2 THE PIKE. 



length of fish from nose to tail ; head flattened but 

 long, the lower jaw longest, with extensive gape, 

 with numerous small teeth round the front, and five 

 or six large and very sharp teeth on each side ; 

 upper jaw blunt and rather duck-billed in shape ; 

 the vomer and palatine bones furnished with teeth of 

 various sizes, a veritable phalanx of bristling 

 " pikes " pointing inwards and downwards towards 

 the throat ; these terrible weapons have hinged 

 and movable bases of attachment, and are so 

 arranged that while they favour the entry of the 

 pike's prey, any attempt at escape is impossible, for 

 they then fly up like so many harpoon blades, and 

 hold it the firmer ; but no teeth are on the 

 maxillary bones. The eyes are placed high and 

 nearly on the top of the head, so that pike may 

 be better able to see the prey swimming over 

 them. 



The tail is large and rather forked ; the pectoral 

 and ventral fins are small ; there are mucous 

 orifices in pairs on the head ; also some in single 

 rows in the lower jaw-bones ; the cheeks and 

 upper parts of gill-covers have scales on them. 

 Pike are silvery white on the belly, but their other 

 colourings vary according to location and season of 

 the year. In spring and summer, while aquatic 

 vegetation is green, they are mottled with white, 

 yellow, and green ; in autumn and winter, olive 

 brown mottled with green, thus assimilating to the 

 surrounding conditions of decaying weeds and 

 sedges the head and back are dark olive brown ; 

 tail, dorsal, and anal fin dark brown, mixed with 

 red and dark green on the fin-rays ; the pectoral 

 and ventral fins are pale brown, and the gills a 

 vivid red. 



