THE PIKE FAMILY. 



131 



GKEAT LAKE PICKEKEL. 



Esox lucioides. 



The body of this fish presents the characteristics of all the 

 Pike Family, carrying the breadth of body well aft, even to 

 the anal fin ; its section is almost rectangular. Length of 

 head compared with body as seven and a half to twenty-eight ; 

 breadth one-seventh ; back one-twelfth. 



Color, dark bluish-green above, with a lighter tinge of the 

 same on the sides. Belly white. The markings are white, 

 irregularly shaped on the back, but rectangular on the sides, 

 and twice or thrice as long as they are wide. 



The head is long, depressed between the eyes, with a slight 

 upward curve of the snout. The under jaw has also an 

 upward curve, and projects beyond the snout ; it is armed on 

 each side with seven long sharp teeth projecting forward, but 

 with the points curved somewhat back. The teeth of the 

 upper jaw are shorter and inverted. The palatine teeth are 

 gradually larger towards the vomer. The vomer, pharynx, 

 and branchial arches have teeth which are shorter, but not 

 less keen. 



The eye has its posterior margin nearly half way between 

 the snout and angle of opercle, and is slightly below the 

 facial line ; its diameter is about one-tenth the length of the 

 head. 



The specimen I examined exhibited a deficiency in the 

 number of fin-rays as compared with Frank Forester's de- 



