184 FISHES. MALACOPTERYGIOUS. Belone 



Gen. XXVI. ESOX. Pike.— Snout oblong, rounded, de- 

 pressed. The intermaxillaries, vomer, and palate-bones, 

 armed with teeth. 



55. E. Liicius. Common Pike. — Body olive above, with 



yellow spots ; beneath white, with black spots. 



Lucius, Men: Pin. 100. Sibb. Scot. 25. Will. Ich. 236 — E. Lucius, 

 Linn. Syst. i. 510. Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 320 — E, Pickerel, Sul. ; S, 

 Ged. ; W, Penhwyad ; G, Geat-iasg. — In lakes and pools. Common. 



This fish grows to a great size. Pennant states, that the largest he ever 

 heard of in England weighed 35 pounds. Dr Griersort mentions one taken in 

 Loch Ken in Galloway, which weighed 61 pounds (Thomson's Annals of Phi- 

 losophy, vol. iii. p. 428). Body nearly of equal thickness, suddenly decreas- 

 ing behind the dorsal and anal" fins. D. 21, P. 15, v. 2. A. 18. Exceedingly 

 voracious. I have found their own fry, an inch and a half long, in their sto- 

 mach, in the month of July. They spawn in February or March. Accord- 

 ing to the observations of' the Reverend Revett Sheppard, a migration of 

 pikes " takes place yearly in spring,, in the Cam, up which river they come 

 in great shoals, doubtless from the fens in the neighbourhood of Ely, where 

 they are bred." — Linn. Trans, xiv. 587- There is abundant evidence that the 

 pike is indigenous, though considered by some as having been introduced into 

 England in the reign of Henry VIII. in 1537- 



Gen. XXVII. BELONE. Gar.— Snout produced. Teeth 

 confined to the intermaxillaries. Scales on each side of the 

 belly carinated. 



56. B. vulgaris. Common Gar. — Body green above, white 

 below. 



Acus vulgaris, Will. Ich. 231 — Esox Belone, Linn. Syst. i. 517 — Gar 

 Pike, Perm. Brit. Zool. iii. 324. Don. Brit. Fishes, tab. 64 — On va- 

 rious parts of the coast. 

 Length from 12 to 18 inches. Body nearly cylindrical. The belly flat. Jaws 

 slender, armed with fine teeth; the lower jaw longest. D. 17, P- 13, v. 7> 

 A. 19, C. 23 Leave the deep water in spring, to spawn near the shore. 

 Bones become green by boiling. The fish to which Mr Couch refers as pro- 

 bably the Esox Braziliensis of Linne, seems to be the young of this species.— 

 Linn. Trans, vol. xiv. p. 85. 



Gen. XXVIII. SCOMBERESOX. Saury.— Teeth con- 

 fined to the intermaxillaries. Belly bicarinated. 



57. S. Saurus. Saury. — Jaws subulate, waved, subrecurved ; 



the lower jaw longest. 



Skipper, Will. Ich. 232. Say, Syn. Ich. 165. Borl. Corn. 271— Saury, 



Penn. Brit. Zool. iii. 325. Racked, Linn. Trans, vii. p. 60. Don. 



Brit. Fishes, tab. cxvi.— S, Gowdnook, Egyptian Herring.— On the 



coast, not rare. 



Length from 12 to 18 inches. Body slender; back changeable green; 



belly silvery. Scales small. Tail greatly forked. Finlets six above and six 



