FISHES OF CHESAPEAKE BAY 
77 
This fish was not seen during the present investigation and if it really occurs in the Chesapeake 
region (concerning which there seems to be some doubt notwithstanding that it has been recorded 
from there by at least two authors) it is not recognized by the fishermen. 
The maximum length attained by this sturgeon is about 3 feet. 
Habitat . — The only definite locality records belonging to this species, rather than the young of 
A. oxyrhynchus, are Provincetown, Mass, (described herein); New York, Bean (1903, p. 68); Dela- 
ware Bay, LeSueur (1817, p. 390) and Ryder (1890, p. 236); and Chesapeake Bay, Smith and Bean, 
(1899, p. 181). 
Chesapeake localities. — (a) Previous record: Potomac River. (6) Specimens in the present 
collection: None. 
Order HOLOSTEI 
Family XVII. — LEPISOSTEID/E. The gar pikes 
Body very elongate, more or less cylindrical; jaws produced, more or less beaklike, both 
armed with sharp teeth of various sizes; external bones of skull very hard and rugose; eyes small; 
nostrils near the end of upper jaw; gills 4, a slit behind the fourth; an accessory gill on the inner 
side of opercle; branchiostegals 3; air bladder cellular, lunglike, somewhat functional; spiral valve 
of the intestine rudimentary; scales consisting of rhombic plates, more or less imbricated and 
placed in oblique series running downward and backward; tail heterocercal, produced as a filament 
extending beyond the caudal fin in young; dorsal and anal fins placed far back and nearly opposite 
each other; ventral fins abdominal. 
21. Genus LEPISOSTEUS Lacepede. Gar pikes 
The characters of the genus are included in the family description. A single species is reported 
from Chesapeake waters. 
29. Lepisosteus osseus (Linnseus). Garfish; Gar pike. 
Esox osseus Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. X, 1758, p. 313; “Virginia.” 
Lepisosteus osseus Uhler and Lugger, 1876, ed. I, p. 182; ed. II, p. 154; Jordan and Evermann, 1896-1900, p. 109; Smith and Bean, 
1899, p. 181. 
Head 3.22; depth about 8.5; D. 8; A. 9; snout produced, 1.55 in head, its least width about 
12.5 in its length; eye 13.1 in head; interorbitals 6; mouth very large; teeth numerous, both jaws 
with an outer series of small teeth, followed by a series of large, sharp canines projecting into pits 
in the opposite jaw when the mouth is closed, smaller rasplike teeth following the large teeth and 
occupying the jaws, vomer, and palatines; tongue well developed, emarginate or with a shallow 
slit in the free tip; external bones of the head hard, rough; scales bony, rhombic, platelike, with 
sharp posterior cutting edges; dorsal fin placed on posterior part of body, its origin over middle 
of base of anal; caudal fin rounded, unsymmetrical, the upper median rays longest, the lowest ray 
shortest; anal somewhat larger than the dorsal; ventral fins placed on the median part of the abdo- 
men, a little nearer the base of the pectorals than origin of the anal; pectoral fins rather narrow, 
elongate, 3.35 in head. Color dark grayish above, silvery underneath; the vertical fins with large 
black spots; the paired fins plain olivaceous. 
A single specimen (a partial skin 30 inches in length) forms the basis for the above description. 
The gar is generally common in the fresh waters of the central and eastern States and at times it 
ventures into salt water. It is not common in Chesapeake Bay, however. Fishermen operating 
at the mouth of the York River did not know the fish. Those operating pound nets in Lynnhaven 
Roads stated that the “garfish” was seldom caught in that vicinity. 
The garfish is very variable, the local variations having given rise to about 28 specific names. 
It is readily recognized, however, by its produced, beaklike snout, rough, bony head and by the 
quadrate bony plates that cover the body. The posterior edges of these plates are somewhat free 
and very sharp. Large individuals are capable of cutting the fishermen’s hands severely while 
bending the body from side to side in their struggle to escape. 
This gar pike reaches a length of about 6 feet, and with its long beaklike mouth, provided with 
sharply pointed teeth, it is popularly believed to be a terror among other fish; but stomach examina- 
