USA > Vermont > History of Vermont, natural, civil, and statistical, in three parts, with a new map of the state, and 200 engravings > Part 23
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MANY-SPOTTED SALAMANDER. Salamandra dorsalis .- HARLAN.
DESCRIPTION .-- General color olive above, with a slight tinge of green, and varying from sulphur yellow to reddish orange beneath ; a row of ocellated ver- million colored spots, with a blackish balo on each side of the dorsal line, which va-
121
NATURAL HISTORY OF VERMONT.
PART I.
THE SALAMANDERS.
THE SALAMANDERS.
ry in number and size in different indi- viduals ; the whole surface of the body, Jimbs and tail thickly sprinkled with mi- nute black dots. The head is short, raths- er broad behind, and pointed at the snout, with the nostrils near the extremity ; eyes rather prominent, pupils black, iris light yellow ; tail roundish at the base, then compressed Jaterally through its whole length, and very thin at the ox- tremity ; fore legs and feet small and del- icate, with 4 small toes ; hind legs near. ly twice as large, with 5 toes. Length of the largest of two specimens before me, 3.7 inches ; head and neck .6; body 1.1 ; tail 2.
IlISTORY .-- This is one of the most common species of Salamander in Ver- miont, and is eminently aquatic, spend- ing nearly all the time in the water. When kept in a vessel of water it rises to the surface every few minutes for the purpose of taking in air. It is an animal of considerable activity, and its move- ments are often very sudden. It is per- fectly harmless, and usually manifests much anxiety to conceal itself from view. This salamander seems to be much an- noyed by a species of parasitic animals. One of the specimens before me has at least 20 upon it at this moment. They are soft animals, resembling a snail in ap- pearance, but more pointed at the two extremities. They move in the manner of caterpillars, by reaching forward and then bringing up its posterior. They fas- ten themselves upon the salamander by their mouths, in the manner of the lam- preys or bloodsuckers, and adhere with such force as not to be easily separated. The animal upon which they are fastened seems to be in much agony, and frequent- Jy struggles, but in vain, to rid himself of them. When fully extended they meas- ure one third of an inch. On being taken from the water, they die as soon as the water which adheres to them is evapora- ted.
.
SALMON-COLORED SALAMANDER.
Salamandra salmonca .- STORER.
DESCRIPTION .- Color yellowish brown above, salmon color at the sides, with a bright salmon-colored line from the nos- tril to the upper part of the orbit ; upper jaw pale salmon color, with a few brown spots ; lower jaw, and body beneath whi- fish ; light salmon color beneath the tail.
Head large and flat ; snout obtuse ; nos- trils small ; a strongly marked enticular fold upon the neck ; eyes remote and very prominent ; pupil black ; iris cop- per-colored ; body elongated and cylin- drical ; posterior extremities twice the size of the anterior. Tail longer than the body, rounded at the root, compressed la- terally and pointed at the tip. Length 63 ; tail beyond the vent 23 .- Storer.
HISTORY .- This species was first de- scribed and named by Dr. Storer, of Bos- ton, from a specimen found by Dr. Bin- ney, in Vermont, and his description, with a figure, was published in Dr. Ilolbrook's Amer. Ilerpetology, Vol. 111-101. A description is also given in Dr. Storer's Report, p. 2418. I have a specimen of this salamander, taken in Bridgewater, but as it is not fully grown I give Dr. Storer's description. It is found upon moist lands.
THIE TIGER SALAMANDER. Salamandra tigrina .- GREEN.
DESCRIPTION .-- Color blackish above, marked irregularly and thickly with roun- dish, oblong and angular yellow spots of different sizes ; belly brownish gray ; legs the same color as the body, with a few yellow spots on the outside. llead rath- er large ; snout rounded ; eyes black and prominent ; four toes on the fore feet, 3d the longest ; 5 on the hind feet, 3d and 4th longest ; hind legs about twice the size of the fore legs ; a distinct cuticular fold under the throat; tail longer than the body, roundish at the base, but soon becoming flattened, and edged towards the extremity and terminated in a flatten- ed point. Hind legs midway between the snout and the extremity of the tail .- Length of the specimens before me 3 in., but it grows larger.
