81. No spines in the dorsal fin; pelvic fins absent or abdominal (first ray or 



spine nearer to the first soft ray of the anal fin than to the union of or 

 line between the lower corners of the gill membranes) 82. 



Dorsal fin with or preceded by one or more spines, which sometimes ap' 

 pear as a soft'spined finlet preceding the dorsal fin or as an anterior 

 dorsal fin; pelvic fins jugular, thoracic, abdominal or absent 272. 



82. Lateral line running along each side of the belly; mouth in the form of a 



narrow beak full of sharp teeth, resembling a gar's; Atlantic and Gulf 

 coasts, ascending streams; Family Belonidae (many marine species) 

 Strongylura marina (Walbaum) Garfish, Billfish 

 Lateral line, if present, running along each side of the body; mouth not 

 so 83. 



83. Head with scales (sometimes minute, best seen by scraping the head 



gently towards the front) ; either with the jaws flattened and shaped 

 somewhat like a duck's beak, or else small fishes, with the tail scarcely 

 or not emarginate 84. 



Head without scales; jaws not as above in most species; tail usually dis' 

 tinctly emarginate or forked (except in one introduced species. Tinea 

 tinea Linn.) 114. 



84. Jaws shaped like a duck's beak; lateral line present, although sometimes 



faint; tail forked; Family Esoeidae Pikes 85. 



Jaws not so; no lateral line or with merely a few scattered pores (a dark 



lateral stripe may or may not be present) ; tail scarcely or not emargin- 



ate; seldom over six inches long 89. 



85. No scales on lower half of cheek; branchiostegals (rays in each gill mem- 



brane below the operculum) seventeen to nineteen; (sides dark barred 

 or spotted in subspecies ohiensis, plain colored in subspecies immaeula^ 

 tus or Great Northern Pike) ; Ohio Valley, Wisconsin and Minnc 

 sota; Chautauqua Lake, N. Y. 



Esox masquinongy Mitchill Muskallunge, Great Pike 

 Cheeks wholly scaled; with eleven to sixteen branchiostegals 86. 



86. No scales on the lower half of the operculum; with rows of light spots 



along the sides; northern states (An unspotted variety called the "Sil' 

 ver Pike" is found in Minnesota) 



Esox estor LeSueur Common Pike, Pickereb 

 Esox lucius Linn. 

 Operculum all scaled; sides with dark markings 87. 



87. With fourteen rays in the dorsal fin, thirteen in the anal; scale count 



over 115; with a network of dark lines on the sides; Atlantic and Gulf 

 states 



Esox niger LeSueur Chain Pickerel, Common Eastern Pickerel 

 (Lucius retieulatus (LeSueur) ) 

 Dorsal and anal fins each with eleven or twelve rays; scale count less than 

 115 88. 



88. Usually with irregular dark markings; tributaries of the eastern Great 



Lakes and the Mississippi Valley 



Esox vermieulatus LeSueur Grass Pickerel, Little Pickerel 



268 



