ESOX LUCIUS. 361 



In France it is known as Brocket, and by a figure of speech it is some- 

 times spoken of in that country, as in England, as the " Fresh- water Shark/' 

 It is absent from some Departments in the South of France, and has not been 

 recorded in Spain. 



The Dutch term it Greepjisch or Snoek. In Germany it is Hecht, and is 

 absent only from the highest mountain lakes, occurring indifferently in all 

 waters, though, as in Britain, preferring such as do not flow rapidly. In Italy 

 it is Luccio ; in Hungary the provincial name is Csuka; in Roumania, Stuke ; in 

 Bohemia, Stika ; and in Poland, Szezupak. It, however, extends farther south, 

 and the British Museum collection contains examples from the Lake of St. 

 Stefanos, in Turkey. It is found in all the rivers of Russia in Europe, and in 

 Siberia, with the exception of the Crimea and the Trans-Caucasus region. In 



Fig. 168. ESOX LUCIUS (UNNJEUS). 



Sweden it is found throughout the peninsula, extending even beyond the limits 

 of the birch-tree in Lapland. It is known to the Swedes as Gddda. It is 

 never met with in salt water, though -found in the lagoons of Venice ; but 

 it diminishes in size and number as it approaches the open sea in Sweden. 



The aspect of the Pike is very striking, and quite unmistakable. The 

 broad, low, compressed, and remarkably long head, with the backward position 

 of the dorsal fin, distinguishes it from every other fish. The head may be 

 one-third of the length of the body, but is usually somewhat less ; it is three 

 times as long as broad. The fish is six times as long as high, and the thickness 

 of the body may exceed half its height. The sides are flat, and the transverse 

 section is somewhat four-sided. The head is usually about six times as long 

 as the eye, though in old fishes it may be eight times as long as the eye. The 

 eye is nearly in the middle of the length of the head, and close to the frontal 

 profile. The eyes are rarely separated by more than their own diameter, 

 arid this distance diminishes with age. The nares are in front of the eye. The 

 mouth is nearly horizontal, the lower jaw projects in front of the small pre- 