IHISTORY .-- This Salamander is fre- quently met with in Vermont, living in swamps and marshes. I obtained 3 good specimens of this species from the stom- ach of a Ribband Snake, C. saurita, be- sides some others which were partly di- gested. The snake from which they were taken measured about 2 feet, and the sal- amanders 3 inches. On the 4th of Au- gust, 1-42, I caught with a scoop-net more than a dozen salamanders, out of a small muddy pool in Burlington, which I suppose to belong to this species. They were about 3 inches in length, ofa brown- ish yellow color, and most of them were in the Jarva state, having the fin along
125
REPTILES OF VERMONT.
CHAP. 4.
THE SALAMANDERS.
THE SALAMANDERS.
the back, and the branchice remaining, but | longest of two specimens before me 3.4 from several of them these appendages inches ; from the snout to the fore legs .5 -to the hind legs 1.55; from the hind legs to the point of the tail 1.85; width of the head .22. had disappeared. I have kept two of the former and one of the latter, in a vessel of water, up to this time, August 17, 1842. The branchite and fins have vanished, their color has become quite dark, and the yellow spots are making their appearance very distinctly.
VIOLET-COLORED SALAMANDER. Salamandra venenosa .- BARTON.
DESCRIPTION -Color above dark gray- ish brown, with a row of large roundish bright yellow spots on each side of the dorsal line, which unite into a single row towards the extremity of the tail ; sever- al of these spots on the head and upper sides of the legs ; color lighter beneath, with some minute white spots ; tail roun- dish at the base, hut slightly flattened through the greater part of the length, and terminated in a flattened rounded point ; snout bluntly rounded ; eyes not very prominent; hind legs midway be- tween the snout and end of the tail. Length of the specimen before me Gt in- ches ; width across the head .6, across the body .5.
IlISTORY .- This large species is not very common in Vermont. The speci- men from which my description is made was found in a marshy place in Burling- ton.
-
RED-BACKED SALAMANDER. Salamandra erythronola .- GREEN.
S. erythronota. GREEN. S. cinerea.
DESCRIPTION .- Sides brownish, and of- ten with minnte light specks, fading into steel-gray on the belly, usually a broad brownish red stripe along the back ; belly dark steel gray, lighter and yellowish to- wards the chin ; head above darker than the body ; form slender, cylindrical; tail nearly cylindrical, and longer than the head and body ; vent midway between the snout and the extremity of the tail ; head broader than the body, short in front of the eyes ; snout bluntly rounded ; eyes prominent, lively, popil black, iris gol- den. A distinct cuticular fold on the throat ; legs slender, brownish ; toes short, 4 before and 5 behind. Length of the
IlistoRY .- This salamander is quite common in Vermont, and is probably the least aquatic of all our salamanders. It is often met with under the rotten logs on dry pine plains ; and also in ledgy places in the hard wood forests, under the loose stones and among the decayed leaves. Its appearance is lively, and its motions often very sudden. Aided by a sudden vibra- tion of the tail, it has the power of leap- ing several times its length. I have be- fore me two specimens, both found in Burlington, one with a brownish red stripe along its back, and answering to Dr. Green's S. erythronota, and the oth- er, which is a little larger, answering to his S, cincrea. The stripe on the back seems to be the only difference, and I be- lieve they are now regarded by herpetol- ogists as belonging to the same species.
THE GLUTINOUS SALAMANDER. Salamandra glutinosa .- GREEN.
DESCRIPTION .- Whole upper part of the body dark brown, sprinkled with distinct light blue spots ; sides light colored from the blue spots becoming confluent ; abdo- men lighter, exhibiting the spots more numerons and distinct than the back ; eyes prominent, wide apart, of a deep black color; head flattened above ; nos- trils small ; legs color of the body and spotted like it; anterior feet 4 tord, pos- terior 5 toed and unusually long ; tail, length of the body, much compressed throughout its whole extent, save the ex- tremities, the anterior of which is cireu- lar, the posterior pointed. Length 6 in- ches ; head .75; width of the head .5 .-- Storer.
