98 VERTEBRATE ANIMALS OF THE UNITED STATES 



dark transverse bar at the base of the tail fin; rays of the dorsal fin 13; 

 anal 7; scales 35: coastwise streams and swamps from Long Island to the 

 Neuse River; locally common. 



Family 2. Esocidae.- — Body elongate, slender, compressed pos- 

 teriorly; head long and flat; mouth very large, with a projecting lower 

 jaw; maxillaries with a supplementary bone; teeth strong and on 

 the premaxillaries, vomer, palatines, mandibles and tongue; head naked 

 above and more or less scaled on the sides; scales small; lateral line weak, 

 wanting in the young ; tail forked ; dorsal fin opposite the anal and near the 



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X 



Fig. 43. — Umbra pygmaa {from Jordan &-" Ever m ami). 



tail; branchiostegals 12 to 20; no pyloric caeca: i genus; fresh water fish 

 of moderate or large size noted for their fierceness and voracity. . t 



Esox L. Pike: pickerel. With the characters of the family: 

 5 species; all important food and game fishes. 



Key to the Species of Esox 



ai Opercle not scaly on the lower half. 



bi Cheeks entirely scaly E. lucius. 



hi Cheeks not scaly on the lower half E. masquinongy. 



a.2 Opercle and cheek entirely scaly. 



bi Rays of dorsal fin 14 E. retictilatus. 



hi Rays of dorsal fin 11 or 12. 



Ci In the Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes basin E. vermiculatus. 



Co In Atlantic coastwise streams E. americanus. 



E. lucius L. Common Pike (Fig. 44). Length up to 1,200 mm.; 

 weight up to 40 lbs.; head 3.4; depth 5; color bluish or greenish gray, 

 with many irregular whitish or yellowish spots arranged in more or less 

 longitudinal lines; median fins with irregular black spots; rays of dorsal 

 fin 16 or 17; anal 13 or 14; scales 123; branchiostegals 14 to 16: northern 

 America, Europe and Asia; southward to New York and the Ohio 

 River; northward to Alaska; very common. 



