104 



SEA PIKE. 



and particularly taeniae, of which not fewer than an 

 hundred have been seen in a single fish. 



The Pike is generally supposed to have been in- 

 troduced into England in the reign of King Henry 

 the eighth, and it is said that they were then so 

 rare that a Pike was sold for double the price of a 

 house-lamb in February, and a Pickrel or Jack for 

 more than a fat capon : yet as it occurs in the. 

 famous inthronizatipn feast of Archbishop Nevil in 

 the year 1466, it was probably known in our island 

 at a much earlier period. 



SEA PIKE. 



Esox Sphyrsena. E. argenteo-ccerulescens dorso dipterygio,maxilla 

 inferiore longiore, pinnis inferioribus rubentibus. 



Silvery-blueish Pike, with two dorsal fins, lower jaw longer 

 than the upper^ and lower fins reddish. 



Esox Sphyraena. E. dorso dipterygio, antica spinosa. Lin. Sysf, 

 Nat. p. 515. 



Esox pinnis dorsi duabus. Blocli. t. 339. 

 ' Sphyi-aena. Sah. Aldr. Will. Jonst. 8fC. 8^c. 



Sea Pike, or Spit- Fish. Charlt. onomast, p. 136. 



This species in its general habit or appearance 

 i^i considerably allied to the common Pike, but is 

 of a silvery blueish colour, duskj^ on the back, and 

 slightly tinged with yellow on the head and about 

 the gills: the first dorsal fin is situated on the 

 middle of the back, and is furnished with only four 

 rays, which are all strong or spiny : the second, 

 which is placed opposite the anal fin, consists of 

 about ten rays, of which the first only is spiny : 



