40 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



attention. The planting of li\e specimens is less diffi- 

 cult, if cai'i-ied out at a cool time of year when the 

 temperature is from 41° to .50° Fahr., and provided 

 that a too great change in the warmth of the water is 

 avoided. Sjiecimens two or tliree years old should be 

 selected and then conveyed to such lakes as seem suited 

 for planting". It is also advisable to plant Smelt in the 

 same water for some yeai-s pi-eviously, unless they al- 

 ready exist there. The Pike-perch grows quickly an^ 

 attains a considerable size. In Lakes Malar and ^Yener 

 it reaches, though seldom, a weight of from 20 to 22 

 pounds and a length of from 3 to 4 feet. Trybom 

 estimates the lengtli of a Pike-perch one year old to 

 be from 90 to 130 mm., tAvo years old 220 to 260 

 ram., and three years old 350 to 390 mm. 



The Pike-perch is taken in many ways, but gene- 

 rally with nets or large "ryssjor" (see p. 33, fig. 7). 

 At the beginning of the spaAvning-season, when tlie nights 

 are still dai'k in Sweden, the Pike-perch is taken in a 

 drag-net, if, at the jilaces Avhere it spawns, the bottom is 

 so level that a net can be drawn there. It is sometimes 

 the custom to light bonfires on the shore at this time, 

 in the hope that the fishes may be enticed to collect 

 near the firelight. In other places, where a drag-net 

 cannot be employed, the Pike-perch is taken by traw- 

 ling. The nets which are used in fishing for the Pike- 



perch during winter, are made especially for this pur- 

 pose, the meshes are large, and the nets are always set 

 in dee|i water. From midsummer till late in autumn 

 the Pike-Perch is also caught on night-lines with a bait 

 of Smelt or Bleak. Sometimes, though very seldom, it 

 is taken with I'od and line. According to Ekstrom 

 live bait is necessar}', Init others consider half rotten, 

 strong smelling bait the best. 



Tlie Pike-percli is undeniably one of the most de- 

 licate Scandinavian fishes. It is eaten fresh, salted or 

 dried, in the last case generally after being soaked in 

 lye. In France, according to Cuvier, it is also eaten 

 raw with oil, pepper and salt. Its flesh is white, firm, 

 free from small bones and of excellent flavour. Still 

 it is generally stated that if one eats Pike-perch daily, 

 one soon becomes tired of it. The fat is said to be 

 used among the peasantry for rubbings in cases of 

 rheumatic pains, luxations etc. According to the time, 

 year and the abundance or scarcity of the fish, the 

 market-price of the Pike-perch here in Stockholm va- 

 ries as follows: in spring it costs about 4^^ d. per lb., 

 in summer 6^/4 d., at midsummer sometimes as much 

 as 10 d., in autumns and winter from 6^/^ d. to 8 d., 

 sometimes not so much. All these prices are reckoned 

 for middle-sized and perfectly fresh Pike-perch. 



(Ekstrom, Smitt.) 



Genus ACERINA. 



Fonii of the body ait ohloiiy oval sliyldly compressed at the sides. Scales middle-sized with sharply dentated mar- 

 gin. Top of the gill-cover furnished posteriorly with one or tiro spines. Preoperculum and shoidder-girdle dentated. 

 Inferior m.argin of the preorbital bones irithont teeth. Head naked, its outer hones pierced with large ducts con- 

 nected iritii the lateral line. Small, cardiform teeth of equal size on the intermaxillaries, the lower jaw and the 

 vomer: also in a simj)le row on the palatine hones (often u-untiny o)i tlie vomer and the last named hones). Tongue 

 without teeth. Only three j)yloric appendages. Pseudobranchice present but only rudimentary. Branchial membranes 

 separate, each witli 7 rays. One dorsal fin with from 13 to I!) spi)ious rays. Tn^o'' sjnnous rays in the anal 

 fin, its base shorter ilian the soft-rayed jiart of the dorsal fin. In the caudcd fin 15' branched rays. 



Of this genus, which is confined exclusively to the 

 so c'alled Palajarctic region (Europe and Northern Asia), 

 four species have been described, distinguished from one 

 another by tlic colouring, tlie difterence in the number 



of spinous rays in the dorsal fin and of the rows of 

 scales, and the varying length of the snout. The species 

 which possesses the shortest snout and the least number 

 of rays in the dorsal fin is our common Pope. 



" Cf. Trybom, 1. c. and the same Quarterly Report for 1885, p. 277. 

 '' Rarely 3. 

 <• > 14. 