IlISTORY .- This species I have not seen in Vermont. I insert it on the authority of Prof. Adams, who informis me that. there is a Vermont specimen of it in the Collections of Middlebury College.
THE TWO-LINED SALAMANDER. Salamandra bis-lincata .- GREEN.
DESCRIPTION .- Tail longer than the bo- dy, tapering, compressed, and pointed ; shout oval ; back cinereous, with two and sometimes three dark lines, if thee, the middle one broadest near the head, and about the length of the body, the lateral ones extending from behind the eyes to the end of the tail ; sides cincreous ; be-
126
NATURAL HISTORY OF VERMONT.
PART I.
THE PROTEUS.
THE PROTEUS,
neath whitish or yellowish ; anterior toes 4., posterior 5. Length 3 inches .-- Green.
HISTORY. This salamander I have not seen in Vermont, but Prof. Adams in- forms me that he has a Vermont specimen which belongs to this species. According to Dr. Green it inhabits shallow waters, appears carly in spring, and is very active.
GENUS MENOBRANCHUS .- Harlan.
Generic Characters .- Head large, flattened, truncate, two rows of teeth in the upper jaw, a single row in the lower ; teeth small, conical, pointed ; gills and tail persistent during life.
THE PROTEUS. Menobranchus muculatus .- BARNES.
DESCRIPTION .- General color dark cin- ercous gray, produced by minute yellow- ish specks on a dark bluish ground, and ir- regularly interspersed with circular spots about the size of a pea, of a darker hue ; the throat and central parts of the abdo- men nearly white ; a brownish stripe commencing at the nose and extending backwards over the eye ; the margin of the tail often of an orange tinge, with blackish blotches near the extremity. The head is large, flattened, and the snout truncated ; eyes small and far apart; mouth large ; throat contracted with a transverse fold in the cuticle beneath ; tongue large and fleshy ; teeth small and sharp, two rows in the upper jaw and one in the lower. The gills are external, large, and each consists of three delicate- ly tufted or fringed lobes, which, when vibrating in the water, are of a fine blood- red color ; body cylindrical, covered with a smooth mucous skin ; tail long, flat- tened and broad vertically, and rounded at the end like that of an eel ; legs four, each foot furnished with four toes resem- bling fingers, but without nails, although the cuticle at the extremities is dark col- ored, having much the appearance of nails. The total length of the specimen before me, and from which the above figure and description are made, is 12} inches, and this is about the usual length.
ILISTORY .- This singular reptile was first described by Schneider, about the year 1799, from a speennen obtained from
lake Champlain .* This specimen was probably obtained at Winooski falls, which were, for some tune, the only known locality of this animal, and where more or less of them are now taken every spring, upon the hooks suspended on night lines for taking fishes. The fisher- men formerly considered them poisonous, and when they found them upon their lines they were glad to rid themselves of them by cutting the lines and letting them go with the hook in their mouths; but they are now found to be perfectly harinless and inoffensive. This animal is seldom seen excepting in the monthis of April and May, and this is the season for depositing its eggs. In a specimen taken on the 13th of April, 1840, I found about 150 eggs of the size of a small pea and, apparently just ready to be extruded. The food of this reptile consists of various kinds of worms and insects. The stom- ach of the one above mentioned contained two hemipterons insects, each three fourths of an inch long, the wings and bodies of which were entire, besides nu- merous fragments of other insects. Of the habits of this animal very little is known. It seems to spend the greater portion of the time about falls, concealed in the inaccessible recesses and crevices of the rocks below the surface of the wa- ter, and not to venture much abroad ex- cepting at the season for depositing its eggs. Although it passes nearly the whole time in water, it is truly an amphi- bious animal, having lungs for breathing in the atmosphere, as well as branchie for breathing in water. It does not, how- ever, breathe in water by receiving the water into its mouth and passing it out through the gills, in the manner of fishes, but simply by the vibrations of its bran- chiæ in the water. When kept in a ves- sel containing a large quantity of water, or in which the water is frequently re- newed, it manifests but little disposition to rise to the surface for atmospheric air. But when the quantity of water is small,
