FAMILY ESOCID.E — ESOX. 223 



from two to three-tenths of an inch in diameter ; they become occasionally confluent. Each 

 scale has a bright quadrate spot, which reflects brilliant metallic tints of various colors. 



Length, 12-0- 48' 0. 



Fin rays, D. 21 ; P. 12 ; V. 11 ; A. 21 ; C. 19 f. 



According to Mitchill, who describes a specimen 47 - long and weighing 30 pounds, the 

 fin rays arc as follows : 



D. 21 ; P. 14; V. 11; A. 17; C. 26. 



The Muskellunge, or Maskinongc, for its orthography is not settled, occurs abundantly in 

 Lake Erie, and is found also in the streams in the western district. My friend Dr. Pickering 

 informs me that he saw them offered for sale at Montezuma (Cayuga county), where they 

 were kept in a reservoir. They occur as far north as Lake Huron, where, however, they 

 are rare. They are often caught by the seine. Dr. Kirtland speaks of them as being one of 

 the best fish for eating, produced by the western waters. A specimen, he states, was taken 

 in the canal near Massillon, which had found its way from Lake Erie. According to Lesueur, 

 the name of this fish in the Wyandot dialect is Tltuhahresah han. 



The description of E. estor by the last named author, with the exception of a part of the 

 specific phrase, applies, according to Richardson, exactly to E. lucius, and not at all to the 

 true Muskellunge. 



THE COMMON PICKEREL. 



ESOX RETICULATUS. 



PLATE XXXIV. FIG. 10T. 



The common Pike of North America. Schcepff, Naturforschen, Vol. 2, p. 26. 

 The Pickerel, E. lucius, var. Mitchill, Lit. and Phil. Soc. N. Y. Vol. 1, p. 440. 

 Esox reticulatus. Lesueur, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sc. Vol.1, p. 414. E. nigcr. Id. var. 

 The common Pickerel, E. reticulatus. StoreR, Massachusetts Report, p. 97. 

 Esox reticulatus. Pike. Kirtland, Zoology of Ohio, No. 41, p. 194. 



Characteristics. Yellowish, with reticulated dark marks on the sides. Abdomen white, tinged 

 with pink. Caudal deeply emarginate. Length one to three feet. 



Description. Body subcylindrical, elongate. Scales small, emarginated. Snout blunt ; 

 the upper jaw smooth, broad, depressed, shorter than the lower jaw. Branchial rays seven- 

 teen. A few very small teeth on the intermaxillaries, in front of the upper jaw ; sides tooth- 

 less. On the lower jaw, in front, short small recurved teeth ; but on the sides they are longer, 

 distant, and slightly compressed. Palatines bristling with teeth, directed backward and 

 inward ; those on the interior edges of the palatines, much longer. Base of the tongue, 

 branchial arches and pharyngeals with card-like teeth directed inward. Mouth large ; nostrils 

 in a groove. A few orifices of mucous ducts scattered over the summit of the head. The 

 dorsal fin subquadrate, slightly rounded above the last ray, much the shortest. Pectorals 



