NO; VI.] NOTICES OF THE FISHES. 711
worms. It has been known, though rarely, to take a hook baited with a small piece
of meat. The structure of its stomach displays in an eminent degree that peculiar
thickness of coats which has been observed in many fish of this genus.
We caught some fine attihhawmegh at the mouth of the Copper-Mine River, and
in Bathurst’s Inlet, and it abounds in efery river and lake in the country. It forms
a most delicious food, and at many posts it is the sole article of diet for years
together, without producing satiety. It spawns in the month of October.
Coregonus Artedi ?'
Gen. Salmo. L in . Coregonus.. Artedi. Les Ombres, C m . R ig . A n.
Coregonus Artedi, or Herring Salmon, Le Sueur, Jour, o f Acad, o f Sciences, Philadelph. Vol. i. p. 231.
This fish bears so strong a resemblance to a lean individual of the preceding
species, that it requires the eye of an experienced fisherman to detect the difference
on a cursory view. It is, however, smaller in all its parts, and differs remarkably in
the comparative thinness of the coats of its stomach, which are scarcely thicker than
those of an ordinary trout.
The Cree name of this fish, ottonneebees, has been corrupted by the traders into
tullibee. It is inferior to the attihhawmegh as an article of food ; but in its habits
and food it appears to correspond with that fish, notwithstanding the difference in
the structure of their stomachs. It is found in most of the lakes, and we caught
a few in the sea at the mouth of the Copper-Mine River, but it is much more rare
than the attihhawmegh.
Coregonous Signifer. Back’s Grayling.
Gen. Salmo. L. Coregonus. Artedi.
Poisson bleu, or Blue fish, o f the Fur traders.
C. pinnfi dorsali maxima: radiis posterioribus elongatis, maxilla inferiore longiore, Corpore maculato.—
Tab. 26.
The body has a compressed, elliptical form, tapering gradually towards the tail;
the head is small, and the snout, seen sideways, appears acute, but otherwise obtuse.
The lateral line is very nearly straight, and nearer to the back than to the belly.
Colour.—Its sides are tinged with lavender-purple, mixed with bluish-grey, without
streaks; the belly is blackish-grey, with several irregular white blotches, and
there are five or six longitudinal rows of uniform quadrangular spots of Prussian-blue
on the anterior part of the body.- There is- a large blue mark underneath the lower
jaw on each side. The dorsal fin, which forms a prominent feature in the fish, is of a
blackish-grey colour, with some lighter blotches. Superiorly it has a narrow margin
of light lake-red, and posteriorly it is beautifully ornamented with spots of Berlin-blue.
The ventrals are streaked with, alternate reddish and whitish lines in the direction
of their rays. The scales are moderately large, and have no great lustre; their exte