EFFECTS OF DIFFHHHNT WATEIIS. 235 



a fish of unusu:il chiiractcr, and kiiowiiii; that I was cnj^a^cd in 

 this work, took some pains to proLurc iiu; a sij^ht of it. 



This iiulividunl was caught in a nrt in tlic salt water, in thr 

 lower part of Newark Hay, ami, at first slight, I was inclined to 

 believe it a nondeseript species. 



It weighed something over a jxjnnd and a half, was unusnally 

 thiek in proportion to its depth, and was in the finest conditit)n. 

 Its colour, however, \\ as the most remarkable; for the hack 

 and sides, down to the latiial line, were of the rii-hcst and most 

 lustrous copper eolonr, paling on the sides into hri;,'ht Ina/.cn 

 yellow, with the l)elly of a silvery whiteness. 'I'hr cheeks, gill- 

 covers, and tins, all |)artook of the same coppery hue, and the 

 whole fish was far more lucent and inctallic than any of the 

 family I had before seen. There was not the slightest indica- 

 tion of any tnmsvcrsc bars or of any mottling ; nor was there 

 any of that sea-green colour whieii is so peculiar to the Pike 

 family. 



On a minute examination, however, of its characteristics, and 

 especially by the size of its scales, I was perfectly satisfied that 

 it was neither more nor hss than an individual Lnn^' l>land 

 Pickerel (Esor Fasriatiis), which, ha\inix wandered into salt 

 waters, had thus entirely changed its colours, and grown to a 

 wciglit exceeding its natural average, in the ratio of at lea-.t 

 three to one, probably from the snperiority and greater abund- 

 ance of foo<l which he found in his new hunting grounds. 



I did not myself taste the fisli, but was informed that it was 

 of vt-ry unusual excellence. 



I never saw a more striking instance of the effect whieh 

 different waters lm\e upon the colouring and condition of fishes, 



