The Bony Pike, or Gar-pike, is an inhabitant of the fresh-waters of North America, and has the most completely ossified skeleton and the most perfectly jointed backbone of all the fishes, whilst externally it is covered with a complete armour of thick, quadrangular scales coated with enamel. Three distinct species of this family are known, all of which are of large size, attaining a length of 6 feet. They are carnivorous in their habits, lying in wait among the reeds, and rushing out to seize their prey as soon as within range. In the Mississippi, great lakes, and rivers of South Carolina bony pike are especially abundant, occurring at times in such numbers as to fill the shad-nets and render the fishery for many days impossible. The larger members are said to be as aggressive as sharks, and remarkably tenacious of life.
Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.
Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co.] [Parson's Green.
BONY PIKE.
One of the very few survivors of the ancient group of Enamel-scaled Fishes.
The geographical distribution of the Bow-fin closely corresponds with that of the bony pike. It is an extremely common fish, and, though worthless for food purposes, has yet been deemed worthy of a number of different names, such as Grindle, Dog-fish, Sawyer, Mud-fish, and Lawyer-fish. At one time it was regarded as a near ally of the Herring Tribe, but modern research has shown this view to be erroneous. The bow-fin attains a length of about 2 feet, and is very voracious, preying both upon other fishes and aquatic insects and shrimps. It has a habit of coming frequently to the surface to breathe, especially when the water is foul, taking in large mouthfuls of air. When near the surface, it is said to utter a bell-like note, probably caused by the escape of air from the air-bladder. During the breeding-season the male takes entire charge of the eggs.
Photo by A. S. Rudland & Sons.