Page:Natural History, Fishes.djvu/234

220 head; a mouth deeply cleft, and armed on nearly the whole of its interior with minute teeth, besides a row of strong, long, pointed ones on each lower jaw. The body is clothed with small, distinct scales. But two or three species are known, inhabiting the fresh waters of Europe and North America. Of these the most celebrated is our own Pike or Jack, (Esox lucius, .)

The body of the Pike is much lengthened, somewhat four-sided, with the single dorsal placed very far behind. The head is flat, and produced into a broad, rounded muzzle, bearing no small resemblance to a duck's beak, when viewed from above. The gills open far back, behind the pectorals; the eyes are placed near the top of the head. The general form of the head bears an analogy with that of the Crocodile's, nor do the strong and sharp teeth of the lower jaw diminish the resemblance. The colour of the upper parts is dusky olive, marked with close set rows of small silver spots, produced by the disks of the scales. The sides are mottled with yellow and grey, and the belly is white. The fins are dusky, the dorsal, anal, and caudal, clouded and spotted with dark brown and red. The lateral line is scarcely distinguishable; but is nearly straight. The eyes are pale golden.

The scales are rather small for the size of the fish; they are more or less rounded in outline, without any points behind, or any structure there differing from the other parts, the concentric lines, which are very fine and close, being continuous all round. The front edge has some radiating undulations, the usual number of which is three, though sometimes two, and sometimes four,