All about pike. Predatory pike fish

There is a world some species of pike. They all have their own unique features, external differences and different range habitat.

Typical, most numerous variety. Lives in most fresh water bodies Europe, North America, found in the Aral Sea basin and reservoirs of Siberia. The length of a representative of this species reaches 1.5 meters, and the average weight is 8 kg. Eat 2 subspecies: grass and deep.

Color fish can change depending on habitat: from grayish-green and brown to gray-yellow shades of scales. Prefers to lead secluded lifestyle in the coastal zone of reservoirs, where there are thickets and slow currents. This predator lies in wait for its prey and carries out role orderly fresh water

Black

Also called striped. Despite its external resemblance to the northern common pike, it has difference in the form of a dark stripe above the eyes, and on the sides of her body there is a characteristic mosaic drawing.

Due to slow growth, the fish has a short snout. In adulthood, its length reaches 60 cm, and the weight is 2 kg. The largest known specimen weighed slightly more than 4 kg.
Comfortable living environment - congested areas fresh reservoirs with abundant vegetation in eastern North America.

This species has a very peaceful disposition; its diet is mostly are invertebrate animals.

Amurskaya

Individuals of this species are characterized by small scales of silver or golden colors with green tint. In general, the color resembles her taimen, thanks to numerous dark spots located over the entire surface of the body.

The sizes are inferior to the common pike: the largest representatives of the species reach 115 cm with weight 20 kg. Life expectancy is about 14 years.
Habitat - swimming pool Cupid, also found in some reservoirs Sakhalin.

American (redfin)

Possesses shortened snout and cannot boast impressive size, so it’s difficult to call such an aquatic inhabitant large fish.
This type divided by 2 subspecies:

northern redfin;
southern (herbal).

Both have subspecies short snout and very modest dimensions: length adult reaches 30-45 cm with a weight of 1 kg. The only thing difference- at the southern pike no orange color fins.

The lifespan of these fish does not exceed 10 years. Comfortable living environment - crowded reservoirs and lakes in the east North America.

Muskinong

This gigantic fish owes its name to the Indians, who called it maashkinoozhe, which means "ugly pike".Rightly considered the most a rare and large representative of the pike family in the waters of America.

Some specimens grow in length up to 1,8 , reach weight 40 kg. However, much more often caught individuals of this species weigh no more than 20 kg.

Go to carnivorous feeding happens in first year of life, up to age 10 years growth increases very quickly, then his pace is a little slow down, while the fish continues gain weight.

Females reach sexual maturity at the age 5 years, their length at that moment is 60 - 80 cm with mass 2.5 - 4 k d. Duration life cycle is about 30 years old.
Maskinong has some external resemblance to ordinary And American pikes. Distinctive feature - more 7 touch points on the lower jaw.

This giant may have silver, brown or green color, and scattered on the sides of his body vertical stripes, sometimes turning into spots.

In cases where fish live in muddy waters, streaks and spots may completely absent. They are distinguished by color 3 varieties maskinonga:

Reference. By crossing the muskie with the common pike, a hybrid form was developed - the tiger muskie. A hybrid individual cannot reproduce in nature, so their independent populations do not exist.

Southern (Italian)

Until 2011, this fish was considered subspecies of common pike, after which it was allocated to separate view. Habitat - fresh waters of central and northern Italy.

Aquitaine

Relatively young a species of pike, was first described only in 2014 year. Habitat - fresh water France.

Useful video

Interesting facts about pike below:

Or common pike(lat. Esox lucius) - fish of the pike family. Distributed in fresh waters of Eurasia and North America. It usually lives in the coastal zone, in aquatic thickets, in stagnant or weakly flowing waters. It can also be found in desalinated parts of the seas - for example, in the Finnish, Riga and Curonian Lagoons of the Baltic Sea, in the Taganrog Bay of the Sea of Azov. Pike withstands acidic water well and can live comfortably in reservoirs with a temperature of 4.75. When the oxygen content decreases to 3.0-2.0 mg/liter, respiratory depression occurs, which is why pike often die in overseas reservoirs in winter.

Appearance

Length up to 1.5 m, weight up to 35 kg (usually up to 1 m and 8 kg). The body is torpedo-shaped, the head is large, the mouth is wide. The color is variable, depending on the environment: depending on the nature and degree of development of the vegetation, it can be gray-greenish, gray-yellowish, gray-brown, the back is darker, the sides have large brown or olive spots that form transverse stripes. Unpaired fins are yellowish-gray, brown with dark spots; paired - orange. It feeds mainly on fish. Silver pike are found in some lakes.

Males and females can be distinguished by the shape of the genital-urinary opening, which in males looks like a narrow oblong slit, colored in the color of the womb, and in females - an oval depression surrounded by a pink ridge.

The body of the pike has an elongated, arrow-shaped shape. The head is greatly elongated, the lower jaw protrudes forward. The teeth on the lower jaw are of different sizes and serve to capture prey. Teeth on other bones oral cavity smaller, directed sharp ends into the pharynx and can sink into the mucous membrane. Thanks to this, the prey passes easily, and if it tries to escape, the pharyngeal teeth rise and hold the victim.

