| Esox | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Northern pike (E. lucius) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Salmoniformes |
| Family: | Esocidae |
| Subfamily: | Esocinae |
| Genus: | Esox Linnaeus,1758 |
| Type species | |
| Esox lucius | |
Esox is agenus offreshwater fish commonly known aspike orpickerel. It is the type genus of thefamilyEsocidae. Thetype species of the genus isEsox lucius, thenorthern pike.
Esox have a fossil record extending back to thePaleocene. Modern large pike species are native to thePalearctic andNearctic realms, ranging acrossNorthern America and fromWestern Europe toSiberia inNorth Asia.
Pike have the elongated,torpedo-like shape typical ofpredatory fishes, with sharply pointed heads and sharp teeth. Their coloration is typically grey-green with a mottled or spotted appearance with stripes along their backs, providingcamouflage among underwater weeds, and each individual pike marking patterns are unique like fingerprints. Pikes can grow to a maximum recorded length of 1.50 m (5 ft), reaching a maximum recorded weight of 55 lb, 1 oz.[1] They are a long lived species and the skeleton of a particularly large example held in a museum inMannheim in the nineteenth century was thought to have been up to 100 years old.[2]
The generic nameEsox (pike fish) derives from theGreek ἴσοξ (ee-soks, a large fish) and appears to becognate withCeltic,Welsheog andIrish Gaeliciasc (fish), as well as alpine Gaulic*esosk which is consistent with the originalindoeuropean root for the common word for fish,*pei(k)sk.Pliny uses theLatin formEsox in reference to a large fish in theRhine normally identified withSalmonidae (lax or salmon).Carolus Linnæus attributesEsox to the pike fish which is of similar form and appearance but taxonomically different from the salmon forms, whereas the first mention ofEsox as a marine animal appears in the writings ofHesychius.
TheEnglish common name "pike" is an apparent shortening of "pike-fish", in reference to its pointed head, as theOld English wordpíc originally referring to apickaxe. Theplural of pike is also pike.[3][4]
ANorthern English andLowland Scots name for the pike,ged, similarly derives fromOld Norsegaddr (spike) (cf. the modernSwedish name for the pike,gädda, the Danish "gedde", the Norwegian "gjedde" andScottish Gaelic:geadais). TheDutch name for the pike (snoek) has been given to a wide variety of fish reminding sailors of the pike (see snoek,snook).
The English "pike" originally referred specifically to the adult fish, the diminutive form "pickerel" (now used to name some of the smaller pike species, e.g.E. americanus andE. niger) referring to the young. Thewalleye (Sander vitreus) is sometimes called a pickerel or a walleyed pike, but it is unrelated to the pike, being a member of the perch family (Percidae). Pike are not to be confused with the unrelatedpikeminnows of genusPtychocheilus (familyCyprinidae) orpikeperch (Sander lucioperca) which is more akin to walleye than to pike. Pike are also called "jackfish" in North America and informally "slough shark" in Western Canada.
