Norway,artificiallyproduced at oneofthe fishcultural stations in

Norway some

years previoustothe Centennial ExpositionatPhiladelphia in 1876. These hybrids were exhibited intheNorwegian section at the International Exhibition,and werepre- sentedtothe National

Museum

atthecloseoftheCenten- nial.

The

collectioncontains individuals ranginginage from one year to six years,and includesthe result of crossingboth

ways

betweenthe

two

species.

Innoinstance does the hybrid resemble eitherparent in general appearance. In shapethere isacompromise betweenthetwoparent forms. Thesaiblinghasa forked

tail,whilethe

brown

trout has the tail nearly truncate

when

expanded. In the hybrid,until five years oldat least,individuals all have the tail

more

forkedthanin the

brown

trout,

and

lesssothanin thesaibling.

One

of thelargest six-year-oldshas thetailfintruncate,aboutas itisinthe

brown

trout.

Theproportions of thehybridhavealreadybeenhinted atabove; the heightofthebody equals

more

than the lengthofthehead,

and

iscontained four

and

two-thirds times in the lengthofthe^fishmeasuredtotheendofthe scales. The headisone-fourth of this

same

lengthand contains the diameterof the eye about six times.

The

snoutishalfagainaslongastheeyeandone-half aslong astheupperjaw.

The

maxilla extendsfar behind the eye,the lengthofthe upper

jaw

being

somewhat more

than one-halfthe lengthofthe head.

The vomerine^teethare invariably similar tothoBe of the

brown

trout. Tnallbutsixindividualsof this large seriesteeth are presentandwelldevelopedonthebaseof the tongue,theirabsence occurringinbothcrosses

and

in specimens five

and

sixyears old, although it is

more common

in yearlings.'

The

peduncleofthetail isone-third ofthe length of the head. Thefirstdorsal finis

somewhat

inadvanceof the middleofthe total length, its anterior two-thirds beinginfront ofthe belly fins.

The

base of the first dorsalisnearly aslongasitslongest ray.

The

anal fin is very long;its longest ray is

much

longerthan the lengthofitsbaseand

somewhat

longerthanthe longest rayofthe dorsalfin. Theshortandstoutadipose dorsal fin is placed over the end ofthe anal. Thebelly fin reaches almost,or quite, tothe vent

when

laidbackward.

Itsappendageisone-thirdtotwofifthsaslongasthefin.

Thebreastfinisabout tbree-fourtbsaslong as the head.

A

^{sixyearold hybrid, produced}

^by

fertilizing saibling eggs withmiltofthe

brown

trout,has the breast fin of the rightsideproduced into alongtip, £in.longertban

itsfellowofthe oppositeside. Thereare142 scales inthe lateralline,'ofwhich122are tube-bearing. Thereare 14 rowsof scalesfromtheendofthe analfin obliquely up- ward and backwardtothelateral line; 16rowsfromthe endofthe adiposefinobliquely

downward

and backward tothelateral line;23rowsfromtheendofthe dorsalob- liquely

downward

and backwardtothelateralline.

Thebranchiostegal

membrane

issupportedby^{12 rays,} the dorsal finhas10dividedrays,the anal8,thebreast fin 12,andthebelly fin8. The

number

ofgill-rakersis 21, ofwhich13arebelowthe angle: the longest rakeris nearly one-halfaslongastheeye. There are 58pyloric ccecainoneindividualand60 inanotherexamplecrossed the oppositeway,thatis,byfertilizingsaiblingeggswith milt of

brown

trout, The

brown

trouthas 42 coeca and thesaibling42to 45 inspecimensexamined.