Pike are characterized by a change of teeth on the lower jaw: the inner surface of the jaw is covered with soft tissue, under it there are rows of 2-4 replacement teeth, which are adjacent to each active one at the back and form a single group with it (dental family). When a working tooth goes out of use, an adjacent replacement tooth of the same family takes its place. At first it is soft and unstable, but then the base grows tightly to the jaw bone and becomes stronger. Pike teeth do not change at the same time. At the same time, some dental groups end at the edge of the jaw with an old tooth, which is already resolving, others - with a strong worker, and others - with a still mobile young one. In some reservoirs, the change of teeth in pikes increases during certain seasons, and then the pike in these reservoirs stops taking large prey, since it can escape from the mouth of the predator. It is difficult to catch her at this time, since she cannot grab the bait.

Reproduction

In natural reservoirs, female pike begin to reproduce in the fourth, less often in the third, year of life, and males - in the fifth.

This story aroused the interest of the German natural philosopher Oken. Oken studied the historical chronicle in detail and found that Frederick II at that time lived constantly in Italy and could not in any way identify pike on German territory. It was also possible to examine the spine of a giant pike, exhibited in Mannheim Cathedral. It turned out that this was a falsification, and that it was assembled from the vertebrae of several individual pikes.

No less amazing is the story of “Tsar Boris Fedorovich’s pike,” which occurred in 1794, when, while cleaning the Tsaritsyn ponds near Moscow, a pike with a ring on the gill cover was caught. The inscription engraved on the ring read: “ Planted by Tsar Boris Fedorovich" Since Boris Godunov reigned from 1605 to 1605, it means that the caught pike had to be about 200 years old. But today the veracity of this fact is disputed, since no evidence has survived.

In cooking

It goes on sale live, chilled, frozen and canned. The meat is bony, sometimes smells like mud, contains 18.4% protein, 1.1% fat. Large and medium pike are most often used chopped (for fish cutlets, meatballs) and stuffed, small ones (weighing about 200-300 grams) are boiled in a spicy broth: for 1 kg of fish 0.75 liters of water, 1 root each (carrots, parsley, celery), 1 onion, 3 black peas and 1 allspice pea, 1 bay leaf; cook everything together for 5-7 minutes, then put the fish in the broth and cook until tender (about 20 minutes), always over low heat, avoiding a strong boil, then remove the fish with a slotted spoon, put it on a heated dish, sprinkle with parsley and serve with boiled potatoes and butter. Small pike can also be fried and used for fish soup. In the mid-20th century, the British considered pike the most delicious and expensive fish. In some countries, to this day, pike dishes are considered a delicacy.

In culture

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Notes

Excerpt characterizing Pike

- Quiet! - Tikhon jumped up. - No, no, no, no! - he shouted.
He hid the letter under the candlestick and closed his eyes. And he imagined the Danube, a bright afternoon, reeds, a Russian camp, and he enters, he, a young general, without one wrinkle on his face, cheerful, cheerful, ruddy, into Potemkin’s painted tent, and a burning feeling of envy for his favorite, just as strong, as then, worries him. And he remembers all the words that were said then at his first Meeting with Potemkin. And he imagines a short, fat woman with yellowness in her fat face - Mother Empress, her smiles, words when she greeted him for the first time, and he remembers her own face on the hearse and that clash with Zubov, which was then with her coffin for the right to approach her hand.
“Oh, quickly, quickly return to that time, and so that everything now ends as quickly as possible, as quickly as possible, so that they leave me alone!”

