140 MITCHILL ON THE FISHES OF NEW-YORK. 



(c) Var. With a horizontal line above, and interrupted slanting 

 lines below it. 



2. Pickerel. (Esox luciits.) Wilh blunt nose, lower jaw somewhat 

 longer, greenish yellow sides, and streaks of pale brown. 



A variety of E. lucius, measuring twenty-two inches long, by five 

 deep ; though he often grows much larger. 



Head long, grooved, and flattish. Nostrils double. Upper jaw 

 resembling, in some degree, the bill of a duck. Lower jaw rather 

 longer, and turning up a little at the end. 



Mouth and throat very wide. Gill-openings ample. Tongue mode- 

 rate and loose ; its extremity bifid, and its middle roughened with small 

 teeth. Lower jaw armed with sharp teeth of different lengths and 

 sizes. Palate beset with three patches of teeth arranged lengthwise. 

 The teeth in all these patches moveable one way, like those of cards. 

 They yield to any substance entering the mouth and throat, but rise 

 and make resistance to every thing withdrawn from the mouth. Teeth 

 of the outer patches inclining obliquely inward. 



Dorsal and anal fins far back, and opposite to each other. Body 

 itout and thick. Back rather flat, with a longitudinal groove. Lateral 

 line straight, though not easy to trace. 



Colour of the back dark brown. Gill-covers and sides greenish yel- 

 low, with mottled streaks of paler brown. Gill membrane and pectoral 

 fins reddish. Anal brown, inclining to ruddy. Dorsal and caudal 

 brown. Belly whitish red, or carnation. Tail forked. 



Rays, Br. 15. P. 12. V. 9. D. 16. A. 14. C. 21. 



Inhabits fresh waters ; the brooks and ponds of Long-Island. 



3. YcUow-hellicd Killifish. (Esox pisciculus.) With faintly zoned 

 sides, and yellow belly. 



Length four inches ; depth one. Head broad, thick, and flattish. 

 Eyes on the sides, and far apart. Firm covering of scales. Lowei J 



