XXIII. The Chautauqua Mascalonge or 

 Muskalimge 



The mascalonge is the prize fish of Chautauqua Lake, ow- 

 ing to its gamy qualities and to the great size which it attains. 

 Its high rank as a game fish is due to its large size rather than 

 to its actual fighting power. It is usually taken by trolling 

 either with spoon or minnow. Specimens have been caught 

 weighing fifty pounds, and for many years twenty- to thirty- 

 pound fish were quite common. 



This splendid fish is known chiefly from Chautauqua Lake, 

 although specimens have been reported from a few other 

 places in the Ohio Valley, notably the Mahoning River, the 

 Ohio at Evansville, and Conneaut Lake. According to Jor- 

 dan, " In the early part of the last century, when Rafinesque 

 wrote about the fishes of the Ohio River, the muskallunge 

 was apparently more frequently seen in that river than now." 



The name " mascalonge " is apparently derived from the lan- 

 guage of the Ojibwa or Cree Indians, and is variously spelt, 

 muscallonge, muskellunge, maskinonge, etc., all being varia- 

 tions of the same term. According to Mr. H. W. Henshaw 

 the roots are probably " mask," meaning ugly, and " kinonge" 

 meaning fish, the ugly fish. Mascalonge seems to be the pre- 

 ferred spelling among ichthyologists. 



This splendid fish belongs to the Pike Family, a large fam- 

 ily of game fishes, which is represented in New York State 

 by the following species : 



1. The Banded Pickerel. 



2. The Little Pickerel. 



3. The Chain Pickerel or Green Pike. 



4. The Common Pike or Pickerel. 



5. The Lake Mascalonge. 



6. The Chautauqua Mascalonge. 



Formerly the Chautauqua Mascalonge was classified as 

 a sub-species or variety of the Great Lakes form. It differs 



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