Bald Mountains, the estate of Prince Nikolai Andreich Bolkonsky, was located sixty versts from Smolensk, behind it, and three versts from the Moscow road.
On the same evening, as the prince gave orders to Alpatych, Desalles, having demanded a meeting with Princess Marya, informed her that since the prince was not entirely healthy and was not taking any measures for his safety, and from Prince Andrei’s letter it was clear that he was staying in Bald Mountains unsafe, he respectfully advises her to write a letter with Alpatych to the head of the province in Smolensk with a request to notify her about the state of affairs and the extent of the danger to which Bald Mountains are exposed. Desalle wrote a letter to the governor for Princess Marya, which she signed, and this letter was given to Alpatych with the order to submit it to the governor and, in case of danger, to return as soon as possible.
Having received all the orders, Alpatych, accompanied by his family, in a white feather hat (a princely gift), with a stick, just like the prince, went out to sit in a leather tent, packed with three well-fed Savras.
The bell was tied up and the bells were covered with pieces of paper. The prince did not allow anyone to ride in Bald Mountains with a bell. But Alpatych loved bells and bells on a long journey. Alpatych's courtiers, a zemstvo, a clerk, a cook - black, white, two old women, a Cossack boy, coachmen and various servants saw him off.
The daughter put chintz behind his back and under it down pillows. The old lady's sister-in-law secretly slipped the bundle. One of the coachmen gave him a hand.
- Well, well, women's training! Women, women! - Alpatych said puffingly, patteringly exactly as the prince spoke, and sat down in the tent. Having given the last orders about the work to the zemstvo, and in this way not imitating the prince, Alpatych took off his hat from his bald head and crossed himself three times.
- If anything... you will come back, Yakov Alpatych; For Christ’s sake, have pity on us,” his wife shouted to him, hinting at rumors about war and the enemy.
“Women, women, women’s gatherings,” Alpatych said to himself and drove off, looking around at the fields, some with yellowed rye, some with thick, still green oats, some still black, which were just beginning to double. Alpatych rode along, admiring the rare spring harvest this year, looking closely at the strips of rye crops on which people were beginning to reap in some places, and made his economic considerations about sowing and harvesting and whether any princely order had been forgotten.
Having fed him twice on the way, by the evening of August 4th Alpatych arrived in the city.
On the way, Alpatych met and overtook convoys and troops. Approaching Smolensk, he heard distant shots, but these sounds did not strike him. What struck him most of all was that, approaching Smolensk, he saw a beautiful field of oats, which some soldiers were mowing, apparently for food, and in which they were camping; This circumstance struck Alpatych, but he soon forgot it, thinking about his business.
All the interests of Alpatych’s life for more than thirty years were limited by the will of the prince alone, and he never left this circle. Everything that did not concern the execution of the prince’s orders not only did not interest him, but did not exist for Alpatych.
Alpatych, having arrived in Smolensk on the evening of August 4th, stopped across the Dnieper, in the Gachensky suburb, at an inn, with the janitor Ferapontov, with whom he had been in the habit of staying for thirty years. Ferapontov twelve years ago, with light hand Alpatycha, having bought a grove from the prince, began to trade and now had a house, an inn and a flour shop in the province. Ferapontov was a fat, black, red man of forty years old, with thick lips, a thick bumpy nose, the same bumps over his black, frowning eyebrows and a thick belly.
Ferapontov, in a waistcoat and a cotton shirt, stood at a bench overlooking the street. Seeing Alpatych, he approached him.
- Welcome, Yakov Alpatych. The people are from the city, and you are going to the city,” said the owner.
- So, from the city? - said Alpatych.
“And I say, people are stupid.” Everyone is afraid of the Frenchman.
- Women's talk, women's talk! - said Alpatych.
- That’s how I judge, Yakov Alpatych. I say there is an order that they won’t let him in, which means it’s true. And the men are asking for three rubles per cart - there is no cross on them!
Yakov Alpatych listened inattentively. He demanded a samovar and hay for the horses and, having drunk tea, went to bed.
All night long, troops moved past the inn on the street. The next day Alpatych put on a camisole, which he wore only in the city, and went about his business. The morning was sunny, and from eight o'clock it was already hot. An expensive day for harvesting grain, as Alpatych thought. Shots were heard outside the city from early morning.
From eight o'clock the rifle shots were joined by cannon fire. There were a lot of people on the streets, hurrying somewhere, a lot of soldiers, but just as always, cab drivers were driving, merchants were standing at the shops and services were going on in the churches. Alpatych went to the shops, to public places, to the post office and to the governor. In public places, in shops, at the post office, everyone was talking about the army, about the enemy who had already attacked the city; everyone asked each other what to do, and everyone tried to calm each other down.
At the governor's house, Alpatych found a large number of people, Cossacks and a road carriage that belonged to the governor. On the porch, Yakov Alpatych met two noblemen, one of whom he knew. A nobleman he knew, a former police officer, spoke heatedly.
“It’s not a joke,” he said. - Okay, who is alone? One head and poor - so alone, otherwise there are thirteen people in the family, and all the property... They brought everyone to disappear, what kind of boss is this after that?.. Eh, I would have outweighed the robbers...
“Yes, well, it will be,” said another.
- What do I care, let him hear! Well, we are not dogs,” said the former police officer and, looking back, he saw Alpatych.
- And, Yakov Alpatych, why are you there?
“By order of his Excellency, to Mr. Governor,” answered Alpatych, proudly raising his head and putting his hand in his bosom, which he always did when he mentioned the prince... “They deigned to order to inquire about the state of affairs,” he said.
“Well, just find out,” shouted the landowner, “they brought it to me, no cart, no nothing!.. Here she is, do you hear? - he said, pointing to the side where the shots were heard.