Esox is the one of three extant members of the familyEsocidae, alongside the physically dissimilarDallia andNovumbra, the latter of which is its closest relative. Fossils ofEsox-like esocids are known as far back as theLate Cretaceous in freshwater habitats of North America. IndeterminateEsox fossils are known from theEarly Paleocene-agedFort Union Formation of Montana, US and theRavenscrag Formation of Saskatchewan, Canada, which represent the oldest records of the genus, only about 70,000 years after theCretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. These earlyEsox coexisted with their older relative, the extinctEstesesox, and suggest thatEsox either evolved very shortly after the extinction event, or already existed by theLate Cretaceous and immigrated to these localities shortly after the extinction event.[5]
Currently, seven recognized species are placed in this genus, within twosubgenera:[6]
| Image | Subgenus[6] | Scientific name | Common name | Subspecies | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Esox (pikes) | Esox aquitanicusDenys,Dettai,Persat,Hautecœur &Keith, 2014 | Aquitanian pike[7] | Charente to theAdour drainages in southwesternFrance | ||
 | Esox cisalpinusBianco &Delmastro, 2011 | Southern pike[8] | central andnorthern Italy, southeastern France andSwitzerland, and it might also occur inwestern Balkans. | ||
 | Esox luciusLinnaeus,1758 | Northern pike | Britain,Ireland,northern Europe, most ofCanada, and most parts of theUnited States | ||
.png) | Esox masquinongyMitchill, 1824 | Muskellunge |
| mesotrophic lakes and large rivers from northern Michigan, northernWisconsin, and northernMinnesota through the Great Lakes region, north into Canada | |
 | Esox reichertiiDybowski, 1869 | Amur pike | theAmur River system inNortheast Asia | ||
.png) | Kenoza (pickerels) | Esox americanusJ. F. Gmelin, 1789 | American pickerel |
| theSt. Lawrence drainage inQuebec, down to theGulf Coast fromMississippi toFlorida; theGreat Lakes Basin fromOntario toMichigan, down to the western Gulf Coast, fromEast Texas to Mississippi. |
.png) | Esox nigerLesueur, 1818 | Chain pickerel | southern Canada to Florida, and west to Texas. On theAtlantic Northeast inMaine,New Hampshire,New Brunswick andNova Scotia |
Hybrids betweenEsox masquinongy andEsox lucius are well-known and referred to as thetiger muskellunge.
.jpg)
The following fossil species are known:[9][10][11]
The oldest fossil species ofEsox isEsox tiemani, from the latePaleocene of Canada, which differs little from modern species.[14] Two additional fossil species, both from theLate Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada, are placed in their own genera:Estesesox foxi[15] (Santonian toCampanian[16]), andOldmanesox canadensis[15][11] (Campanian toMaastrichtian[17]).Esox kronneri is one of the rarest known fish from theEocene-agedFossil Buttelagerstatte of Wyoming, USA.E. kronneri appears to be more closely related to the North American pickerels (subgenusKenoza) than to the circumboreal "pike" (subgenusEsox) lineage, suggesting these two lineages diverged by theEarly Eocene.[11]
The allegedLate Cretaceous species "Esox monasteriensis"von der Marck, 1863 is thought to be an indeterminate teleost. Other fossil fish genera such asEnchodus andPlatinx also had theirtype species be initially described underEsox.[11]
Pike feed on a wide range of food sources, predominantly smallershoal fish. Pike are also cannibalistic, sometimes preying upon smaller members of their own species. This can be seen clearly in thenorthern pike.
They will also prey oninsects andamphibians such asnewts orfrogs in times when their usual food is scarce, and occasionally on smallmammals likemoles ormice when caught water-borne. Small birds such asducklings may become a target for hungry pike. Pike are also known to prey on swimmingsnakes.
They are, however, undeserving of their reputation for being overly vicious predators. There have been some incidents of pike "attacks" on people.[18] However these are rare cases of mistaken identity, where the pike mistakes human body parts, such as fingers, for prey. Pike's further reputation as apest seems to lie predominantly amongst a small handful of anglers and fishery managers who think that invasive species of pike are a threat to native rough fish and also other sport fish.
Effective methods for catching this hard-fighting fish include dead baits, live baits, and lure fishing. Pike can easily be damaged when handled since they are not as robust as their reputation would suggest and have a very sensitive slime coat. Since pike have numerous sharp teeth it is wise to take extreme care when unhooking them. The use of a wet leathergauntlet andsurgical forceps to remove hooks is highly recommended on safety grounds.
