PIKE
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FISH SPECIES
| Pike (esox lucius): Common name
for the family Esocidae, freshwater game and food fishes of Europe,
Asia, and North America. The pike, the muskellunge, and the pickerel
form a small but well-known group of long, thin fishes with
spineless dorsal fins, large anal fins, and long, narrow jaws with
formidable teeth. There are five species in the single genus Esox,
found in the lakes and streams of central and E North America. The
muskellunge, named by the Native Americans, is the largest of these,
averaging from 2 to 7 ft (61-213.5 cm) in length and from 10 to 20
lb (4.5 to 9 kg) in weight, though some may reach 60 lb (27 kg).
Carnivorous and solitary except at spawning time, muskellunges feed
on fish, frogs, snakes, and even the young of aquatic mammals and
waterfowl. The American, northern, or great northern pike, Esox
lucius, called jackfish in Canada, is also voracious, lurking in
weedy shallows to ambush its prey. This pike, believed to be the
same species as the European pike, is said to consume one fifth of
its own weight (10-35 lb or 4.5-16 kg) daily. Although a prized game
fish in its native habitat, it has been reviled as a pest with the
potential to devastate other game species in areas where it has been
introduced. The pickerels are smaller members of the family. The
grass, or barred, pickerel rarely exceeds 1 ft (30 cm) in length and
1 lb (.45 kg) in weight; the larger Eastern pickerel is found in
clear lakes and streams together with bass. Pikes are stubborn
fighters and are valued as game fishes; their flesh, though bony, is
delicious. The walleyed pike is really a perch . Pikes are
classified in the phylum Chordata , subphylum Vertebrata, class
Osteichthyes, order Clupeiformes, family Esocidae. Source: Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, Copyright (c) 2009.
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