- They brought everyone to perish... robbers! - he said again and walked off the porch.
Alpatych shook his head and went up the stairs. In the reception room there were merchants, women, and officials, silently exchanging glances among themselves. The office door opened, everyone stood up and moved forward. An official ran out of the door, talked something with the merchant, called behind him a fat official with a cross on his neck and disappeared again through the door, apparently avoiding all the looks and questions addressed to him. Alpatych moved forward and at the next exit of the official, putting his hand in his buttoned coat, he turned to the official, handing him two letters.
“To Mr. Baron Asch from General Chief Prince Bolkonsky,” he proclaimed so solemnly and significantly that the official turned to him and took his letter. A few minutes later the governor received Alpatych and hastily told him:
- Report to the prince and princess that I didn’t know anything: I acted according to the highest orders - so...
He gave the paper to Alpatych.
- However, since the prince is unwell, my advice to them is to go to Moscow. I'm on my way now. Report... - But the governor didn’t finish: a dusty and sweaty officer ran through the door and began to say something in French. The governor's face showed horror.
“Go,” he said, nodding his head to Alpatych, and began asking the officer something. Greedy, frightened, helpless glances turned to Alpatych as he left the governor’s office. Unwittingly now listening to the nearby and increasingly intensifying shots, Alpatych hurried to the inn. The paper that the governor gave to Alpatych was as follows:
“I assure you that the city of Smolensk does not yet face the slightest danger, and it is incredible that it will be threatened by it. I am on one side, and Prince Bagration on the other side, we are going to unite in front of Smolensk, which will take place on the 22nd, and both armies with their combined forces will defend their compatriots in the province entrusted to you, until their efforts remove the enemies of the fatherland from them or until they are exterminated in their brave ranks to the last warrior. You see from this that you have every right to reassure the inhabitants of Smolensk, for whoever is protected by two such brave troops can be confident of their victory.” (Instruction from Barclay de Tolly to the Smolensk civil governor, Baron Asch, 1812.)
People were moving restlessly through the streets.
Carts loaded with household utensils, chairs, and cabinets continually drove out of the gates of houses and drove through the streets. In the neighboring house of Ferapontov there were carts and, saying goodbye, the women howled and said sentences. The mongrel dog was barking and spinning around in front of the stalled horses.
Alpatych, with a more hasty step than he usually walked, entered the yard and went straight under the barn to his horses and cart. The coachman was sleeping; he woke him up, ordered him to lay him to bed and entered the hallway. In the master's room one could hear the crying of a child, the wracking sobs of a woman, and the angry, hoarse cry of Ferapontov. The cook, like a frightened chicken, fluttered in the hallway as soon as Alpatych entered.
- He killed her to death - he beat her mistress!.. He beat her like that, she dragged her like that!..
- For what? – asked Alpatych.
- I asked to go. It's a woman's business! Take me away, he says, don’t destroy me and my little children; the people, he says, have all left, what, he says, are we? How he started beating. He hit me like that, he dragged me like that!
Alpatych seemed to nod his head approvingly at these words and, not wanting to know anything more, went to the opposite door - the master's door of the room in which his purchases remained.
“You are a villain, a destroyer,” shouted at that time a thin, pale woman with a child in her arms and a scarf torn from her head, bursting out of the door and running down the stairs to the courtyard. Ferapontov followed her and, seeing Alpatych, straightened his vest and hair, yawned and entered the room behind Alpatych.
- Do you really want to go? – he asked.
Without answering the question and without looking back at the owner, looking through his purchases, Alpatych asked how long the owner was supposed to stay.
- We'll count! Well, did the governor have one? – Ferapontov asked. – What was the solution?
Alpatych replied that the governor did not tell him anything decisive.
- Are we going to leave on our business? - said Ferapontov. - Give me seven rubles per cart to Dorogobuzh. And I say: there is no cross on them! - he said.
“Selivanov, he got in on Thursday and sold flour to the army for nine rubles a sack.” Well, will you drink tea? - he added. While the horses were being laid, Alpatych and Ferapontov drank tea and talked about the price of grain, the harvest and favorable weather for harvesting.
“However, it began to calm down,” said Ferapontov, drinking three cups of tea and getting up, “ours must have taken over.” They said they won't let me in. This means strength... And after all, they said, Matvey Ivanovich Platov drove them into the Marina River, drowned about eighteen thousand, or something, in one day.
Alpatych collected his purchases, handed them over to the coachman who came in, and settled accounts with the owner. At the gate there was the sound of wheels, hooves and bells of a car leaving.
It was already well after noon; half the street was in the shade, the other was brightly lit by the sun. Alpatych looked out the window and went to the door. Suddenly a strange sound of a distant whistle and blow was heard, and after that there was a merging roar of cannon fire, which made the windows tremble.
Alpatych went out into the street; two people ran down the street towards the bridge. From different sides we heard whistles, impacts of cannonballs and the bursting of grenades falling in the city. But these sounds were almost inaudible and did not attract the attention of residents in comparison with the sounds of gunfire heard outside the city. It was a bombardment, which at five o'clock Napoleon ordered to open on the city, from one hundred and thirty guns. At first the people did not understand the significance of this bombing.
The sounds of falling grenades and cannonballs aroused at first only curiosity. Ferapontov’s wife, who had never stopped howling under the barn, fell silent and, with the child in her arms, went out to the gate, silently looking at the people and listening to the sounds.

