I..i Ml'RET. 



.... . 



Although i-opularly railed BO*T Pikr, fiinn th<> mailed exterior and I he lengthened wide- 

 jawed frm, which has some rr*emblanoe to that ..f a pik.-. iin- fish belongs to a total I \ 

 different ..|,|, r. and in most joints ,.f jis . ..n-truction w f>.rin.-.| after a I ifferent fashion The 

 general structure, in : tl,,. U,, M y I'iU.- is \. i\ i,-tnark:il.|.-. aii.t 



of the ditlicuity uitd uhi,-i, ii,,. fish are clawed. The Uxly is elongated, im-1 ill- Jaws are 

 a No li-ii-ili.-n.-| ami w-H furnislitil with tfth. looking vi-ry like an xaggeratl |.iki-'s m.-ntli, 

 or tin- ln-a<l of th.- <-iiiiiion gftvial <>f tltu Oangeo. Inearii jav\ th.-r. 

 ami roni.il [.tli. ami Uiu.-u them, and on di<> jtalate, are imin.-i..ii other t<**tli. mu.li 



in >i/j>-. 



Tin- scales of tin- Ii-.ny I'ikn are rhomt-i. in form. \vry lik> tin- Hat iH.ri-,-l:iin til.-s \\iili 

 o>rtain iim-ii-ut rhimn.-\ -pieces were wont to liedeoonit.-.l, ati<l lianlly inft-iior 1-. ilios,- 

 in tln> ].,,iMi,-i hardness of tln-ir exterior. They are Tery regularly arranged, being set 

 so aa to form a series of oblique row*, extending from the back to the abdomen. A- in 

 the sturxeons and sharks, the vertebral column runs along the upper edge of tin- tail I'm. 

 Tin's tish is found iu the lakes of America, and sometimea attains a considerable size, l IHK 





B<>NY rti 



often captured measuring three or four feet in length, and is said sometimes to attain a length 

 of seven feet Several species are said to inhabit the same waters ; but when tin- rt-markable 

 ilivi-r-iiy of form and color which often reigns among the fishes is considered, it in highly 

 probable that the supposed species may be nothing more than well-marked varieties. The 

 flesh of the Bony Pike is said to be good. 



Bony Pike, Gar Pikes (Lepidotteux). Two species of thin genus are common in the Great 

 Lakes and rivers of America. Their alliance with forms now extinct renders the species of 

 great interest. Very few are now existing. 



THE well-known LAMPKEY and its kin are remarkable for the wonderful resemblance which 

 tht-ir mouths bear to that of a leech. 



They are all long-bodied snake-like fish, and possess a singular apparatus of adhesion, 

 which acts on the same principle a.s the disc of the snrking-li-h. or the ventral fins of the 

 goby, though it is set on a different part of the body. If all had their rights, indeed, the 

 title of sucking-fish ought more correctly to be applied to the Lamprey than to the creature 

 whj.-h is at present dL'mii-d by that appellation: as the one really applies its mouth to 

 any object to which it desires to adhere, and forms a vacuum by suction, whereas the 