If practicing catch and release fishing, care for the pike should be the pike angler's utmost concern. The formerly recommended practice of grasping a pike by its eye sockets (misinterpreted as "its eyes") resulted in numerous released pike that quickly died from the inability to see prey any longer. The current recommended method of grasping pike is to close the hand firmly over thegill covers, and to make the period of handling as short as possible before release. Grabbing a pike by the gill covers is not feasible when a pike is very big, but it is easy to handle a pike by inserting the fingers at the bottom of the gill opening and grabbing the lower jaw. Big pike should also be supported at the belly. When a pike is held this way it is also easier to keep the mouth open to remove a hook. Some anglers now use special grips to grab the pike's front lower jaw, which can add to the safety of an angler because of the danger imposed by the hooks of the lure or tackle and the pike's teeth. However, these can cause serious damage to a pike's lower jaw. The Pike Anglers Club was formed in 1977 to campaign for the preservation of pike and the sport of pike fishing.
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Pike are susceptible togut hooking when fished for with natural bait. Upon taking the bait, the pike will hold it for a short time in its mouth as it moves off. The pike will then, usually, turn the bait in its mouth, so that it sits in alignment with its throat to ease swallowing. It is recommended that when pike fishing the process is not allowed to go this far and a strike is recommended as soon as a bite is indicated. Otherwise, what is known asgut hooking will result, which will normally kill or seriously injure the fish. Dutch research shows that cutting the line immediately when the fish is gut hooked will still give low mortality (14%). The hooks in the gut or stomach were either encapsulated or removed from the body.[19] Placing hooks near the rear of the bait reduces the risk of deep hooking.[20] To minimize injury from gut hooking the hook should be taken out from the gills where you will insert your pliers or forceps. Grab as close to the base of the hook as you can and rotate the eye of the hook toward the bottom of the fish's mouth and be removed carefully as to not rehook the fish.
Other methods of catching and handling pike that are now frowned upon are thegaff and the gag. The gaff is a metal hook on the end of a pole used to hook through the fish's body in place of a more humane landing net. A gag is a device for holding open the pike's mouth whilst unhooking. These are now illegal in Scotland, as they put a huge amount of pressure on a pike's jaw, thus causing irreparable damage.
The taste of pike and pickerel is highly esteemed, but the "multitude of long, fine, forked bones" are problematic.[21][22] The dish ofquenelles de brochet (pike dumplings), which puts the meat through a sieve, was invented to deal with this.[23] Indeed,Escoffier believed, falsely, thatquenelles had completely displaced the whole fish from the menu.[21]
TwoUnited States Navysubmarines have been namedPike –SS-6 of 1903 andSS-173 of 1935 – and three –SS-22 of 1912,SS-177 of 1936, andSS-524 of 1944 – namedPickerel. In addition, theSoviet submarines known toNATO as theVictor III class andAkula class are called theShchuka (Щука, "pike") class inRussian. The SovietIosif Stalin tank (IS-3) was also nicknamedShchuka, in reference to its sharply pointed hull front.
Russian mythology holds that the pike is one of several forms assumed by evil water spirits calledvodyanoy, and a ravenous mythical pike is traditionally blamed for decimating the fish population in theSheksna River. Russian fairy tales, on the other hand, also tell about an old wise pike that can fulfil wishes of the one who catches it, if its catcher releases it back into its habitat.[24]
In the FinnishKalevala,Väinämöinen creates akantele (string instrument) from the jawbone of a pike.
Inheraldry, the pike is called alucy (English heraldry) or aged (Scottish heraldry).[3] It is usuallyblazoned eithernaiant (swimming),embowed (bowed) orhauriant (jumping), though pairs of lucies may appearaddorsed (back to back), as in the arms of theFinnish town ofUusikaupunki (Argent, two lucies addorsed azure).[citation needed]
 | .svg) |  |
InGeorge R. R. Martin'sA Song of Ice and Fire series ofepic fantasy novels, both theseat and thehighborn bastards of theIron Islands are named "Pyke", likely inspired by the pike fish since the islands are inhabited byViking-likeseafaring warriors who frequentpirate ships andraid the coastal regions.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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