CHAPTER X. 



FRESH-WATER FISHES OP THE ORDER PHYSOSTOMI (concluded}. 



FAMILY ESOCLD^E GENUS Esox: Pike FAMILY UMBRID^ GENTS UMHUA Umbra 

 Krameri FAMILY CYPRINODONTID^ GENUS CYPRINODON : Cyprinodon csilaritanus 

 C. ibericus GENUS FUNDULUS Fundulus hispanicus FAMILY MUILENID^E GENUS 

 ANGUILLA : Common Eel Broad-nosed Eel Dalmatian Eel. 



FAMILY: ESOCID^. 



t 



GrENUS : ESOX (ARTEDl). 



THE Pike genus is the only type of its family, and is a physostomous 

 fish, not very distantly removed from the Salmon tribe, and some inter- 

 mediate genera occur in the rivers of Africa, Australia, and North America. 

 Among the more strikingly distinctive characters are, the absence in Pikes of 

 the adipose fin, the situation of the dorsal fin, in the position of the adipose fin 

 of the Salmon, the glandular condition of the pseudobranchiffi, and the 

 absence of pyloric appendages to the intestine. It resembles the Salmon tribe 

 in having the upper jaw formed by the pre-maxillary bones in front, and the 

 maxillary bones at the sides, but the maxillary bone is toothless. The teeth on 

 the mandible vaiy in size, and those on the pre-maxillary, vomer, palatine, and 

 hyoid bones are sickle-shaped. The caudal fin is forked, the body is Jong, and 

 the snout is long, broad, and depressed, with the mandible exceeding the 

 length of the upper jaw. The genus Esox is limited to fresh water, and is 

 distributed through Europe, Asia, and North America. It may be regarded, 

 however, as rather an American than an Old World type, since all the seven 

 species mentioned by Giinther are found in the United States. 



Esox lucms (LINN^US). The Pike. 



The Pike (Fig. 168) is universally distributed in Britain and in Europe. It 

 is one of the older inhabitants of England, its remains occurring plentifully in 

 the peat of the Fens, with those of extinct mammals and birds. When young 

 the fish is known as a Jack, when a little larger it is often termed a Pickerel, 

 and the old fishes were formerly called Luce, a designation common in the 

 time of Chaucer, as the familiar lines in the " Canterbury Tales " show : 



" Full many a fatte partricke had he in me we, 

 Ami many a Breme and many a Luce in stewe." 