There is no exact evidence of the origin of the name “pike” today. Linguists claim that the name of this breed is rooted in the word “frail”, since the fish has an elongated and thin physique.

Description of pike

Pike has a relatively short length of 1 meter and a weight of up to 8 kg. There are also individual specimens that reach 1.8 m in length and their weight is 35 kilograms. Characteristic feature breed is that females are larger in size than males.

The fish has an oblong and slightly elongated body. The head is quite long, and the lower jaw protrudes slightly forward. Pike is often called a freshwater shark, as it has a unique oral structure. The lower jaw has fang-shaped teeth. They have different sizes and are designed to capture the victim. Upper part It is distinguished by smaller teeth, the tips of which are directed inside the mouth. In fish of this breed, teeth can be replaced about four times. In cases where the main working tooth does not perform its functions properly, a soft and mobile replacement tooth appears, which helps to cope with the function. After a certain time, it is able to grow quite firmly to the jaw. It is for this reason that people often say that pikes can change teeth.

The eyes of the fish are located high enough, which allows you not to turn your head unnecessarily and have a wide viewing angle. The predator has not only excellent vision, but also a hypersensitive lateral line, which is a tactile organ capable of responding to the occurrence of all kinds of vibrations.

Depending on the subspecies and living conditions, pike lives from 10 to 30 years.

Varieties of pike fish

The following subspecies of pike are distinguished:

Common pike has a maximum possible length of 1.5 meters, and weight can reach 8 kilograms. Most often the species inhabits stagnant waters, thickets and part of the reservoir located near the shore.
American pike lives in North America. Individuals cannot boast of large sizes, since the maximum length of the body is no more than 30-45 centimeters, and the weight is up to 1 kilogram. Fish are characterized by having a shortened head. The main difference from the common pike is the lack of fins. orange color. Life expectancy rarely exceeds 10 years.
Musk Pike is enough rare species. Individuals are distinguished by their largest sizes. The fish is found in North America and is currently protected by law due to its extinction. The name of the species comes from maashkinoozhe, which means “ugly pike.” This is what the Indians called this fish in ancient times. The fish is quite impressive in size. The maximum length of the body is 1.8 m, and the weight can reach 32 kg. It has a silver or green color, and there are always spots or stripes on the sides.
Black pike inhabits lakes and rivers with fresh water and abundant vegetation in North America. Adults can have a body length of up to 60 cm, and Weight Limit equals 2 kg. There are specimens that weigh 6 kg, but this is very rare. Externally there is quite a lot in common with the common pike. There is a mosaic pattern on the body, which is located on the side. Another noticeable difference is the presence of a dark stripe above the eyes.
Amur pike found in Sakhalin and the Amur River. The fish are quite large in size, since the body length is 115 cm and the maximum weight is 20 kg. This species is characterized by the presence of small scales that have a silvery tint. There are multiple black spots with a brown tint on the body. Individuals generally live up to 14 years.
Southern pike inhabits rivers and ponds of Northern Italy. Previously, the species was classified as a common pike due to the presence of many similarities, but since 2011 it has been a separate subspecies.
Aquitaine pike inhabits the waters of France.

Habitats of the species

The habitats of this type of fish are rivers and lakes with fresh water in Eurasia and North America. Most often you can find representatives of this breed in stagnant water. Pike in large quantities inhabits the bays of the Baltic Sea. Also, despite the slight saltiness of the water, individuals feel great in the bays Sea of Azov. In lakes with stagnant water, this predator rarely swims away. long distance from the shores. Most often it is found at shallow depths, where there is a large amount of aquatic vegetation and the ability to easily hide in anticipation of prey.

For pikes, a sufficient amount of oxygen plays an important role, because if there is a lack of it in winter, individuals may not survive.

Nutritional Features

Most often, pike hunt by setting up ambushes. She can stand motionless in the vegetation for a long time and wait for the right moment, choosing a victim that will be suitable in size. After the pike has decided on its future prey, it makes a sharp movement, grabs it by the head and swallows it whole at once.

IN spring period, after a long period of fasting, the pike begins to actively hunt. She can pursue the victim for a long time until she achieves her goal. You can often find specimens with the victim’s tail sticking out directly from the mouth. Pike fishis quite a voracious creature. These predators do not neglect feeding on other pikes that are smaller in size.

It is not limited to eating fish and can often profit from crayfish, frogs and rodents. If given the chance, pike will never miss the opportunity to profit from ducklings or adult ducks.

Reproduction and offspring

Sexual maturity in female pike occurs at 3-4 years. Males mature much later; they are ready to breed from the age of 5. After the ice has cleared from the reservoir and the water temperature is 3-6 degrees, the spawning period for this breed begins. Small pike are the first to spawn. The process occurs in shallow water, where the depth does not exceed one meter. The turn of individuals that are distinguished by larger sizes comes a little later. At this time, fish gather in schools of several individuals. Several males can be found near one female. Large females can be surrounded by as many as eight males.

The size of the female plays a fundamental role in the number of eggs released. One pike can sweep from twenty thousand to two hundred thousand eggs, which are of medium size. Basically, caviar develops at the bottom of the reservoir, as it is characterized by low stickiness, which is why it almost immediately falls off from the aquatic flora. The length of the incubation period largely depends on the water temperature. Most often, the development of eggs lasts from one to two weeks. After the shell has completely dissolved, the larvae begin to eat river plankton. They continue to eat this way for a couple of days.

As soon as the young grow up to twelve millimeters in length, the fish begin hunting for eggs and fry of other species. Since their spawning takes place later than that of pikes, small pikes can already absorb them. After young pike reach a length of five centimeters, the fish feed exclusively on the fry of other fish.

Natural enemies

In the aquatic environment, the main enemies of pike are eel, taimen and perch.Mostly, fry and individuals with small sizes, which larger fish can profit from.

Fishing birds also like to feast on fry, since newly born fish mainly live at shallow depths and are quite easy to get.

Predators such as minks also periodically fish for pike. This type of fishing is most successful when the fish are well-fed and resting in warm coastal water.

