Dorsal 18; Pectoral 16; Ventral 10; Anal 14; Caudal 19-7/7. Or, according to Agassiz—
D. 20; P. 16; V. 10; A. 20; C. 18.
This fish rarely exceeds ten pounds in weight, although he has been said to attain fifteen; but in these instances has probably been confounded with the Northern Pickerel. He abounds all through the northern States, and is emphatically the Pickerel, when the word is used without other qualification. The darker, more sluggish and weedy the water, the more he likes it; old roots, decayed trees and a muddy bottom are his delight, and by his ferocity not a few ponds have been depopulated of superior fish. Among a certain class of fishermen he is a favorite, though utterly worthless for the table or as sport, and the little enterprise our farmers have shown has been in introducing this despicable fish into good waters, where, in consequence of his rapid increase and voracious habits, he has soon exterminated all other varieties. Even excellent trout ponds have been treated in this way.
The largest of these fish within my range of information, are taken in Long Pond, New Jersey, a large pond, originally a natural lake, and rendered more extensive by damming. The head-waters are filled with dead trees, amid the roots of which pickerel hide and thrive. There they are said to attain ten pounds, and often exceed five. Generally, however, five is the limit, and many more are taken that weigh not over three. These fish are not found in the waters of Canada, and are usually captured with live or dead bait, or a piece of pork, although in favorable water they would undoubtedly take the spoon, like their congeners of the north. Their habits are similar to those of the northern pickerel and mascallonge.
CHAPTER XVIII.
FEDERATION PIKE.
Esox Tredecem Radiatus.—This fish, simply so called because it has no name among fishermen and sportsmen, is almost unknown to naturalists. Dr. De Kay doubts its existence, and it is described alone by Dr. Mitchill. I take, therefore, much pleasure in adding my testimony, so far as it goes, to its existence, although after all it may be merely a northern or common pickerel so altered by a change of food and water as not to be recognizable. There were a large number taken in the Little Herring Pond, on Cape Cod near Agawam, and the secret of their existence being kept for years, we had excellent sport before the natives found it out, and with their spears and guns, fishing through the ice and killing them on the spawning-beds put a termination to their existence. A few may remain, and thus determine the question. “We caught large numbers, taking them of ten pounds’ weight, and readily killing in a few hours a hundred and twenty-five pounds. The fish were peculiarly beautiful in appearance, so much so that I made a rough outline which is now before me, and marked in the colors for the purpose of painting the picture of one. I afterward found the undertaking difficult, on account of the dissimilarities of the common pickerel, which I purchased in market and endeavored to use as a guide. The water of this pond was clear as crystal, and communicated with the ocean; it was alive with herring, perch and other small fish, as thick as the gold leaf in a bottle of Eau de vie de Dantsic, and may have had a great effect upon the coloring and shape of the fish. At the time I was struck with their appearance, and examined all the works on ichthyology at my command, but could find no satisfactory description.
The head was that of the pickerel family; of the teeth and fin-rays I remember nothing accurately; the back was dark brownish green, growing greener on the sides, where it was interspersed with numerous lilac spots or scales, and shading off, as it descended on the sides, into light green with yellow scales; then into yellow with brilliant silvery scales, terminated on the belly in the purest white. The dorsal fin and tail were dark green, the anal burnt sienna, the ventral yellow, with, I believe, the first ray red, and the pectoral yellow and reddish. The back of the head was dark green, the gill-covers were partially covered with scales, the iris was yellow shot with pearl; between the eye and the nostril there was a spot of lighter green; the snout and tip of the under jaw were dark green; adjoining on the under jaw was a warm lilac color, becoming purplish as it advanced toward the gill-cover. The lower part of the fore gill-cover was of a pearly tint, deepening into purple as it ascended; the gill-rays were a beautiful warm light mother of pearl, and behind them was a yellow tint. These colors were all exquisitely brilliant, and bid defiance to my palette. The sides were variegated with irregular broken horizontal black lines, extending nearly to the tail, which was forked. Toward the belly these lines disappeared; and the scales of the whole body were small and numerous. The depth was unusually large in proportion to the length, made greater probably by my drawing the outline round the fish as he lay on his side. I took three outlines; but the best specimen weighed six pounds and a half, and was twenty-four and a half inches long to the centre of the tail, and twenty-three to the root, by five and a half deep, the head having a length of seven and a half inches.
These fish were not only remarkably beautiful, but were excellent on the table, and differed utterly in both particulars from all other pickerel. They were taken in Summer among the water lilies, with the belly of a yellow perch or a piece of themselves, and surrounded as they were by the most delicious food, visible to our eyes in unlimited quantities, were naturally dainty.
The above description accords wonderfully with that of Dr. Mitchill, and there can be no doubt that the fish are identical, although I did not count the fin-rays, which Dr. Mitchill gives at—