220 MALACOPTERYGII. ESOCIDiE. 



head ; a mouth deeply cleft, and armed on nearly 

 the whole of its interior with minute teeth, besides 

 a row of strong, long, pointed ones on each lower 

 jaw. The body is clothed with small, distinct 

 scales. But two or three species are known, in- 

 habiting the fresh waters of Europe and North 

 America. Of these the most celebrated is our 

 own Pike or Jack, {Esox lucius, Linn.) 



The body of the Pike is much lengthened, some- 

 what four-sided, with the single dorsal placed very 

 far behind. The head is flat, and produced into 

 a broad, rounded muzzle, bearing no small resem- 

 blance to a duck's beak, when viewed from above. 

 The gills open far back, behind the pectorals ; 

 the eyes are placed near the top of the head. The 

 general form of the head bears an analogy with 

 that of the Crocodile's, nor do the strong and sharp 

 teeth of the lower jaw diminish the resemblance. 

 The colour of the upper parts is dusky olive, 

 marked with close set rows of small silver spots, 

 produced by the disks of the scales. The sides 

 are mottled with yellow and grey, and the belly 

 is white. The fins are dusky, the dorsal, anal, 

 and caudal, clouded and spotted with dark brown 

 and red. The lateral line is scarcely distinguish- 

 able ; but is nearly straight. The eyes are pale 

 golden. 



The scales are rather small for the size of the 

 fish ; they are more or less rounded in outline, 

 without any points behind, or any structure there 

 differing from the other parts, the concentric 

 lines, which are very fine and close, being conti- 

 nuous all round. The front edge has some radiat- 

 ing undulations, the usual number of which is 

 three, though sometimes two, and sometimes four, 



