1 64 BRITISH FRESH-WATER FISHES 



but this is conclusively disproved by abundant fossil and semi- 

 fossil remains in the peat of the Fens. No doubt pike have 

 been established by the agency of man in waters where they did 

 not naturally exist, for the rapidity of their growth, as well as 

 the large size to which they quickly attain, rendered them 

 valuable to ecclesiastics and others when periodical fasting from 

 flesh was the rule. In the present day, when they no longer 

 furnish an important article of diet, the presence of pike must 

 be considered an unmitigated evil, so vast is the havoc wrought 

 by them among more valuable fish. 



Of old this fish was commonly known in English as the 

 luce, which name came to us through the old French /«j, from 

 the Latin lucius^ and further it cannot be traced ; but this 

 has been superseded by the term pike (a doublet of " spike "), 

 which refers to the general stiff sharp form of the creature. 

 In Scotland and Northern England it is universally known as 

 the gedd, a Scandinavian word signifying a " gad " or " goad," 

 and therefore intended to convey precisely the same similitude 

 as that of " pike." 



In appearance the pike resembles no other British fish. 

 The head is peculiarly long, broad, and flattened ; the body 

 is much elongated, the total length of the animal being about 

 six times its greatest depth ; and the dorsal fin occupies a 

 position right opposite the anal fin, and therefore far behind 

 the centre of the body. The back, the sides, and the belly are 

 all flattened, so as to give the body a quadrangular section. 

 The dorsal, caudal, and anal fins, set together on the muscular 

 tail, form a propelling apparatus of great power, enabling the 

 fish to dart swiftly upon his prey, which his capacious and 

 formidably-armed jaws are well designed to seize and hold. 



The eyes are large, set high in the middle of the head, 

 separated from each other by a space only equal to the diameter 

 of one of them. The irides are yellow. The mouth opening 

 extends nearly half the length of the head, the lower jaw 

 projecting beyond the snout. The tooth armature is extensive 



