PIKES AND PIKE PERCH OF 
The eastern pickerel has more or less the same feeding and spawn- 
ing habits as ie pike. Its rate of growth is about as follows: One 
year old, 4.5 inches, weight about 0.5 ounce; 2 years old, 7 inches, 
weight 1.5 ounces; 3 years old, 10 inches, weight 4 ounces; 4 years 
old, 13 to 14 inches, 8 to 12 ounces; 6 years old, 20 inches, weight 40 
ounces. 
The pikes are valued greatly as game fishes, and there is in the 
United States a considerable fishery for them. The commercial 
catch is about 680,000 pounds per annum, valued at $58,000. 
ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION 
The bureau has had but little interest in the propagation of the 
pikes, confining its efforts to some limited experimental work. They 
are now handled solely in connection with rescue operations. Other 
agencies, however, have been and are engaged in the culture of these 
species. 
The State of Pennsylvania has been most prominent in the propa- 
gation of the pickerels and between the years 1905 and 1910 turned 
out a large number of fry. The eggs of the pickerels are deposited 
in strings, as are those of the yellow perch, and the same methods 
of incubation are applicable. Jars were utilized by the Pennsyl- 
vania Fish Commission, and the only serious difficulty appeared to 
lie in the proper regulation of the water flow to prevent clogging 
or smothering. 
While the eggs can be taken from the ripe fish and fertilized arti- 
ficially, the inability to find a sufficient number of ripe males and 
females at one time and the difficulty of feeding penned fish during 
their protracted spawning season have necessitated a reliance upon 
naturally spawned eggs for the main supply. These simply are col- 
lected from the spawning grounds by means of a scap net, placed in 
cans, and transferred to the hatchery. The incubation period varies 
from a week to 10 days, depending upon temperature. The eggs 
can as readily be handled in floating boxes and ordinary egg trays 
will: serve for transferring them. Attempts to remove the débris 
and silt have an injurious effect. 
The tiny fry must be distributed shortly after the disappearance 
of the food sac. 
The culture of the muskellunge has been carried on by the New 
York Conservation Commission at its Chautauqua hatchery for some 
30 years. The process differs from that employed in Pennsylvania, 
in that eggs are secured by stripping the adult fish. These ripe indi- 
viduals are captured by means of pound nets set in Lake Chautaqua 
in the spring. Incubation is carried on in jars of the Chase type. 
Conditions prevailing in this region generally cause a longer incuba- 
tion period, ranging from a minimum of about 12 days to a maximum 
of 20 days. The temperature ranges are from 50° to 60° F. Immedi- 
ate distribution after the absorption of the yolk sac is the practice 
with the muskellunge, as with the other species. The time required 
for this development is about 12 days. Little is known of the stages 
between this period and a length of 2 to 3 inches. 

% Culture of the Maskinongé (‘ Muskellunge”). By Emmeline Moore. Jn Fifteenth 
ae ee ne New York State Conservation Commission, 1925 (1926), pp. 131-138, 
gs. 1-6. any, 
