FAMILY KSOCID.E — ESOX. 22^ 



from two to three-tenths of an inch in diameter ; tliey become occasionally confluent. Eacli 

 scale has a bright quadrate spot, which reflects l)rilliant metallic tints of various colors. 



Length, 12- 0-48-0. 



Fin rays, D. 21 ; P. 12 ; V. 11 ; A. 21 ; C. 19 i. 



According to Mitchill, wlin describes a specimen 47 '0 lonir and weighing 30 pounds, the 

 'fin rays are as follows : 



D. 21 ; P. 14; V. 11 ; A. 17; C. 20. 



The MtiskcUunge, or Maskinonge, for its orthography is not settled, occurs abundantly in 

 I^ake Erie, and is found also in the streams in the western district. My friend Ur. Pickering 

 informs me that he saw them offered for sale at Montezuma (Cayuga county), where they 

 were kept in a reservoir. They occur as far north as Lake Huron, where, however, they 

 are rare. They are oflen caught by the seine. Dr. Kirtland speaks of them as being one of 

 the best fish for eating, produced by the western waters. A specimen, he states, was taken 

 in the canal near JIassillon, which had found its way from Lake Erie. According to Lcsueur, 

 the name of this fish in the Wyandot dialect is Thuhakrcsah han. 



The description of E. cstor by the last named author, with the exception of a part ot the 

 specific phrase, applies, according to Richardson, exactly to E. lucius, and not at all to the 

 true Muskcllunge. 



THE COMMON PICKEREL. 



EsnX RETICULATU5. 



PI-.VTE XXXIV. FIG. 107. 



The commmi Pihe of TsoTth America. SciiCEPFF, Naturforsc hen, Vol. "2, p. 2G. 

 Tlie Pickerel, E. lucius, var. Mitchili,, Lit. and Plul. Soc. N. Y. Vol. I, p. 440. 

 Esox reticulatu)!. Lesueur, Jour. Acnd. Nat. Sc. Vol. 1, p. 414. E. niger^ Id. var. 

 The common Pickerel, E. rcticulatus. Storer, Massachusetts Report, p. 97. 

 Bsox reticulatus, Pike. KiRTL.vND, Zoology of Ohio, No. 41, p. 194. 



Characteristics. Yellowisli, with reticulated dark marks on the sides. .Vbdomen white, tinged 

 with pink. Caudal deeply emarginate. Length one to three feet. 



Description. Body subcylindncal, elongate. Scales small, emarginatcd. Snout bhint ; 

 the upper jaw smooth, broad, depressed, shorter than the lower jaw. Branchial rays seven- 

 teen. A few very small teeth on the intcrmaxillaries, in front of the upper jaw ; sides tooth- 

 less. On the lower jaw, in front, short small recurved teeth ; but on the sides they are longer, 

 distant, and slightly compressed. Palatines bristling with teeth, directed backward and 

 inward ; those on the interior edges of the palatines, much longer. Base of the tongue, 

 branchial arches and pharyngeals with card-like teeth directed inward. ;\roulh large ; nostrils 

 in a groove. A few orifices of mucous ducts scattered over the summit of the head. The 

 dorsal fin subquadratc, slightly rounded above the last ray, much ihe shortest. Pectorals 



