138 Bass, Pike, and Perch 



in America, which makes it all the more confus- 

 ing when the name "pickerel" is applied indis- 

 criminately to all, even the mascalonge being 

 sometimes alluded to as an " overgrown pickerel." 



The range of the pike in America is from 

 Lake Champlain, the Great Lake region, and 

 the upper Mississippi River, north to Alaska; 

 it is rare in the Ohio Valley. 



Next to the mascalonge the pike is the most 

 important and largest member of the pike 

 family. It has a long body, somewhat com- 

 pressed, its length being a little more than 

 five times its depth. The head is large, some- 

 what more than a fourth of the length of the 

 body, with a long, flattened, and projecting 

 snout; the teeth are similar, but not quite so 

 large or numerous as in the mascalonge. 



The coloration and markings of the pike are 

 quite constant, not varying so much as in others 

 of the family, and is very different from those 

 of the mascalonge or any of the pickerels. The 

 ground color is grayish or greenish gray, darker 

 on the back and fading to silvery white on the 

 belly ; the sides, from head to tail, are profusely 

 covered with irregular, oblong, or bean-shaped 

 whitish spots or blotches, much lighter than the 



