4O2 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 



Rev. Zadock Thompson, in his History of Vermont, says it is much less common in 

 Lake Champlain than the Pike Perch, but is frequently taken in company with it. 

 It usually swims very near the bottom of the water, and hence it has received the 

 name of Ground Pike (Pike Perch). As an article of food this species is locally 

 held in the same high esteem as the common Pike Perch. 



John W. Titcomb of St. Johnsbury, Vt., informed Evermann and Kendall that 

 the Sauger, or Rock Pike, as it is locally called, is caught in seines while fishing 

 for the Pike Perch. It does not grow as large as the latter, and is not much 

 valued as a food fish. The authors mentioned received two examples of the fish 

 from A. L. Collins, of Swanton, Vt., one of them a nearly ripe female 14^ inches 

 long, weighing three-fourths of a pound, the other an unripe male 15 inches long, 

 weighing three-fourths of a pound. These specimens were believed to indicate that 

 the Sauger spawns earlier than the Pike Perch. The stomach of the male contained 

 a three-inch Minnow, too badly digested for identification, and a number of small 

 insects. 



It is very extensively used for food, but is not generally considered equal to the 

 Pike Perch. 



109. Gray Pike ; Sauger ; Sand Pike (Stisostedion canadense griseum DeKay). 



Lncioperca grisea DEKAY, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 19, 1842, Great Lakes; streams and 



inland lakes of Western New York. 

 Stizostedion canadense griseum JORDAN & EVERMANN, Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus., 1022, 



1896. 



This is the common Sand Pike or Sauger of the Great Lakes region and south- 

 westward. It differs from the typical canadense chiefly in the smoother opercles 

 and head bones, the fewer opercular spines, and the less complete scaling of the 

 head. The two need fuller comparison and may prove to be distinct species, but 

 this is unlikely. Length, 10 to 18 inches. 



