ESOX PIKES 209 



about fourteen days, and may reach a length of a foot by the 

 end of the first year. 



The flesh of the pike is of fairly good flavor, but is full of 

 small bones. It is not much prized in this country, but is gen- 

 erally more esteemed in Europe. The voracity of this fish 

 and its inferior quality as food have led to attempts at its 

 destruction in Europe and in parts of Canada. It is readily 

 captured with minnow bait, or with a trolling-spoon, and will 

 also take a fly. It is often caught with a hook through holes 

 in the ice in winter, and affords a valuable food to many an 

 Indian hunter in the Canadian woods. 



This destructive fish has greatly decreased in numbers in 

 this state during the last twenty-five years. The older fisher- 

 men at Havana remember when a thousand pounds were caught 

 at a time, while now scarcely as many will be taken during an 

 entire year. In 1899, according to the report of the United 

 States Fish Commission, 21,000 pounds of pike were taken in 

 the Mississippi and Illinois rivers within the state of Illinois. 

 The total catch from the Mississippi Valley was 216,952 pounds, 

 having fallen to that figure from 809,134 pounds in 1894. 



ESOX MASQUINONGY MITCHILL 



MUSKALLUNGE 



Mitchill, "Mirror, 297, 1824".* 



The muskallunge is sufficiently distinguished from other species of the 

 genus Esox in the key preceding. 



This giant fish, reported to reach a weight of a hundred 

 pounds and to average three feet in length specimens six feet 

 feet long and weighing eighty pounds have been caught has 

 not been taken by us in Illinois, although it occurs in Lake 

 Michigan and rarely in the smaller lakes in the northeastern 

 part of the state. It is said by Jordan to be native to all the 

 Great Lakes and the upper St. Lawrence, to certain streams and 

 lakes tributary to the Great Lakes, and to a few of the lakes in 

 the upper Mississippi Valley. It occurs also in Canada to the 

 northward. In Ohio, according to R. C. Osburn, a variety of 

 the species, ohiensis, distinguished by narrow irregular cross- 

 bars formed by the coalescing of spots upon the sides, is found 

 in the Ohio River and its tributary streams. It is equally 

 esteemed for its game and food qualities. 



* Reference on authority of De Kay. 