The general color is vandyke brown,the lowerparts lighter. Thesides are profusely vermiculatedwithnar- row, palemarkings

and

with small blotches ofthe

same

color,the vermiculations orblotches,and sometimesboth, extending onthe head. The finsare usuallypale;occa- sionally the dorsal and anal have several faint,band- like,

brown

markings, andthe tail fin isinconspicuously banded

Hybrids one year old, between female saibling and

male brown

trout,are 4m. long; between female trout and male saibling theyare 3f^{rto 4|in.} Two-year-olds vary from 6fin. to 8|in. Three-yearolds,produced by fertilizing saiblinge°gswith

brown

trout milt,measure 9£in.;the oppositecrossofthesame agevariesfromlOin.

tolOfin. Four-yearolds (saiblingmotherand

brown

trout father)range from lt£ to llfin.; thosecrosed the other

way

arellin. long. Five-year-oldhybrids, betwe;

n

male saiblingand female

brown

trout,run from 13in.to 14in.

inlength. Six-year-olds,betweenmale saiblingand fe-

male

brown

trout, measure from 17 to 19iin.; those between male

brown

troutand femalesaiblingare17to 18in.

The figure accompanying this descriptionisfrom an originaldrawing

made

for

me

byMr.S.F.Denton;it is

about two-thirdsofthe actualsizeofathree-year-old.fish.

None

of the specimens examined by

me show

anyde-

velopment ofthe reproductive organs,anditisprobable thatthishybrid,although a largeand beautiful animal,

isuniformlysterile. T.H. Bean.

FISHING NEAR NEW YORK.

VI.

— NFW YORK

BAY.

EVERY

^{kind offishthatanglerscancatchinthesalt}

waters ofbays in theselatitudes can be takenin

New York

Bay, but unfortunatelynotinlargenumbers.

Striped bass are takenat LibertyIsland,whichishut a short

row from

the Battery. Weakfish,bluefish,black- fish,sheepshead,plaice,sea bass and othervarieties are caughtin

and

about the Narrows,and suchsmall fryas eels,tomcods

and

flounders

may

be taken almost any- wherein their respective seasons. For the largerand most

gamy

fish,withthe exceptionofthestriped bass,it isnecessarytogo

some

distance

down

the bayfrom the city.

On

the Brooklynor eastern side ofthebaythere is little sport fishing

anywhere

above

Bay

Ridge,and from thisplace a

row

ofamile or twois necessaryto reachremunerativefishinggrounds.

Takingthe eastern shore of

New York Bay

first,the nearest place to rent boatsfor aday's goodfishingis

Fred. Wardell's,along the shorejust south of the steam- boatlandingat

Bay

Ridge.

One

can go from foot of Whitehall street to

Bay

Ridge

by

boat for 20 centsthe round trip, and climb over a rockyroadto Wardell's place. Boats leave S:10, 9:10, 10:10 A. M.; 1:10 P. M.

Sundays, 10:10, 11:10 A. M.;1:10P.M. Thebetter

way

toreach this resort,however,is via ferryfromfoot of Whitehallstreet to Tbirty-ninthstreet,SouthBrooklyn, thence awalk of

two

blocks to the

dummy

^carswhich run to Fort Hamilton,andride to

Bay

Ridgeavenue, from

which

itissixminutes'walktothe beach.

Round

trip30 cents,or10cents

may

besaved

by

getting offthe

dummy

carsatthe city line and walking three blocks extrato

Bay

Ridgeavenue. Wardell hasfourteenboats, at $1

week

days,$1.50Sundays. Boatman,25 cents an hourextra. Wardell alwayskeepsclamsand

sandworms

for bait,andwill directfishermentothe best groundsin thevicinity. Blackfishandeelsaretheonlyfish caught therenow, buttherewill befair

weak

fishingduringthe Utter part ofthismonth. In thefallbluefish(snappers) are quite plenty,and take squid or sheddercrabswith avidity. Meals can be obtained in a restaurant near Wardell's.

Ten minutes' walk below Wardell's place is

Henry

Stillwell's resort,at

what

is called Owl'sHead, on the shore road. Get offthe

dummy

cars at Seventy-ninth streetand walkdirect tothe beach. Stillwellhasa sloop inwhich hetakes outfishing parties,

and

heisgenerally successful in securinggoodsport for hispatrons.

