THE PIKES: DISTRIBUTIOISr AND COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE. 



9 



KEY TO THE PIKES. 



a. No scales on lower half of gill cover (operculum). 



6. Cheek, as well as lower half of gill cover, without scales Muskellunge. 



bh. Cheeks entirely scaled, lower half of gill cover without scales Pike. 



aa. Gill cover and cheeks both entirely scaled. 



c. Branchiostegals « normally 14 to 16; dorsal rays 14; anal 13 Eastern pickerel. 



cc. Branchiostegals normally 12 (11-13); dorsal rays 11 or 12; anal 11 or 12 



Banded pickerel, little pickerel. & 



MUSKELLUNGE {Esox masquinongy). 



The muskellunge comprises tlu^ee more or less distinct color forms 

 which have been variously regarded as subspecies or distinct species.'' 

 These are the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence fish, with irregular 

 blackish spots on a ground color or grayish silver (Esox masquinongy); 

 the Ohio drainage fish, including some Pennsylvania and New York 

 lakes, with dark crossbars which split up into diffuse spots (Esox 

 ohiensis); and the fish of the Wisconsin and Minnesota lakes and 



rFr^ 





FIG. 2.— MUSKELLUNGE (Esot masquinongy'). 



rivers, with body unspotted or with vague dark cross shades (Esox 

 immaculatus) . 



The spelling of the name muskellunge has been the subject of 

 numerous modifications by various authors, with more or less ety- 

 mological authority. Curiously enough the Cree Indian name sounds 

 much like the French appellation (Henshall, 1892), but inasmuch as 

 the orthographical representation of Indian sounds is somewhat a 

 matter of individual interpretation, and as many North American 

 French words have become greatly modified, if not wholly Angli- 

 cized, the speUing "muskellunge" is adopted here, as it is a phonetic 

 representation of the common pronunciation whether by Cree or 



a The branchiostegals are the riltlike rays under the lower edge of the gill cover. 



6 Inasmuch as the distinguishing differences of these two species are very slight and the geographical 

 distribution quite distinct, the easiest method of identifying them is by locality (see discussion of each). 

 However, the following characters have been given in keys: 



A. Head 3^ in length of body, snout 2i in length of head, eye 5 amcricanus. 



AA. Head 3^ in length of body, snout 2| in length of head, eye 6 vermiculatus. 



At least one student who has examined many specimens of each of these species maintains liis belief that 

 they are not distinct species, and are merely suliject to^ocal or geographical variations. 



c "The muskellimge of Chautauqua Lake and the Ohio Basin dilTers greatly in appearance from that 

 of the Great Lakes. As the two forms are not known to intergrade and as their habits are entirely distinct, 

 they are best regarded as distinct species. " (Jordan and E vermann, 1902.) 



