998 



SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 



forms the very tip of the snout, and its inferior 

 covering-bone, the head of the vomer. This peculiarity 

 shows that the Pikes occui)y a comparatively low rank 

 in the system of the Teleosts, during whose evolution 

 the rostro-ethmoidal jiart of the snout has suffered re- 

 duction, while the parts of the upper jaw have been 

 more strongly developed. In the head of the Pikes 

 too the jjrimordial chondrocrauium is persistent to about 

 the same extent as in the Salmonoids. The hyoman- 

 dibular bones of the Pikes (fig. "253, A and F, Inn) 



show a great resemblance to those of the Gadoids in 

 the long, backward process {hmp) with the top of which 

 the operculum {op) articulates. Tlie anterior of the 

 two articular heads {lima) which ser\e to articulate the 

 hyomanilil)ular l)one witii tlie cranium, is directed so 

 oblicjuely inwards that it meets the petrosal bone {ptr, 

 prooticinn, fig. 253, E), instead of having its articular 

 cavity, as is usually the case, on the under surface of 

 the postfrontal bone {sjilio, sphenoticum). 

 This family contains only one genus. 



Genus ESOX. 



BocJi/ elonr/afed, iviih the abdominal part longest and of uniform depth", more or less terete or compressed. The 

 dorsal and anal fins, which are opposed to each other, short and of the same size. Caudal fin forked. Middle- 

 sized or small ci/cloid scales cover the hodji entirely, the head partially. Psetidobranchice hidden. 

 Branchiostegal rai/s numerous {11 — 20). 



The genus of the Pikes, with its five or six spe- 

 cies, is distributed over the rivers and lakes of the 

 north temperate zone both in the ( Jkl and New Worlds, 

 a relic of the period when a land communication, \vith 

 collections of fresh water within its bounds, existed 

 between Europe and North America*. But only one 

 species is found in the Old World. 



The generic name of Esox ■was adopted bj' Artedi' 

 from Pliny'', who applied it to a large fish of the Rhine. 

 Gesner' had already conjectured that the Pike was pro- 

 bably the fish meant; but not even he was confident of 

 the correctness of his opinion. In iiis works, as in most 

 of the ancient authors, the genus was called Lucius, the 

 Italian Luzzo, from the Greek /.vaoi'. 



THE PIKE (SW. GADDAN). 



ESOX LUCIUS. 



Plate XLIV. fig. 4. 



Cheeks and temples, together with the upper part of the opercula and the posterior part of the occiput {to a line 



tvith the upper end of the preoperculum) covered with scales: the rest of the head naked. Usually 14 {13 — 15) 



branchiostegal rays. Sides of the body spotted with yellow or yellotoish white, the impaired fins with brown. 



R. br. 13 — 1,5!'; n. 



-; A. 



(5)6-8 

 12 — 13(14)' 



14 — 15' 



V. j-; a. ,r + 1 + 17 + 1 + .r; Lin. hit. cii 12,5—130; L. tr 



ca 26 — 28 supra pinn. veutr.; Verl. (58).59— 62. 



6')/n. Eso.xC?), Plin. 1. c. Lucius, AusoN., Mos., vers. 122: Bei.on, 

 Nat., Divers. Poiss., p. 292; Rondel., Pise. Lacustr., p. 

 188; Gesn., 1. c, p. 500; Schonev., Ichthyol. Slesv. Hols., 

 p. 44; WiLLDQHB., Hist. Pise, p. 236. Esox rostro plagio- 

 plateo, Aet., Syn. Pise. p. 26; Descr. Spec. Pise, p, 53; 

 LiN., Fn. Suec, ed. I, p. 114. 



" With the exception of gravid feiuales witli poDdent belly. 



' Sjutt, Eijggradsiijurens geologisku iitvecl.liiiy och slagtshapsfdrhdllaiideii, p. 59. 



■■ Gen. Pise, p. 14. 



'' Lib. IX, cap. 15. 



' Hist. Anim., lib. IV, p. 368. 



.f Belon derived the name from the Latin Incere, "because the fish when dried shines in the dark" (see Gesnkk, 1. c, p. 502). 



' Sometimes 16, according to FniES and Ekstruh. 



