502 PISCES SUB-CLASS IILTELEOSTOMI. 



recently published in the Field newspaper. It may be mentioned that, 

 according to an American writer, the name of the family should be changed 

 from Cyprinodontidce to Pceciliidce. 



Nearly allied to the last are two genera of small North American fishes, in 



one of which (Amblyopsis) the eyes are wanting, while in the second (Cholo- 



gaster) they are very minute. The one is represented by the 



Family well-known blind fish from caves and other subterranean 



Amblyopsidce. waters, while the single species of the latter is found in the 



rice-fields of the Southern States, although very rare. 



Chologaster has no pelvic fins, but these may or may not be present in 



Amblyopsis. as is also the case with Cyprinodon. The blind fish, which grows 



to a length of about five inches, is quite colourless, and when the dark waters 



of their habitat are artificially illuminated these fishes have a weird and 



ghostly appearance. 



Of the other two families of the section, the first is an unimportant one, 

 represented by one species of the single genus Umbra from Austria and 

 Hungary, and a second from the United States. Small in 

 Families size, these fish are very similar to the Cyprinodontidce, from 

 UmbridiK and which they may be distinguished by the lateral margin of 

 Esocidce. the upper jaw being formed by the maxillae. Although like- 

 wise represented only by a single genus (Esox), the pikes are 

 a much more important and better-known family, the common European 

 species (E. lucius) being well known to all. Pike are inhabitants of the fresh 



waters of North America, Tem- 

 perate Asia, and Europe, but are 

 more numerously represented in 

 the Western than in the Eastern 

 Hemisphere, six species being ex- 

 clusively American, whereas the 

 common pike ranges over all three 

 continents. In these fishes the 

 Fig. 28. COMMON PIKE. margin of the upper jaw is formed 



in the same manner as that of the 



Umbrers ; but the absence of scales on the head serves to distinguish them 

 from all other members of the section. Their elongated, "pike "-like form, 

 their large size, and their voracious habits, are familiar features of the family ; 

 but it may be added that there are no barbels to the mouth, while there is no 

 fatty fin, and the dorsal occupies the position of the fatty fin of the Salmonidce. 

 Summarising some of the accounts which have been given of the voracity and 

 fierceness of the pike, the editor of this volume writes as follows : "It has 

 been known to attack a man when its retreat has been cut off, to bite the legs 

 of bathers, and to snap at the fingers of persons cooling their hands in the 

 water ; and when pressed with hunger, to fight an otter for the possession of a 

 carp. Its strength and endurance have often been demonstrated in the 

 destruction of strong tackle, and in its power to survive without apparent 

 inconvenience with hooks and wires mingling with its anatomy. Captain 

 Brown gives an instance of a pike being caught which had a strong piece of 

 twisted wire projecting from its side. It was in excellent condition, and on 

 being opened, discovered in its stomach a double eel-hook, much corroded, 

 and attached to the protruding wire. Another pike, when caught in the 

 River Ouse, was found in possession of a watch with a black ribbon and seals 

 attached property which, it was afterwards discovered, had belonged to a 



