Chautauqua Mascalonge or Muskalunge 



greatly, however, in appearance from the Great Lakes spe- 

 cies, the two are not known to intergrade, their habits are 

 entirely distinct, and so according to the best authorities they 

 are regarded as distinct species. 



In summer the fish frequent nearly the same localities as 

 in winter, being found in the vicinity of water plants. When 

 the lake becomes very clear in February they go into deep 

 water, but they also live in deep water more or less through- 

 out the ^ear. As soon after the first of April as the ice leaves 

 the lake the fish begin to spawn, and continue until the latter 

 part of April. They go into shallower water for spawning; 

 most of them spawn in from ten to fifteen feet of water. They 

 do not resort to the gravel, as do many other species of fish, 

 but seem to prefer the muddy places, generally going up into 

 bays. 



For more than twenty-five years the State of New York 

 has been propagating the Chautauqua mascalonge with no- 

 table success. The fry have been planted chiefly in Chau- 

 tauqua Lake, but large and frequent plantings have been made 

 in the other waters of New York, in Lake Ontario, and in 

 the Saint Lawrence River. In some of this State fish-cultural 

 work single female fish were found to yield as high as 60,000 

 eggs. In the hatchery these eggs are placed in boxes, all of 

 which are provided with screens at top and bottom. The 

 bottom has an extra screen to prevent minnows from injuring 

 the eggs. The boxes are sunk from one to two feet under 

 the surface of the water. Every day or two they are drawn 

 up, inspected, and all bad eggs and sediment are cleaned out. 



The mascalonge is well known as an excellent food fish, 

 and with the exception of the lake trout and some of the sal- 

 mon, this species is the largest fresh-water game fish in the 

 United States. Jordan and Evermann state: 



"Writing of this species in 1818 Rafinesque said: 'It is one of 

 the best fishes in the Ohio; its flesh is very delicate and divides easily, 

 as in salmon, into large plates white as snow. It is called salmon pike, 

 white pike, white jack, or white pickerel. ... It reaches a length of 



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