At

FortHamilton,theterminusofthe

dummy

car route (roundtrp^{fare,30 cents),there are three resortswithin} astone'sthrowofeachother. The onenearest

New York

iskeptbyRobertH.

Hegeman, who

hastw^rentyoneboats for hireat $1adayboth

week

days and Sundays;boat- men,$2 a day extra or 50 cents an hour.

Hegeman

keepsshrimp fresh caught everyday.skimmers, clams and sandworms, andhe provides tackle forthose

who

do not bring their own. Paul Sieger, one of Hegeman's patrons,caughtasix

pound

blackfish on Tuesdayoflast

week

off the "Wreck,"'a famous angling spot in the vicinity,and the anglershave been very successful in taking sea bass aswell as blackfish. Weakfishwill be plentyinthevicinity afterthemiddleof thismonth.

P.and M. Gates keep the fishing resort just below Hegeman's.

They

have fourteen boats for hire at $1 everydayinthe

week

; boatmen$2 a dayor25 centsan hour. They keepbait forsale,fiddlers,skimmers, shrimp and sandworms. Fiddlers are35centsahundred, shrimp 20centsa halfpint. Gates

recommends

themussel beds ora pointtothe southeast of Fort Lafayetteasthebest ground ⁱⁿ the vicinity for weakfishing. His patrons have caughtplentyof blackfish recently.

Just below Gates's place the anglerwill findaresort keptbytheoldestfishermenintheseparts.AdrianStill- well,

who

hasbeenforty yearsinthe businessofrenting boatstofishermen and giving

them

pointsabout

how

to fish. Mr.Stillwellis three score years and ten,buthe

isasheartyasa

man

of half his age,and there isn't a

man

along these shoreswhose adviceisof

more

valueto theangler. Mr.Stillwellsayshehasfoundthat thebest all-roundbait forthesewatersisshrimp. Every kindof fishwilltakeshrimp,and take

them

eagerly,ifthebait is properly used. The old gentleman has forty-three boatstolet,andashe himself says,

"Anybody

canrent 'em any dayforadollar,excepton theFourthofJuly."

On

thedayofIndependenceMr.Stillwellcelebratesit

by

chargingdouble.

He

willprovide aboatman,ifdesired, at$2a dayor50cents an hour,and furnish baitofall kinds except shedder crabs and

sandworms

atthepre- vailing prices.

On

Sunday,

May

19,

Marcy

Finney,one ofMr.Stillwell's customers,caught three seabass and

ninetypounds of blackfish,and used onlyone hundred fiddler crabs for bait. Mr. Stillwell favors squid for weakfishing.

To

show what

the fishing in thesewaters

was some

years ago Mr.Stillwell points to therecordhe

made

on July17,1856,

when

he caught 104weakfishin seventy minutes,just about as fast as he could bait hishooks, throw

them

over

and

haulin.

At

Connolly's,Fort Hamilton,good board canbe ob- tainedatreasonablerates.

Takingthewesternshore of

New York Bay we

getour

firstfishing atthe vicinityofLibertyIsland,

where

large stripedbass are caught both in spring

and

fall.

"The

Pot,"about half a mile south of the island,isa favorite place,andthereissometimesfairsportanglingfromthe shoresofLiberty Islanditself. To reach ittake steam- boat from the Barge Office,foot of Whitehall street, everyhour,from9A.M.to 5 P.M.

Round

trip fare,25 cents. Thebest

way

to fish these waters,however,isto hirea,boatatthefoot of

Montgomery

street,JerseyCity, ortake the Central Railroadof

New

Jerseyfrom foot of Libertystreet,to

Communipaw

station(fare,round trip, 14 cents).

A

short

walk

fromthestationthere are boats which

may

be hiredat$1aday. Bait should bebrought from

New

York. Near

Communipaw

in the

Bay

there arealsoweakfish,bluefish

and

blackfish. Trains either

way

every half hour.

