124 



viands of the table. It is smaller than the common Pike of 

 the Baltimore markets. 

 S. I. 



2— E. reticulatus. 



Pike, The Common Pickerel. 



Body nearly cylindrical, elongate; much flattened upon 

 the back; scales small; snout blunt; upper jaAv smooth, broad, 

 depressed, shorter than the lower jaw. The color of this 

 pike varies in intensity and tint. In some it is deep green^ 

 varying to blackish on the back and head, or bluish grey; in 

 others it is of a golden or olive-yellow on the sides, the free 

 margins of the scales bordered with black. Numerous, ir- 

 regular, abbreviated, longitudinal, dusky streaks on the sides 

 of the body, united with similar oblique streaks produce the 

 imperfectly reticulated appearance. Dorsal fin nearly square, 

 slightly rounded above; the last ray, much the shortest. — 

 Length, 1 to 3 feet. 



Fin-rays:— D. IS; P. 13; V. 10; A. 17; C. 19. 



E. reticulatus, Lesueur, Journ. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phil. I. 

 1818, p. 414; Storer, Keport Fish. Massach, p. 97; Kirtland, 

 Zool. Ohio, p. 194; DeKay, New York Faun. Fish, p. 223, 

 pi. 34, fig. 107; Cope. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sc. Philad. 1865, 

 p. 19. 



Esoxlucius, Var., Mitch. Lit. & Phil. Trans. New York. 

 I. p. 440. 



Widely distributed in the quiet and grassy tributaries of 

 the tide-water region of both shores. Much esteemed, par- 

 ticularly by the farmers of the more central counties. Sold 

 in the towns of Worcester county by hucksters, who trans- 

 port them in light wagons from place to place. The placid 

 creeks of the marshes bordering and connecting with Sine- 

 puxent and Newport Bays, where the Nymphcea odorata and 

 Brasenia 2)eltata grow luxuriantly, are the favorite haunts of 

 these fish, and there they may be seen basking at the surface 

 m the full sun-blaze of a summer's day. 



Acad. Coll. S. I. 



3— E. niger. 



Varied Pickerel 



Body cylindrical, with its upf)er surface much flattened. 

 Upper part of head with a deep, longitudinal groove. 

 Dorsal fin higher than long, its margin much rounded. 