Population and species status

Pike is one of the most important commercial species. Pike is also a desirable trophy for sports fishermen. The reason is that it is not that easy to catch. To do this you need to have certain skills and dexterity. In addition, you should prepare in advance and stock up on gear. This type of fish is caught using spinning rods, lures, live bait and girders. The easiest time to catch pike is in early spring, when the fish are hungry after winter. In other seasons, the predator behaves quite cautiously, and only experienced fishermen can catch it.

Pike inhabit freshwater bodies in fairly large numbers, but their numbers are noticeably decreasing. Poaching has a huge impact on the quantity indicator. The catch is carried out during the spawning period, because of this the renewal of the species is extremely slow. Therefore, an official ban on catching representatives of this species during the spawning period is often introduced. This is the only way to maintain the pike population in sufficient numbers. The species is not protected at the legislative level, since it is not endangered, however, precautionary measures are taken in the territory of many water bodies.

The value of pike meat

Today, pike are quite actively bred in nurseries for sale.

Pike meat dietary product, which contains no more than three percent fat. Despite the fact that the meat is quite filling, it is low in calories. For this reason, pike is included in the diet dietary nutrition. Meat contains a high content of microelements, such as potassium, sulfur, phosphorus, chlorine, zinc and iron. In addition, it contains niacin acid and tocopherol.
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When you mention the word pike, the memory of the fairy tale “By pike command“, but in fact, the pike is far from a fairy-tale creature, but a real predatory fish.

Pay attention to the photo of the pike. This predator belongs to the ray-finned fish of the pike family, of the genus of the same name.

It is not known for certain where this name came from. Linguists believe that it comes from the word “frail”, judging by the outlines of the thin, elongated body.

According to the second option, it is believed that pike comes from the common Slavic word “skeu”, which means “to kill, cut.”

Appearance of a predator

The body length of a pike, by average standards, reaches 1 m and weighs 8.0 kg. There are exceptions in the form of giants 1.8 m long and weighing about 35.0 kg; females are always larger than males.

The pike's body is oblong and arrow-shaped. The head is long, the muzzle is narrow with the lower jaw extended forward. The oral cavity has structural features, which is why it is called a river shark.

On the lower jaw there are sharp teeth in the form of fangs of various sizes, which reliably capture prey. The upper jaw and other bones of the oral cavity are equipped with small teeth with points directed into the fish.

Having captured prey, brush-like teeth descend into the mucous mouths and prevent the prey from returning back to freedom.

The bones of the lower jaw are covered with epithelium of loose consistency; rows of 2-4 replacement teeth grow inside it. In place of the damaged working tooth, a soft replacement tooth appears, which over time grows to the jaw and becomes ossified.

The so-called change of teeth occurs. On the lower jaw, the teeth change completely unevenly. As a result, at the same time, in the mouth of the pike there are strong working fangs, mobile young and old, almost destroyed.

The pike's eyes are set high, and it can see far around it without turning its head. The lateral line of the predator is an organ of touch that instantly senses any small vibrations.

Hiding in ambush, pike can wait for prey for a long time, standing motionless in thickets of vegetation. Having chosen a victim, it suddenly attacks it and swallows it from the head.

The entire body of the pike, cheeks and gills are covered with small scales. The color of the scales can be gray-green, gray-yellow or gray-brown depending on the environment and habitat. More dark color characteristic of individuals living at depth.

The back of the pike is dark, the belly is white, possibly with gray spots. On the sides there are noticeable olive-colored spots merging into stripes. There are fins on the body: pectoral, ventral, unpaired (dorsal and anal).

Pike of different sexes have different urogenital openings: males have a narrow, oblong slit, females have a pink oval cavity.

The life cycle of pike is 10-30 years, depending on the species and habitat.

Habitats

Basically, these are reservoirs with fresh, stagnant water in the Eurasian and North American regions. Often found in the bays of the Baltic and Azov seas.

The predator loves shallow waters of ponds and lakes, with thickets of vegetation and aquatic debris. Huge concentrations of pike can be found in river mouths, which flow into large reservoirs with spills and a wealth of flora.

Pike need oxygen, because without it they can die, for example, in winter conditions when oxygen is reduced to 2-3 mg/liter.

Nutrition

Pike in the spring, after a long hungry winter, pounces on everything and can chase prey for a long time until it gets its way. This will continue until her hunger is satisfied in the form of the victim’s tail protruding from the pike’s mouth.

Pike is very voracious and unpretentious; it will not disdain even its smaller relative. What can we say about the usual types of river fish, he won’t even miss the ruffe, although he eats it very carefully because of its prickliness.

In addition to fish, the following are suitable for food: crayfish, frogs, mice, moles and even sometimes squirrels migrating through the water. Particularly large representatives of the pike genus can catch a duckling, duck or drake.

Varieties of pike

Common pike. A typical and most popular species, common in Eurasian and North American reservoirs. It grows up to one and a half meters in length and weighs about 8.0 kg.

American pike. Distributed in water bodies of the eastern regions of North American countries.

It is divided into subspecies: northern redfin and southern. These subspecies have a length of up to 30-45 cm and a weight of almost 1 kg. Their muzzle is shortened. They differ from the common species in the absence of orange fins. Life span is about 10 years.

Muskie pike. Rare large-sized species. Nicknamed by the Indians, it means ugly pike. Reaches a length of 1.8 m and weighs almost 32 kg. It is silver, gray-brown or green in color, with spots or stripes on the sides.

