FAMILY OF THE ESOCID.E. 217 



ESOCIDiE. 



This familv; the Esocid^, of wliicli the true Pike [Esox 

 Lucius) of Europe is the type, is largely represented iu the 

 waters of the United States and the Provinces; six or seven 

 distinct species having been discovered, exclusive of the formid- 

 able Garpike [Esox Osseus), of the south-western waters, which, 

 instead of scales, is cased in a complete armour of rhomboidal 

 plates; and which is held, by Mr. Agassiz and other distin- 

 guished naturalists, to be a connecting link between the animals 

 of the present period, and those contemporaneous with the 

 Saurians, and other extinct races. 



The fish of this family are distinguished, generally, by the 

 want of the second dorsal or adipose fin, by the situation of the 

 dorsal very far backward and opposite to the anal fin, and by 

 having the border of their upper jaw either formed solely by 

 the intermaxillaries, or by having the labials destitute of teeth, 

 if they enter at all into its composition. The mouth is always 

 large, and the teeth sharp and powerful, but the shape and pro- 

 portional length of the jaws vary greatly in the various species, 

 as do the situation and number of the teeth, and the formation 

 of the gill-covers ; and by these particulars are the species 

 distinguished. 