* The following is Schneider's description, and our reptile answers to it in almost every particular. Corpus ultra 8 pollices longum et fere pollicem, crassum, molle, spongiosum, multis poris pervium, in utroque latere tribus maenluruc rotundarom, ni- grammi seriehus variegalums ; cauda compressa et anceps, utrinque maculata, inferiore neie recta, su- periore curvata, in finem teretiusenluni terminatur. Capini latum et planum : oculi parvi, nares anteri ores in margine labii superioris, maxilla superioris geminæ ut inferioris dentes conici, obtusi, salis lon- gi ; lingua lata, integra, anterius soluta : apertura oris patit usque ad oculorum lincam verticalem ; la- bia piscium labiis similia ; pedes dissiti quatuor, to- tradactyli omnes, absque unguienlis ; ani rima in longitudinem patet ; branchia utrinque terna extus propendent, apposite superne totidem arcubus enr- filagincis, quorum latos internum Tuberculo cartila- ginea, velut in piscium gonere, exasperant. &e.
127
FISHES OF VERMONT.
CuAr. 5.
PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.
and not often changed, it soon finds the answer to our Menobranchus, but as Prof. wir in the water insufficient for its pur- G. W. Benedict has furnished Dr. H. with an accurate colored figure, drawn from a living specimen by the Rt. Rev. J. II. Hopkins, we hope to see it correctly rep- resented in a future volume of his splen- did and valuable work. We are strongly inclined to believe the animal which he describes to be a different species from ours. Notwithstanding what he and oth- ers have said in proof of the identity of the Triton lateralis of Say, the Menobran- chus lateralis of Harlan, Ilolbrook, and others, with the reptile described by Schneider, I am strongly inclined to the opinion that they are different species. I have therefore given the name suggested by Prof. Benedict, and adopted by Barnes, the preference, and have described our animal under the name of Menobranchus maculatus, that being descriptive of our pove, in which case it comes to the sur- face, takes in a mouthful of air, and sinks again with it to the bottom. After re- taining the air for a time, probably long enough for the consumption of its oxygen in the lungs, it suffers it to escape through the month and gill openings, and it is wen to rise in small bubbles to the sur- face. This animal is said to be found in several places at the west, particularly in streamna falling into lake Ontario, where et is said sometimes to attain the length of two feet. The length of those taken at Winowski Falls varies from 8 to 13 in- ches I have never seen one which ex cecded 15 inches. The best figure of our animal which I have been published is in the Annals of N. Y. Lyceum, vol. 1, plate IG. The description and figure in Dr. Holbrook's American Herpetology do not I reptile, and the other not so.
CHAPTER V.
FISHES OF VERMONT.
Preliminary Observations.
FisuEs constitute the Fourth Class of the animal kingdom. They are vertebra- ted animals, with cold red blood. They respire by means of branchia, or gills, and they inove in water by means of fins. Their entire structure is as evidently fit- ted for swimming as that of birds is for tight. The tail is the principal organ of motion, and progression is effected by Anking it alternately from right and left against the water. The mean specific gravity of fishes is the same as the fluid in which they live, so that no effort is re- quired to keep them suspended, and a large part of them are furnished with an air bladder, by the compression or dilata- tion of which they can vary their specific gravity, and thus rise or descend without the aid of their fins.
