Esox
Esox Temporal range:
| |
---|---|
Northern pike (E. lucius) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Esociformes |
Family: | Esocidae G. Cuvier, 1817 |
Genus: | Esox Linnaeus, 1758 |
Type species | |
Esox lucius |
Esox is a
Esox have a fossil record extending back to the
Pikes have the elongated, torpedo-like shape typical of predatory 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, providing camouflage among underwater weeds, and each individual pike marking patterns are unique like fingerprints. Pikes can grow to a maximum recorded length of 1.83 m (6 ft), reaching a maximum recorded weight of 35 kg (77 lb).[citation needed]
Etymology
The generic name Esox (pike fish) derives from the
The
A
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.
Species
Currently, seven recognized species are placed in this genus:
Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Subspecies | Distribution |
---|---|---|---|---|
, 2014 | Aquitanian pike[3] | Adour drainages in southwestern France
| ||
Esox americanus J. F. Gmelin , 1789 |
American pickerel |
|
the Gulf Coast from Mississippi to Florida; the Great Lakes Basin from Ontario to Michigan, down to the western Gulf Coast, from East Texas to Mississippi.
| |
Esox cisalpinus Bianco & Delmastro, 2011 | Southern pike[4] | western Balkans .
| ||
Esox lucius Linnaeus, 1758 | Northern pike | Britain, Ireland, northern Europe, most of Canada, and most parts of the United States | ||
Esox masquinongy Mitchill , 1824 |
Muskellunge |
|
mesotrophic lakes and large rivers from northern Michigan, northern Wisconsin, and northern Minnesota through the Great Lakes region, north into Canada | |
Esox niger Lesueur , 1818 |
Chain pickerel | southern Canada to Florida, and west to Texas. On the Atlantic Northeast in Maine, New Hampshire, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia | ||
Esox reichertii Dybowski , 1869 |
Amur pike | the Amur River system in Northeast Asia
|
Hybrids between Esox masquinongy and Esox lucius are well-known and referred to as the tiger muskellunge.
Fossil species
The oldest fossil species of Esox is
Diet
Pike feed on a wide range of food sources, predominantly smaller
They will also prey on insects and amphibians such as newts or frogs in times when their usual food is scarce, and occasionally on small mammals like moles or mice when caught water-borne. Small birds such as ducklings may become a target for hungry pike. Pike are also known to prey on swimming snakes.
They are, however, undeserving of their reputation for being overly vicious predators. There have been some incidents of pike "attacks" on people.
Angling
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. Colour of lure can be influenced by water clarity and weather conditions. Since pike have numerous sharp teeth it is wise to take extreme care when unhooking them. The use of a wet leather
The current recommended method of grasping pike is to close the hand firmly over the gill 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 anglers 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.
Pike are susceptible to gut 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 as gut 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.[12] Placing hooks near the rear of the bait reduces the risk of deep hooking.[13]
Other methods of catching and handling pike that are now frowned upon are the gaff 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.
Cuisine
The taste of pike and pickerel is highly esteemed, but the "multitude of long, fine, forked bones" are problematic.[14]
Submarines and tanks
Two
Cultural significance
Mythology
Russian mythology holds that the pike is one of several forms assumed by evil water spirits called
In the Finnish Kalevala, Väinämöinen creates a kantele (string instrument) from the jawbone of a pike.
Heraldry
In heraldry, the pike is called a lucy (English heraldry) or a ged (Scottish heraldry).[1] It is usually blazoned either naiant (swimming), embowed (bowed) or hauriant (jumping), though pairs of lucies may appear addorsed (back to back), as in the arms of the Finnish town of Uusikaupunki (Argent, two lucies addorsed azure).[citation needed]
Literature
In
the coastal regions.References
- ^ LCCN 09023803.
- LCCN 02020303. Archived from the originalon 2 November 2007. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
- PMID 25242691.
- ^ Lucentini, Puletti, Ricciolini, Gigliarelli, Fontaneto, Lanfaloni, Bilò, Natali, Panara (2011). Molecular and Phenotypic Evidence of a New Species of Genus Esox (Esocidae, Esociformes, Actinopterygii): The Southern Pike, Esox flaviae. PLoS ONE 6(12): e25218. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0025218
- S2CID 213203684.
- ^ .
- .
- ^ a b Wilson, Brinkman & Neuman, 1992
- ^ "Fossilworks: Estesesox".
- ^ "Fossilworks: Oldmanesox".
- ^ "Water skier bitten by giant pike". The Guardian. 31 August 1999. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2009. Retrieved 7 February 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Coping with Deep Hooked Pike | Pike Anglers Club of Great Britain". Archived from the original on 13 September 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2013.
- ^ a b Waverley Root, Food, 1996, p. 353
- ^ 'Piscator', "Pike Fishing", The Sportsman (Second Series), 2:3:139 (March 1840)
- ^ Marthe Daudet, Shirley King, translator and adaptor, Pampille's Table: Recipes and Writings from the French Countryside from Marthe Daudet's Les Bons Plats de France [1934], p. 153
- ^ "Emelya the Simpleton", russian folklore fairy tale. At the Pike's Behest
External links
- "Esox". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 5 December 2004.
- Oxford English Dictionary, s.vv. "Esox", "Ged1", and "Pike, n.4".
- Pike in Your Waters, the Pike Anglers Club, pub 2003
- Pike Preservation - Fishing Equipment Archived 2 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Pike Fishing Scotland
- Float Tube Fishing In Ireland Pike Fishing from a Float Tube
- Pike Fishing in Denmark Coarse Fishing in Denmark
- Pike Fishing in Scotland Coarse Fishing in the Highlands
- River Swimming Water Safety Archived 29 July 2015 at the Wayback Machine mentions Pike attack as a risk of open water swimming. Accessed 21 October 2007