Pike is black or striped. Inhabitant of water bodies of North America. It is characterized by a length of almost 60 cm and a weight of about 2 kg. Looks like an ordinary one.

Amur pike. Our compatriot lives in the reservoirs of Sakhalin and Amur. Its length is up to 115 cm and its weight is 20 kg. They have small silvery or greenish scales. Lifespan up to 14 years.

Southern or Italian pike. Inhabitant of Italian reservoirs. Previously it belonged to the common subspecies.

Aquitanian pike. Aquatic resident of France. A young species of pike, first discovered in 2014.

Spawning period

Sexual maturity in females begins at 3-4 years of life, in males - at 5 years. As soon as the ice melts, at a temperature of the native environment of about 3-6 degrees, the spawning period begins. First in small individuals, then in large ones, at a depth of no more than 1 m. There are 2-4 males per medium-sized female, about 8 for a large one.

The volume of eggs depends on the size of the female: on average from 17 to 215 thousand eggs with a diameter of 3 mm.

Due to weak gluten, not all eggs attach to plants. After 3 days, the eggs fall to the bottom and continue to develop there.

The incubation period is 8-14 days. The hatched larvae, 6.7-7.6 mm in size, having lost their shell, feed on small crustaceans and daphnia.

Having reached 12-15 mm, the young animals switch to feeding on carp, which reproduce later than pike. A young pike, 5 cm long, feeds only on fry of other species.

These predators are considered a commercial fish, bred in artificial stocks, and an object of fishing.

Pike fishing

Pike is a desired trophy for any fisherman. You can catch her all year round. How to catch pike? For this, various gear is used: fishing rods, donks, spinning rods, etc. The main thing is that the gear must be strong and durable.

The predator is mainly caught using live bait or artificial bait. Not only fish fry, but also frogs, worms, and caddis flies are used as live bait.

Places for fishing should be chosen near reeds, trees that have fallen into the water and other debris, where the pike could hide in ambush.

According to pike fishing professionals, an escaped predator perfectly retains in its memory the bait that caused it unpleasant sensations. In this regard, it is better to change the place or the bait itself.

Pike photo

Pike- a fish belonging to the pike family. It has become widespread in fresh water bodies of North America and Eurasia. Prefers coastal zones of reservoirs, aquatic thickets, stagnant or weakly flowing waters. Rarely, it is found in desalinated parts of seas such as the Finnish, Curonian and Riga bays of the Baltic Sea and in the Taganrog Bay of the Sea of Azov. Pike tolerates acidic water quite calmly and can live quite calmly in reservoirs with a pH of 4.75. When the oxygen content in a reservoir drops to 3.0-2.0 mg/liter, the pike experiences respiratory depression, which is why it often dies in some stagnant reservoirs.

The length of the pike grows to an impressive 1.5 m, and reaches a weight of 35 kg (most often up to 1 m and 8 kg). Its body is torpedo-shaped, its head is large, and its mouth is wide. Its color is changeable, it depends on the environment of the fish: and it depends on the degree of development and nature of the vegetation. The color can be gray-brown, gray-greenish, gray-yellowish, the back of the pike is darker, its sides have large olive or brown spots, which form transverse stripes. The unpaired fins are yellowish-gray, brown with dark spots; paired fins are orange. It feeds mainly on fish. In some reservoirs there are silver pike.
Males and females can be distinguished by the shape of the genital-urinary opening; in males it looks like a narrow elongated slit, colored the color of the womb, and in females it looks like an oval depression surrounded by a pink ridge.
The body of the pike has an arrow-shaped shape. Her head is elongated, her lower jaw protrudes significantly forward. Teeth located on the lower jaw of a pike different sizes they serve to capture the victim. The teeth on the other bones of the oral cavity are slightly smaller, and all of them are directed with their tips into the pharynx and they are able to sink into the mucous membrane. This design of the jaws makes it easy to pass prey, and if it tries to escape, the pharyngeal teeth rise and confidently prevent this.

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In pikes, the teeth of the lower jaw can change: inner surface covers the jaws soft fabric, under which there are 2-4 rows of replacement teeth, they are closely adjacent to each existing tooth at the back, thereby forming a “tooth family”. When a working tooth becomes unusable, an adjacent replacement tooth of the same family takes its place. Initially, such a tooth is soft and unstable, but over time it firmly grows to the jaw bone and becomes strong. Teeth do not change all at once. In some specific reservoirs, the pike's teeth begin to change rapidly during a certain season, at which time it stops hunting large prey, since the prey can easily escape from its mouth. Accordingly, fishing in such reservoirs in given time getting worse.

Pike breeding.

