154 AMERICAN FISHES 



ABDOMINAL 

 MALACOPTERYGII. ESOCIDiE. 



GREAT NORTHERN PICKEREL. 



Esox Lucioides ; Agstssiz. 



This great Pike, like the last, is peculiar to the basin of the St 

 Lawrence, and was first clearly described and specified during tho 

 scientific tour to Lake Superior, which I have already mentioned, by 

 Prof. Agassiz, who pointed out its distinctions, both from the European 

 Pike, and the Mascalonge, tothe former of which, Esox Lucius, it is 

 by far the most closely allied, although it appears to have been con- 

 founded with both — Le Sueur , who fijst gave a distinct specific name 

 to the Mascalonge, having described it as the fish now under consid- 

 eration, Esox Lucioides, and not at all as Esox Estor. 



The Northern Pickerel is taken up to the weight of sixteen or 

 seventeen pounds, but rarely, I believe, exceeds that weight. It is an 

 exceedingly handsome fish, longer and slighter, in proportion to its 

 depth, than the Mascalonge. 



Its body is four-sided, the back broader and flatter than the belly ; 

 the vertical diameter is equal to about one-seventh of the body, caudal 

 included ; the transverse diameter is two-thirds of the vertical ; the 

 body carries its thickness to the dorsal fin, and then tapers into the 

 thin tail ; the sides are compressed and flattened ; the head is about 

 one-fifth the length of the body ; the snout not nearly so long, and 

 much more obtuse, than in the Mascalonge ; the under jaw does not 

 exceed the upper in length nearly so much as in that fish, and is 

 armed around all the fore part with a single row of small, slightly- 

 hooked teeth ; on the sides of the lower jaw are a row of larger awl- 

 shaped teeth, implanted in the bone ; the palate bones, vomer, and 

 pharyngeal arches, are all armed with bands of small sharp teeth, like 

 carding machines, as in the former species ; the tongue is broad, and 

 truncated at the tip. 



The gill-covers are nearly as they are described in the Mascalonge, 



