FISHES OF NEW YORK 499 



less common in Lake Champlain than the pike perch, but is fre- 

 quently 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 Yt. 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 con- 

 sidered equal to the pike perch. 



245 Stizostedion canadense griseum (DeKay) 

 G-ray Pike; Smoger; Sand Pike 



Lucioperca grisea De Kay, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 19, 1S42, Great Lakes; 



streams and inland lalies of western New York; Gunther, Cat. Fish. 



Brit. Mus. I, 76, 18.59. 

 Lucioperca pepinus Estes, in Hallock's Sportmau's Gazetteer, 322. 1877, 



Dake Pepin. 

 Stizostedium canadense var. griseum Jordan & Gilbert, Bull. 16, U. S. Nat. 



Mus. 526, 1883. 

 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 southwestward. It differs from the typical cana- 

 dense 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. 



