(D) HUMANS, ANIMALS, PLANTS

(f) Fish in the Alps

The great lakes of the Alps are very rich in fish, not only as regards the number of individuals, but in species also. Thus in the Chiemsee, at the northern foot of the Bavarian Alps, thirty-three species have been found, in the lake of Constance twenty-six species, and twenty-four in the lake of Lucerne. The most esteemed are those of the trout and salmon tribes, whose specific differences have not yet been fully investigated by ichthyologists. First in rack is the siblings (Salmo salvellinus), which flourished in lakes between 2000 and 4000 feet above the sea, and occasionally extends to those of the Alpine region between 6000 and 7000 feet. The fish of the northern side of the Laps are fully described in Siebold’s Süsswasser-Fische Mittleleuropas, Those of the waters running to the Mediterranean have not been so fully investigated. Two or three peculiar species have been found in the lake of Geneva. In some of the Lombard lakes, the agone, a small fish of the herring tribe (Clupea finta), is a much esteemed articles of diet.





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