The

nextpointat which to stop on the western

Bay

shoreisGreenville,

same

route,roundtrip fare, 17 cents.

Walk

overtotheIdle

Hour

Hotel,on the banks ofthe canal.

W.

H. Durkin,the hotel proprietor,has twelve boatsfor

hue

at50centsaday;Sundays,$1. Boatman,

$2 adayextra. Durkinalsohasthree jib

and

mainsail centerboardskiffsfor those

who

like to sail. Just

now

fishermen are catching sea bass and blackfish in the vicinity,butthecatches are smallinnumbers. There is

goodcrabbinginfrontofthe hotel in

summer

andfall.

The

Idle

Hour

clambakes, served at 75 centsahead, are famous. Fifty guestscanbe

accommodated

atthehotel, and meals obtained at halfadollar. Bait (clams

and

sandworms) is always kept,on hand.

One

ofDurkin's customerscaught asea bassweighing 121bs. offRobbin's Reef Light

two

weeksago. Thisis onthe authority of Mr.Durkin.

Thereareno boats

now

to be hired at Pamrapo,the next station along this route.

At

Bayonne, however, Alexander

Ledoux

has twenty-fourboatstoletright op- positethestation.

He

charges $1 a day,and does not keepbait,sofishermenmustbringtheir own. It is an easy

row

fromheretoRobbin's Reef Lightfishinggrounds, whereblackfish,weakfishand anoccasional striped bass

may

becaughtnow. FishtothenorthwardoftheLight abovethe netssetbymarketfishermen.

Ledrux

willbe foundareliable

man, who

doesn't exaggeratethesizeor

numbers

of fishcaught nearhisplace.

Round

trip fare 20 cents.

Some

^oftheresortsin

New York Bay

canbereachedto advantagefromStatenIsland.

The

Staten IslandRapid Transit Railroad on bothnorth

and

east shores ofthe Islandrunsthroughalltheshoretowns.

The

roundtrip fareis20 centsto

any

point,viaboatfromfootofWhite- hall street toSt.George,thencecare.

At

Clifton there areseveralboatmen

who make

a business of takingfish-

ermen

outtothefishing grounds near the

"Monument"

in the

Lower

Bay.

John

Fenceol Cliftonhasan open sloop carrying tenortwelvepersonsat$1 each.

He

will not take out a partyof lessthanfive. Other owners of sailboatshere that carry anglers tothe

Lower Bay

are

Dan

Mullan

and Harry

Nolan. John Sanford has eight orten boatsforhireat$1 a day,and apropellercarrying twenty-five people

which

hecharterstofishing partiesto go to the

Monument

orto the FishingBanks. Fence keepsallkindsofbait,butI

am

not sure that the others do.

The

best fishinggrounds, besides thoseatthe

Monu-

ment,areonthemusselbeds in the

Swash

Channel,and at the"Wreck."

They

are catching sea bass at these places

now

averagingover a

pound

in weight.

H.Hanson,at Clifton,hasa catboatin

which

hetakes outparties atthe

same

rateaschargedbyFence.

Adam Hemmes,

16

New York

avenue,Clifton,hasan opencatboat 25x10.3, the Adele, ⁱⁿwhich hewilltake outa partyoften orunderfor$6 a day,Sundays$8, this priceincluding^bait,which hesupplies.

Adam

generally fishesthe

Sandy Hook

wrecks,and hasthe reputation of alwaysbringinginfish.

Edward Hemmes,

46

New York

avenue,Clifton,takes out fishermenin his 30ft.cabin centerboard sloopatthe

same

rateaschargedby

Adam Hemmes

above.

He

also fishesthe

Sandy Hook

wrecksandgoesouttothebanks.

Hisparties haverecently

made

good catchesofsea bass andblackfish.

Michael

Lynam,

Clifton,has four or fiveboatstolet.

When

Iasked

him what

his chargeswere hesaid that he charged awell-dresseddude$3 aday,and apoorly- dressedhonest

man

50centsa day. Those contemplating