FISHES OF NEW YORK 297 



is found along the middle line on the second half of the body. 

 In adults the sides are often golden or olive yellow, and have 

 dark reticulations. A distinct dark band under the eye. 



The chain pickerel is known under other names; it is the jack 

 of the south, the federation pike of Oneida lake, N. Y. the green 

 pike of the Great lakes and the eastern pickerel of many writers. 

 It does not occur west of the Alleghanies, but is found from 

 Maine to Florida and Alabama east of this range of mountains. 

 It lives in ponds, lakes and streams and occurs within the same 

 territory as L. a m e r i c a n u s , but farther away from the 

 coast. (After Eugene Smith.i) 



At Water Mill this pickerel occurs in or near brackish water 

 at the east end of Mecox bay, and it is in vei;y plump condition, on 

 account of the abundance of small fishes on which it feeds, for 

 example, the silversides, young sunfish, and small killiflshes of 

 several kinds. 



Dr Meek notes that the species seems to be subject to indi- 

 vidual variation. In many respects the specimens from Cayuga 

 lake appear to be intermediate between r e.t i c u 1 a t u s and 

 V e r m i c u 1 a t u s . It is not very common. 



The pickerel is common in ponds and streams of the Hudson 

 Highlands, according to Dr Mearns, and is taken in winter as 

 well as in summer. A specimen weighing 3^ pounds was caught 

 in Poplopen's pond in 1882. It is abundant also in Cauterskill 

 lake, of the Catskill mountains. The U. S. Fish Commission 

 obtained it in Black river, Hunting-tonville N. Y. July 5. 

 Examples were sent from Canandaigua lake, and young were 

 obtained in Bronx river. 



This pickerel is the largest of its group, reaching a length of 

 2 feet and a weight, occasionally, of 8 pounds, though this is 

 much above the average. 



Like the pike, this is one of the tyrants among fishes, a fierce 

 and hungry marauder; and j'et it has been introduced by fisher- 

 men into many waters in which it is not native and has greatly 

 multiplied. In the Potomac, the Connecticut, the Delaware and 



'Linn. Soc. N. Y. Proc. 1897. no. 9, p. 29. 



