FAMILY ESOCID^ — ESOX. 226 



This beautiful little pickerel is abundant in many of the streams and ponds on Long Island, 

 and is said never to exceed the size given above. Independent of the markings, it appears to 

 be quite distinct from the preceding species. It is not improbable that this may be the species 

 noticed by Dr. Mitchill in his Supplementary Memoir on the Fishes of Newr-York, under the 

 name of Esox scomberius, which is thus alluded to : 



" The Mackerel Pike, <^c. Esox scomberius. An inhabitant of the fresh streams of New- , 

 " York. A figure of this fish was forwarded to me by John Bradbury, Esq. It was exe- 

 " cuted from the creature, as taken from Murderer's creek. Beside other strong features of 

 " the Pike, it was distinguished for a large and projecting lower jaw ; for the length of the 

 " head and gill-covers ; for the dark green of the back, gradually disappearing in the white 

 " of the belly, and the two hues connected by cloudy patches almost resembling bands, slant- 

 " ing forward and downward from the back, by a ruddy tinge of the roundish pectoral, abdo- 

 " minal and ventral fins ; and by a broad concave or lunated tail. Mr. B. states the rays of 

 " the pectoral fins to be thirteen, of the ventrals nine, of the dorsal fourteen, of the anal thir- 

 " teen, and of the caudal twenty." 



THE FEDERATION PIKE. 



Esox TREDECEM-RADIATUS. 

 Tht Federation Pike, E. tredeeem-iauatus. Mitchill, Mirror, 1825, p. 361. 



Characteristics. Opercles, pectoral, dorsal, and anal fins each with thirteen rays. Length 

 12 to 23 inches. 



Description. I am unacquainted with this species, except through the description of Dr, 

 Mitchill, which is annexed : 



" The figure of the head and mouth bears a considerable resemblance to the Pike or Mas- 

 " canongy, particularly the broad or duck snout, the projecting lower jaw ; and this, together 

 " with the tongue and palate armed with teeth, and the general shape, are characteristic 

 " enough. The intermaxillary bone, the situation of the ventral fin far behind on the belly, 

 " and the opposition of the dorsal fin to the ventral, are additional indications of the same 

 " family connection. The four individuals now before me were obtained by Mr. William 

 " Sykes from the Oneida lake, on the 26th January, 1825. The largest is twenty-three 

 " inches long, and more than nine in its greatest girth. Eyes yellow ; tail forked ; skin 

 " covered with small scales. Color of the back, and upper part of the head, brown, almost 

 " running into black ; of the contiguous parts, brown running into yellowish or orange, and 

 " the yellow ending in a snowy or silvery white on the belly. The broad side, that is, the 

 " space between the back and belly, beautifully and curiously variegated with irregular black 

 " lines, which inosculate with each other all the way from the eyes to the tail, and surround 

 " spaces of various sizes and figures, all of which are fantastic and odd. Toward the belly 

 " and tail, these black lines lose themselves, or end abruptly. Sometimes there are oblong 



Fauna — Part 4. 29 



