Pike

Chain pickerel, grass pike, river pike

Esox niger

Brochet, brochet maillé, brochet d'herbes, brochet de rivière

Body Shape:Elongated body , moderately compressed laterally.

Average size: 30 to 50 cm, maximum 78 cm.

Coloring:Dark green to almost brown back; golden green sides; dark chain-like markings on the sides (hence the name); tiny golden spots at the end of a few scales.

Characteristic external features:  Long head with a concave profile; eyes high on the head; large mouth with lower jaw protruding very slightly from the tip of the profiled muzzle; large, prominent, sharp teeth; cheeks and opercula entirely covered with scales; 4 sensory pores under each lower jaw; low pectoral fins; pelvic fins in the abdominal position and about the center of the length of the body; dorsal fin very set back from the anal fin; Caudal fin deeply forked and with pointed ends.

Habitat

Warm water (21 to 30 o C), calm, clear and shallow where vegetation is abundant. Rivers, lakes, ponds. Sometimes in brackish water in winter.

Food

The chain pickerel is a carnivorous predator whose diet consists mainly of fish (bluefish, sunfish, bullheads, perch, etc.). He is opportunistic in the choice of his prey. It also feeds on insects, crayfish, snakes, frogs, mice. In winter, it is active and forages under the ice.

Reproduction

Season: Spring after the ice has melted, April and May.

Type of spawning ground: Shallow water (1 to 3 m). Flooded shores of rivers, lakes and ponds, bays of lakes and calm areas of rivers.

Mode: Sexual maturity is reached between 1 to 4 years. No nest is built. The female is accompanied by two smaller males. Pale yellow eggs, about 2 mm in diameter, are scattered at random and attach to vegetation. An average-sized female lays between 6,000 and 8,000 eggs which hatch after 6 to 12 days.