380 GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA. \ 



\ 

 that it is a distinct variety from the northern pike. It grows to ; 

 the length of two feet and more. ' 



Pickerel. — Esox reticulatus ; E. ravenelii. Holbrook. 



Body above oHve brown, often with a greenish tint ; belly t 



silvery ; sides pale silver grey with dusky bars more or less oh- \ 



lique ; fins red. In some waters its general color is quite dark. I 



It is found in small streams of fresh water, and in canals about 1 



rice fields ; seldom in larger or more rapid waters. Seldom grows j 



to the length of a foot, and is found in small streams of fresh water, | 



ponds, and in canals or about rice fields. It is a great nuisance j 



everywhere, as it is an inveterate eater of spawn and small fry. 1 



This fish is everywhere confounded with the pike, which, although ' 



of the same origin, is of a far nobler race. ' 



HYODONTID.E. j 



River Moon-eye ; mud shad. — Hyodon tergisus. Le Sueur. j 



Similar to the Western species. Body compressed, back very I 

 slightly arched. Scales large. Head small ; eyes very large, 

 nearly filling up the whole space between the angle of the jaws 



and the upper part of the head. Back bluish ; sides silvery ; fins \ 



tinged with yellow. Length nine inches. It seems to be little ■ 



esteemed for food, being considered bony and unsavory. It is I 



frequently confounded with the Hickory Shad. i 



CLUPEID^. ' 



Shad. — Alosa sapidissima. Storer. — A . prcesiabilis. De Kay. ' 



The shad season in the St. John River is from December first 



until about the 8th of April. They appear in that and other rivers j 



on their way to the upper lakes and creeks to spawn. When they j 



come in they are fat and go mto all parts of the rivers, returning \ 



poor and lean in June, keeping the channels. The shad arc found j 



in the Mississippi fourteen hundred miles above its mouth, and in j 



many of its tributaries. In the Washita River, Arkansas, they 1 



begin to appear about April 5th, and run until May 12th. In | 



China they are known to ascend the Yang-tse-kiang more than \ 



four thousand miles. ! 



