FISHES 



99 



E. masquinongy Mitchill. Muscalonge; muskallunge. Length 

 900 mm.; extreme length 2,500 mm.; extreme weight 100 lbs.; head 3.6; 

 depth 6; color dark gray; sides with numerous black spots; lower por- 

 tion of cheek and opercle without scales; rays of dorsal fin 17; anal 15; 

 scales 150; branchiostegals 17 to 19: Great Lakes region and upper 

 Mississippi Valley, and northwards; not common; occasionally in the 

 Ohio Valley as far south as North CaroHna. 



Subspecies of E. masquinongy 



E. in. ohiensis (Kirtland). Sides with narrow dark cross bars which 

 split up into diffuse spots: Ohio River basin; Lake Chautauqua. 



E. m. immaculatus Jordan & Evermann. Body unspotted: Wis- 

 consin; common. 



E. rciiculatus LeSueur. Common pickerel; chain pickerel. Length 

 600 mm.; head 3.5; depth 6; color green; sides marked with numerous 



Fig. 44. — Esox lucius {from Jordan cr' Evermann). 



irregular dark lines forming a network; a dark band below the eye; 

 fins plain; rays of dorsal fin 14; anal 13; scales 125; branchiostegals 14 

 to 16: Atlantic and Gulf slope, Maine to Florida. and Louisiana; Arkan- 

 sas; very numerous in the New York lakes and east and south of the 

 Alleghenies. 



E. vermiculatus LeSueur. Grass pike; little pickerel. Length 

 300 mm.; head 3.25; depth 5 to 6; color green or grayish, sometimes 

 plain but usually with an irregular network of dark streaks on the sides; 

 a dark bar downward from the eye; rays of dorsal and anal fins 11 or 12; 

 body rather stout; scales 105; branchiostegals 11 to 13: Mississippi 

 Valley and the southern tributaries of Lakes Michigan, Erie and Ontario; 

 common. 



E. americanus Gmelin. Banded pickerel. Length 300 mm.; head 

 3.6; depth 5.5; color dark green; sides with about 20 blackish curved 

 bars; rays of dorsal and anal fins 11 or 12; scales 105; opercle fully 

 scaled: coastwise streams and ponds from Maine to Florida; common. 