In natural reservoirs, females reach sexual maturity and begin to reproduce in the fourth, sometimes in the third year of life, but males a little later - in the fifth year.
Pike spawning occurs at a water temperature of 3-6 °C, almost immediately after the ice has melted; this occurs near the shore at a depth of approximately 0.5-1 meter. As observations show, the smallest individuals go out to spawn first, and the largest ones go out last. During spawning, they keep in groups of 2-4 males and one female; Next to large females there can be up to 8 males. The female moves in front, while the males swim behind her, lagging behind by approximately half a body. They either press closely to the sides of the female, or are held above her back. At this time, the dorsal fins and backs of the fish constantly rise from the water.
During spawning, pike rub against bushes, stems, roots of cattails and reeds, as well as other objects. They do not stay in one place; they move nonstop through the spawning area and spawn. At the end of spawning, all individuals of the group participating in the process rush in different directions, and at this moment the females often emerge from the water into the air.
Depending on the size, one female is capable of laying from 17.5 to 215 thousand eggs. Pike eggs are very large, approximately 3 mm in diameter, they can stick to vegetation, but since they are weakly adhesive, they easily fall off with the slightest shaking. After 2-3 days, the stickiness completely disappears, while most of the eggs roll off and their further development occurs at the bottom of the reservoir.
Due to the fact that in spring, at low temperatures, the water is sufficiently saturated with oxygen, pike eggs develop normally in a stagnant body of water. And when water warms up, the oxygen content in it quickly drops. It follows from this that the earlier the pike starts spawning, the more caviar will remain alive.
For pike caviar, a sharp drop in water after spawning is critical, since it spawns in shallow water; a drop in water level of half a meter can lead to mass death of eggs.
The development time of the eggs depends on the water temperature, and it varies from 8 to 14 days; the hatched larvae measure 6.7-7.6 mm in length. Initially, they feed on the remains from the bladder, which is located on their belly, and as it resolves, they smoothly move on to feeding on external resources, such as cyclops and daphnia. Having reached a length of 12-15 mm, juveniles are already capable of hunting larvae of carp fish. Since carp spawning occurs after pike, this has a beneficial effect on the nutrition of young pike. Once the juvenile reaches a size of about 5 cm, it finally switches to feeding on the juveniles of other fish, as a rule, these are cyprinids. In an aquarium, a pike of this size will quickly die if it is fed crustaceans, because nutrients in such production it will not be enough to compensate for the energy spent on obtaining food.
In spring with melt water pike often enter swimming lakes. After some time, the connection with such reservoirs is interrupted and the life of juveniles emerging from eggs in such a reservoir is significantly different from life in a river or large permanent reservoirs. Since there is not enough food in such reservoirs, the growth of pikes in them is very uneven and can vary by 2-2.5 times. In this case, small individuals are prey for large ones; with a particular shortage of food, pikes have reached a height of 3-4 cm are already resorting to eating their relatives.
Such degenerate food chains, when juveniles feed on plankton, large pike feed on fry, and even larger ones feed on them, is observed on an ongoing basis in some reservoirs. As a rule, this occurs in the northern (usually tundra) lakes of Canada and Yakutia, where the amount of nutrients is insufficient to maintain the food pyramid. But despite this, the ecosystems of reservoirs of this type have been quite stable for many decades; on the coast and in bottom sediments, researchers have not found any bone remains other than pike in reservoirs of this type.

Pike lifestyle and habits.

In reservoirs, pike prefers to stay in thickets of aquatic vegetation or carags. As a rule, there she stays motionless, hiding, waiting for her victim, and suddenly rushing at her. The pike swallows the caught fish, starting exclusively from the head - if the pike grabs it across the body, then it quickly turns the victim head first.
At the moment of attack, the pike orients itself both with the help of vision and thanks to the lateral line, the organs of which are quite well developed not only on the midline of the body, but also on the head.
The food items of adult individuals are quite diverse and more numerous species of fish, mainly: roach, bream, silver bream. In rivers, the role of typical river fish in the diet of pike increases, such as minnow, gudgeon, sculpin goby, char, etc. In spring, pike eagerly feed on toads. There have been cases when large pike have pulled ducklings under water, as well as rats, mice, squirrels and waders crossing rivers. Particularly large individuals of pike can attack an adult duck. In general, pike is capable of attacking very large fish, the weight and length of which reaches 50 - 65% of the weight and length of the predator.
The diet of medium-sized individuals, as a rule, is dominated by low-value and abundant fish; it is for this reason that pike is sometimes a very necessary component of rational fisheries in almost most lakes. Due to its absence in the lakes, the number of small and.

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The significance of pike for humans.

Pike is very often bred in pond farms. In France, for example, out of a pond area of 100 thousand hectares, more than 50 thousand of them are dedicated specifically to pike breeding.
Pike meat is not fatty, it contains approximately 2-3% fat and is dietary. The maximum age of pike currently caught commercially does not exceed 25 years. The catch of only a 33-year-old pike was reliably documented, and all the stories about pikes are much more older- legends.
Among such stories there is one very popular one, the story of the “Heilborn pike”, which Emperor Frederick II personally caught in October 1230, he marked it with a golden ring and released it back into Lake Bjockingen near Heilbronn, and after 267 years it was caught :). And this pike grew to 570 centimeters and reached a weight of 140 kg. The spine of this pike was transferred to the Mannheim Cathedral for safekeeping.
Such a miracle story aroused the deep interest of the German natural philosopher Oken. Who began a detailed study of history and found that Frederick II at that time lived in Italy without a break and could not in any way mark a pike in the vastness of Germany with his ring. He also managed to study the spine of this miracle pike in Mannheim Cathedral. And it was supposed to be a falsification; it was made up of the vertebrae of several pikes.