A Matter of Mascalonge 143 



both frequently afford the liveliest of lively sport. 

 Occasionally a medium-sized specimen surprises 

 some angler who is using live minnow bait for 

 bass, but such an event would be somewhat in the 

 nature of an accident. 



The variations of the name are rather curious, 

 but they may be at least partially explained by the 

 uncertainty whether the original name was Chip- 

 pewa, French, or a mongrel blend of the two 

 tongues. The Indians call it " maskinonje," the 

 French "masque allonge," and these throughout 

 the extensive range of the fish are varied into mas- 

 calonge, muscalonge, muskellunge, muskallonge, 

 maskinonge, and masquinongy. For convenience, 

 anglers use the abbreviation " 'lunge." 



The fish is subject to much variation in color, 

 but this is a matter of locality and by no means to 

 be depended upon should one be asked to decide if 

 some big captive is a 'lunge or a specimen of the 

 closely allied great northern pickerel. The mem- 

 brane of the lower margin of the gill-cover is more 

 reliable. In the 'lunge, it is furnished on either 

 side with seventeen to nineteen bony rays to facili- 

 tate closing and opening the gills. These bony rays, 

 termed branchiostegals, spread and furl the mem- 

 branes at the fish's pleasure, somewhat as the ribs 

 of an umbrella or the sticks of a fan perform their 

 function. The great northern pickerel has from 

 fourteen to sixteen of them, while the eastern pick- 

 erel (L. reticulatus), and the western, or grass pick- 

 erel (L. vermiculatus], have twelve or thirteen. 



An easier identification mark, however, is found 

 on the cheeks and gill-cover. In the mascalonge 



