38 
SCANDINAVIAN FISHES. 
in proportion to the length of the body" is about the 
same as in the Perch, from 26 to 28 p. c.; but the 
depth of the body at the insertion of the ventral fins 
is only equal to the distance from the tip of the snout 
to the hind margin of the preoperculum. The mouth is 
fairly large and almost horizontal; the bones of the upper 
jaw extend backwards to a point almost exactly above 
the posterior margin of the eye. The snout projects 
only slightly beyond the lower jaw, at the point of which 
there is a kind of knob. The two canine teeth in the 
lower jaw tit into cavities in the front of the upper jaw 
when the mouth is closed, while the front canine teeth 
on the intermaxi Uaries project beyond the margin of the 
lower jaw. There are 8 pharyngeals, and teeth on all 
of them, consisting of 2 lower, which are oblong in 
shape, and 6 upper, which are smaller and coalesce into 
2 oblong and distinctly separate pharyngeals. The two 
nostrils, the front one being furnished with a cover, are 
situated nearer the eye than the snout, and the distance 
between them is about the same as that between the 
back nostril and the anterior orbital margin. The scales 
are stiff and sharp, and they are, as is generally the 
case, smaller in the anterior part of the body than in 
the posterior; even the cheeks (at least in the upper 
part and in front) are covered with scales, as well as 
the gill-cover and the suboperculum. On the occiput 
and forehead and in the depression at the middle of 
the head, they are of irregular occurrence. The lateral 
line is straight and runs nearer the back than the belly. 
The first dorsal fin begins vertically above the insertion 
of the ventral fins, the second above the vent. As in 
the Perch, the margin of the first is arched, while the 
second is straighter, but, like the anal fin, slightly 
rounded. In older specimens the base of the anal fin is 
equal to the distance between the anterior orbital mar- 
gin and the hind margin of the preoperculum, or 
about half the length of the base of the first dorsal fin. 
In younger specimens it is slightly shorter. The least 
depth of the tail is about equal to the distance between 
the hind margin of the eye and that of the preoperculum. 
The pectoral fins are inserted in front of the vertical 
line from the beginning of the first dorsal fin, and the 
upper rays, and generally some of the lower as well, 
are unbranched but articulated. The length of the 
ventral fins is in older specimens about half the distance 
between their insertion and the beginning of the anal 
fin, or even less. In younger specimens their length is 
greater. The caudal fin is more forked than in the Perch. 
In brilliancy of colouring the Pike-perch does not 
stand high, and is considerably surpassed by the Perch. 
The back of the head is grayish black. The back is dark 
gray with transverse, irregular bands of black spots across 
it, which usually extend down the sides a little below 
the lateral line. The sides become lighter and lighter 
towards the belly, being at first bluish gray on a brass- 
yellow ground, then brass-yellow towards the belly, 
which is silver-white. The first dorsal fin is bluish with 
oblong black and yellowish spots arranged longitudinally 
upon it in 4 or 5 rows, the spots in the top rows being 
usually elongated into an irregular, twisted wormlike form. 
The second dorsal fin grayish with smaller, black and yel- 
lowish spots. The caudal fin a darker bluish gray and 
spotted in the same way. The pectoral fins whitish gray. 
The pectoral and anal fins of the same colour as the belly 
or dirty white with blackish gray dots. The iris silver, 
shading into brass-yellow and black, especially at the top. 
The most remarkable varieties in colouring in Sweden are 
a light one, which generally consists of young specimens 
and those which inhabit shallow water where the colour 
of the bottom is light, and a dark, usually including 
older specimens and those which live in deeper water. 
The transverse black bands are also sometimes broken up 
into separate spots with smaller spots between them. 
In the large lakes throughout the greater part of 
Sweden 6 , especially in the southern and central parts of 
the country (except in Lake Wetter) and with a prefe- 
rence for the eastern districts (though common in Lake 
Wener and its affluents" in Norway), the Pike-perch is 
widely spread, though in only few places especially 
numerous. In the island-belt within the Baltic it is one 
of the rarest of fishes; but still it occurs, according to the 
report of Mr. Limborg, the late Inspector of Fisheries, in 
the following places in the island-belt of Sodermanland, 
Marsviken, where it has been introduced by the planting 
of eggs, the Firths of Nykoping and Sjosa, whither it has 
been carried by the streams which drain the neigh- 
bouring lakes, in the Firth of Sibbo, where fry have been 
planted, and also at the mouth of the Trosa river and 
a Here, as throughout this work, where nothing else is remarked, the length of the body is measured from the tip of the snout to 
the end of the middle rays in the caudal fin. 
6 According to the reports of the Commission of Fisheries from 1881 to 1883 the Pike-perch is found in all the provinces of Sweden 
except Jonkoping, Kronoberg, Gotland, Blekinge, Malmohus, Halland, and Jamtland. 
c Cf. Collett, Norges Fiske, 1. c. 
