1003 



Tlie coloration of the Pike is black above, white 

 below. The sides ar(^ grayish green, with transverse 

 bands of greenisii velhnv, more contiinHius in the 

 young, broken up in old Pike into iiiinost round or 

 oval spots, sometimes elongated, like a ril)l>ou, in the 

 longitudinal direction of the body. The ground-colour 

 of the tins is grayish j'ellow, waved with a, darker tint. 

 The anterior margins of the ventral and anal tins and 

 the inferior lobe of tlie caudal are of a purer \ellow. 

 The iris is vellow, with a dark, grayisii brown spot 

 both in front of and behind the pupil. From the eye 

 two siiuious, greenish yellow stripes run to the hind 

 margin of the operculum, and sonae irregular spots of 

 the same colour apjiear on tlie lower part of the said 

 bone, ilie snout has an elongated, triangular patch, 

 coursed by a longitudinal black stripe, on the sides in 

 front of the eyes. On the sides of the body the scales, 

 as we have mentioned above, have a naked, ci-escent- 

 shaped or angular spot, with the angle pointing for- 

 wards, and of a metallic lustre, with a dash of yellow 

 or white. The ordinary dress of the iish, as described 

 above, shows variations dependent on age, the fluctua- 

 tions in the supplv of food, and the nature of the sur- 

 rounding water. ( )ld specimens have a purer, more 

 defined coloration. The Pike that live in turbid water 

 are always darker tiian those that inhabit clear lakes 

 or streams; and in small lakes with dark water almost 

 black specimens have been found. In the inner island- 

 belt of the Baltic small Pike are taken at the beginning 

 of winter which have a dark lemon-yellow coloration 

 instead of tlic white tone. The islanders believe that 

 these Pike have just arrived from the outer islands or 

 the sea outside, and have therefore conferred upon them 

 the name of Xi/ldndare (new-comers). 



( bi an examination of the internal organs the liver 

 is found to consist of a single lobe, long, obtuse, and 

 arched, which lies principally on the left side of the 

 body, and extends back to a point just shoi-t of the in- 

 sertions of the \entral tins. (.)n the concave upper sur- 

 face of tlie liver, at the extreme front, but to the riglit, 

 lies the gall-bladder. The intestinal canal is simple. 

 When the stomach is empt}', it apparently composes 

 together mth the oesophagus a tube of almost uniform 

 width, extending to about a line with the begiiniing of 



the last third of tlie xcntral fins when folded. At this 

 point it bends abrii|itl\. and with a slight constriction 

 at the pylorus is contimicd in a forward direction by 

 the intestine, which ad\aiices l)elow its riglit side to 

 the gall-bladder, and bends thc^re with equal abrujitness, 

 to return in a straight line to the vent. The spleen is 

 triangular, and lies close to the termination of the sto- 

 niacii. The gall-duct is long, and enters the intestine 

 at some distance? Iiclow the pylorus. The air-bladder is 

 long, almost cylindrical, and is connected with the ceso- 

 phagus by a short and narrow duct from its anterior 

 extremity. The testes and ovaries are long, and follow 

 the direction of tlie abdominal cavity. The kidneys, 

 which lie above the air-bladder along each side of the 

 spinal column, arc dark red. The urinary bladder is 

 thin, cylindrical, and rather long, and shares with the 

 sexual organs a special aperture behind the orifice of 

 the intestine. 



The Pike has a very extensive geographical range 

 — about the same as the Minnow's (see above, p. 7.57) — 

 from North-eastern Siberia, west to the east of North 

 America. According to Pallas it inhabits the River 

 Amoor", which falls into the Sea of Okhotsk, and the 

 Rivers Indigirka and Chatanga, which disembogue into 

 the Arctic Ocean. Breiim found it in the lower course 

 of the River Obi', and in the great lakes of the Baraba 

 Steppe (the upper basin of the Obi and Irtish) it is ex- 

 tremely common, according to Pallas, and attains a 

 considerable size. It also occurs in the Caspian Sea, but 

 not in Transcaucasia, nor in the Black Sea, though it is 

 found in the Sea of Azov and the ba.sin of the Danube. 

 It is met with in rivers and lakes throughout Russia, 

 North and Central Europe, including Great Britain and 

 Ireland, and Italy, including Sicily (Canestrixi); but is 

 said to be wanting in Greece and on the Pyrenean Pen- 

 insula. It inhabits almost all the waters of Scandinavia: 

 but in Nor\vay Collktt has observed that its range, 

 like that of the Perch and several other fresh-water 

 fishes, is interrupted, the gap extending over the Pro- 

 vince of Trondhjem, Nordland, and the whole west coast. 

 Though really belonging to lakes and rivers with fresh 

 water, it is also found in the island-belt of the Baltic. 

 That salt water is not its true home, appears from the 

 tact that among the said islands the Pike shows a de- 



" Assiiniing that Pallas liere refers to our cuniiiion Pike. Frcmi tlie Ouon, a Danrian triluitary of tlie Amoor, lie describes a "va- 

 riety of a coloration more suggestive of the Americau Eso.v nobilior. 



On the Kamchatkan Peninsula, according to Pallas, the Pike is wnnting. 

 ' Brkhm's Thierleben, 2:te Anfl., Gr. Ausg. (1879), Bd. 8, p. 241). 



