FISHES OF NEW YORK 495 



lina it is the jack; in Lake Erie and Canada, the pickerel; in 

 some parts of the Ohio valley, the white salmon or jack salmon. 

 The Cree Indians call it the okoiv and the French Canadians dore 

 or picarel. Among the fur traders of British America it is called 

 the hornfish. 



The pike perch or wall-eyed pike inhabits the Great lakes 

 region and extends northward into British America, where it 

 has been recorded as far as 58 north by Dr Richardson. It 

 ranges south in the Mississippi valley to Arkansas, and in At- 

 lantic streams to Georgia. According to Dr Meek the species is 

 found in Cayuga lake, but is not common. In Lake Champlain 

 it is one of the principal game fishes. James Annin jr of Cale- 

 donia obtained specimens in the Canandaigua lake region. It 

 has been introduced into numerous lakes by the Fisheries, Game 

 and Forest Commission of New York. The U. S. Fish Commis- 

 sion secured examples in the Oswego river at Oswego and at 

 Point Breeze in August 1894. 



This species is said to reach a weight of 50 pounds, but the 

 average weight of the market specimens is less than 5 pounds. 

 In the Susquehanna it occasionally reaches 10 pounds or upward 

 in weight. The pike perch feeds on the bottom on other fishes, 

 and has been charged even with destroying its own young. It 

 prefers clear and rapid waters, and lurks under submerged logs 

 and rocks, from which it can readily dart on its prey. Spawning 

 takes place in April and May, and in Pennsylvania continues 

 till June. Favorite spawning localities are on sandy bars in 

 shallow water. The period of hatching varies from about 14 to 

 30 days, depending on the temperature of the water. The eggs 

 vary from about 17 to 25 to the inch, and a single female has been 

 estimated to contain from 200,000 to 300,000. In a state of nature 

 only a small percentage of the eggs are hatched out; the greater 

 proportion are driven on the lake shores by storms or devoured 

 by fishes on the spawning beds. The number of pike perch annu- 

 ally hatdhed by artificial methods is enormous. This advance is 

 due to improvements in the treatment of adhesive eggs. For-, 

 merly these were hatched by placing them on glass plates, to 