The head of fishes is usually larger in proportion to the size of the body than that of other animals ; and although it is subject to great variety of formn, it in al- most all cases consists of the same num- ber of bones as is found in other ovipar- ons animals. These bones are separate in young fishes, but in older ones become united and consolidated so as to make it
difficult to distinguish them. The nos- trils are simple cavities placed at the front of the snout, and usually double. The cornea of the eye is very flat, and has but little aqueous humor, but the crystalline is hard and globular. The cur of fishes is very obscure, and, having neither eustach- ian tubes nor tympanal bones, their sense of hearing must be very imperfect. The head is attached to the body in such manner that its motionfis exceedingly lim- ited. The tongue varies in different fam- ilies : in some it is fleshy, but in many ca- ses it is osseons and frequently covered with teeth, so that their sense of taste must be very obtuse. The body of fishes is in most cases covered with scales, which cannot allow much sensibility to the touch. This imperfection is, probably, supplied in some cases by the fleshy cirri, with which several species are furnished. The teeth of fishes vary almost infinitely in number, form and situation. Besides the jaws, they are often found upon the tongue and palate, and not unfrequently in the throat and at the base of the gills, while some families are entirely destitute of them. The stomach is generally sim- ple and the intestines short.
The sexes of fishes are distinguished by
128
NATURAL HISTORY OF VERMONT.
PART I.
ORDERS OF FISHES.
ORDERS OF FISHES.
the male having a milt and the female a roe. The roe is composed of a multitude ofeggs, which the female deposits in some suitable place. After their extrusion, they are impregnated by the male, and left to hatch, without the further aid or care of the parents.
Fishes are long-lived animals, and their fecundity is very remarkable. We have authenticated accounts of a pike having lived 260 years, and a carp 200; and Leuwenhoek computed the numberof eggs in the roe of a cod fish to be 3,686,760, and in that of a flounder to be 1,357,400.
In a country like Vermont, situated so remote from the ocean, and watered only by small fresh water streams and lakes, a very great variety or abundance of fish is hardly to be expected ; and yet it is a no- torious fact, that when the country was new all our waters swarmed with fishes of various kinds. Salmon and Shad were taken in the greatest plenty and perfec- tion in Connecticut river; and the for- mer together with the salmon trout, were abundant in lake Champlain, and in most of the streams connected with it. In the spring of the year, when these fishes were ascending our streams to their breeding places, they could be taken at the falls and rapids in scoop-nets, or in baskets fastened to poles, in almost any quantities desired. Brook trout, weigh- ing from one to three pounds, were plen- tiful in nearly all our streams and ponds. But with the clearing and settling of the country these kinds of fishes have dimin- ished till the three former have become extremely rare, and the latter, though still numerous in many parts, are seldom taken exceeding half a pound in weight. For the production of this state of things several other causes have operated be- sides their diminution by fishing. The salmon and shad have probably been driven from our waters, chiefly by the erection of dams across nearly all our streams, which prevent their ascent to their favorite spawning places. Freshets, also, which have become more sudden and violent since the country has become cleared, have swept ont the logs and other obstructions, which formed their places of resort and concealinent, and have thus tended not only to diminish the number of our fishes, but to prevent their attaining so great magnitude as formerly. Those fishes of our lakes which do not ascend far up our streams to deposit their spawn, have not been so much affected by these causes. These, however, though still ta- ken in considerable quantities, are not so abundant as formerly.
Cuvier divides fishes into two sub-clas- ses. I. Osseous Fishes, or such as have hard, solid bones. II. Cartilaginous Fish- es, or such as have cartilage in the place of bones. Most of our fishes belong to the first of these divisions. The follow- ing is a Catalogue of Vermont Fishes, ar- ranged in the order in which they are de- scribed in the subsequent pages.
I. OSSEOUS, OR BONY FISHES. ORDEN I .- ACANTHOPTERYGII.
Family I .- Percide.
Perca serrato-granulata, Common Perch. Lucio-Perca americana, Pike Perch. Pomotis vulgaris. Common Sun Fish.
megalotis, Big Eared Sun Fish.
Centrarchus uncus, Rock Bass. fasciatus, Black Bass.
Ethcostoma caprodes, liog Fish. Family II .- Scienide.
Corvina oscula,
Sheep's Head.
ORD. II .-- MALACOPTERYGII ABDOMINALES Family I .- Cyprinida.
Cutastomus cyprinus, Carp Sucker.
oblongus, Lake Mullet.
.6 teres, Sucker.
nigricans, Black Sucker.
.6 longirostrum, Long Nosed Sucker.
Leuciscus pulchellus, Common Dace.
= crysoleucas, Shiner.
atronasus, Brook Minnow.
Hydrargyra fusca, Mnd Fish. Family II .- Esocide.
Esox estor, Common Pike.
" reticulatus, Piekerel. Family III .- Silaride.
Pimelodus vulgaris, Horned Pout.
nebulosus, Bull Pout.
66 cunosus, Cat Fish. Family IV .- Salmonide.
Salmo salar, Salmon.
namaycush, Namaycush, or Longe.
= fontinalis, Brook Trout. Osmcrus tperlanus, Smelt.
Coregonus albus, White Fish. Family V -Clupida.
llosa vulgaris, Shad.
Hiodon clodalus.
Winter Shad.
Lepisosteus oxyurus, Bill Fish. lincatus, Striped Bill Fish.
ORD. II .- MALACOPTERYGHI SUBBRACHIATI Family, Gadida.
Lota maculosa, .
Ling.
" compressa,
Eel-pont.
ORDER IV .- MALACOPTERYGH APODES.
129
FISHES OF VERMONT.
CHAP. 5.
ORDERS OF FISHES.
THE. PERCH.
Family, Murcuide.
Marena vulgaris, Common Eel.
bostonicusis, Black Eel.
" urgentea, Silver Eel.
11. CARTILAGINOUS FISHES. L'amily I .- Sturionidee.
-I ipenser rubicundus, Round Nosed Sturgeon. oxyrhynchus, Sharp Nosed Sturgeon,
Family H .- Cyclostomidie.
Potromys .n nigricans. Blue Lamprey.
Ammoartes concolor, Mud Lamprey.
1. OSSEOUS, OR BONY FISHES. ORDER I .- ACANTHOPTERYGII. Spinous rayed Fishes.
Fishes of this order are recognized by the spines which occupy the place of the first rays of the dorsal fin, or the rays of the first dorsal when there are two. Some- times, instead of a first dorsal, there are only a few free spines.
I. PERCIDEE, OR PERCH FAMILY. GENUS PERCA .- Curier.
Generic Characters .- Two separate dorsal fins ; rays of the first spinous ; tongue smooth ; teeth in both jaws, in front of the vomer, and on the palatine bones ; preopereulum notched below atl serrated on the posterior edge ; opereuhnin boy, ending in a flattened point directed tack- wards ; branchial rays seven ; scales rough, hard, awi not easily detached.
THE COMMON PERCH.
Perca serrato-granulate .- Cuv. Cuv. et Val. Ilist. Nat. des Poiss., H1-47.
DESCRIPTION .- Body deep and thick, but becoming slender and nearly cylindri- cul towards the tail ; head rather small, aud tapering towards the snout; both jaws nud palate covered with small teeth ; color greenish, or yellowish brown above; sides yellow, crossed by 7 transverse brownish bands ; belly white ; lateral line parallel to the curve of the back ; tail concave. Preopereului narrow, and its edge armed with small spinous teeth, those on the lower margin larger, with their points directed forwards ; the oper- colum radiated with granulated rays, ter- minating posteriorly ia a spine, with sev- eral spinous denticulahous beneath, and
Pr. 1. 17
grooves extending forward from them. The edges of the inter-operculom and sub-opereulum are finely serrated, and the latter is prolonged into a membranous point lying under the spine of the oper- culum. Humeral bones grooved and us- ually serrated. Jaws equal; eyes rather large; iris yellowish ; dorsal and caudal fins brownish ; pectorals orange on the lower part ; thi others more or less ruddy. The first dorsal more than twice as long as high, with a black spot or clouded with black towards the posterior part, the sec- ond two thirds as long as the first. Depth of the body to the total length of the fish as 1 to 4. Length of the specimen be- fore me 12 inches, depth 3, thickness 2.
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