Pike fish description. What are they? Common pike and other types of pike

Pike - predatory fish, belongs to the type of chordates, the class of ray-finned fish, the pike order, the pike family, the pike genus (lat. Esox).

The origin of the Russian word "pike" does not have a reliable evidence base. According to linguists, the name of the predator comes from the word “feeble”. So they began to call the fish with an elongated, deceptively thin body. According to another version, the word "pike" became a derivative of the common Slavic skeu, meaning "to cut, prick, kill."

Pike - description of fish, characteristics, photos

The average length of a pike is 1 meter with an average weight of 8 kilograms. Individual individuals grow up to 1.8 m and have a body weight of up to 35 kg, with females usually larger than males. The body of the fish is distinguished by an elongated, elongated-arrow-shaped shape. The head of the pike is long, with a narrow snout, the lower jaw protrudes noticeably forward. The predatory fish is distinguished by the unusual structure of the oral cavity, due to which it was nicknamed the “river shark”.

Pike teeth located on mandible, perform the function of capturing prey, have the shape of fangs and are endowed with different sizes. On the upper jaw and other oral bones, the teeth are small, and their points are turned inside the mouth. When capturing prey, the teeth, resembling brushes, descend into the mucous membranes of the oral cavity, and when the victim tries to break out, they rise back, blocking the path to freedom.

The mandibular bones are lined with loose epithelium, within which rows grow, consisting of 2-4 replacement teeth. If the main working tooth of the pike ceases to fulfill its functions, its place is replaced by a soft and mobile replacement tooth, which over time firmly grows to the jawbone. Thus they say that pike changing teeth. The change of teeth in the pike on the lower jaw is extremely uneven. The mouth of a pike at the same time contains strong working teeth, unstable young ones, as well as old, half-resorbed ones.

The eyes of the pike are located quite high, so that the predator can inspect a large area without bothering to turn his head. Apart from good vision, pike fish has a perfectly functioning lateral line - a tactile organ that reacts to the slightest vibrations. The pike hunts from ambush, patiently and motionlessly standing among the water thickets. Having outlined a potential victim, the predator makes a sharp jerk and swallows it, always grabbing the victim by the head.

The body of the fish is covered with relatively small scales that capture the cheeks and skin formations on the gills. The color of pike scales depends on the habitat and the surrounding flora. Pikes living in deep water are painted in darker colors than relatives living in shallow waters. The color of the fish scales can be grayish-green, gray with yellow or gray-brown.

The color of the back of the pike is dark, the belly is white with grayish spotting. The sides are covered with characteristic olive spots, which, when merged, form wide stripes of different lengths. Unpaired fins are distinguished by yellow-gray, sometimes brown color with dark spots. The pectoral and ventral fins of the pike are usually orange in color. The narrow dorsal fin is carried to the back of the body and is located above the anal.

Pike males and females differ in the structure of the urogenital opening: males have a narrow, elongated gap, females have a pink oval-shaped depression.

In accordance with the species and environmental conditions, the life expectancy of a pike is from 10 to 30 years.

Where does the pike live?

Pike live in freshwater reservoirs of Eurasia and North America, preferring stagnant water. There is a fish in the Gulf of Finland and the Gulf of Riga of the Baltic Sea, it feels great in the bays of the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov. In ponds and lakes, the predator prefers not to swim far from the coastal zone and lives in shallow water, among aquatic debris and dense thickets of coastal aquatic flora. In the river, pike can be found both off the coast and in deep water. In large numbers, pikes live in the mouths of rivers flowing into large reservoirs, where there are wide spills and rich aquatic flora. Pike live only in water bodies with sufficient oxygen content, when oxygen decreases to 2-3 mg / liter in winter, fish can die.

What does pike fish eat?

In the spring, after a forced winter starvation, the pike fish rushes at everything and can pursue the victim for a long time until the chase is successful. Hunting and fattening continue until complete satiety, when the tail of the next prey sticks out of the pike's mouth. The pike is an extremely gluttonous and illegible predator, it can even eat another pike, especially a small one.

Pike feeds on a variety of fish species: roach, carp, bream, minnow, crucian carp, sculpin, minnow, mustachioed char, perch. Prickly-finned fish, such as ruff, pike eats carefully, tightly clenching their jaws until the victim stops fluttering. In addition to fish, pike food includes crayfish, frogs, as well as mice, rats, moles and squirrels, forced to overcome water barriers during seasonal migrations. If the opportunity presents itself, a large predator can drag a duckling to the bottom, as well as an adult duck or drake.

Types of pike, names and photos

The only genus of Pike has 7 species:

common pike(lat. Esox lucius)- a typical and most numerous representative of the genus, inhabiting most fresh water bodies of the countries of Eurasia and North America. The length of the pike reaches 1.5 meters, average weight equals 8 kg. The color of the pike varies depending on the environment in which the pike lives: from gray-green and brown shades to gray-yellowish. The common pike lives in stagnant waters, thickets, and the coastal part of the reservoir.

American pike(redfin pike) (lat. Esox americanus) lives only in eastern North America. The species is divided into 2 subspecies:
- northern red-finned pike(lat. Esox americanus americanus);
- southernpike (grass pike) (lat. Esox americanus vermiculatus) living in Mississippi and waterways flowing into the Atlantic Ocean.

Both subspecies cannot boast of large sizes, grow up to 30-45 cm in length, weigh 1 kg and have a shortened snout. The only difference is the lack of orange-colored fins in the southern pike. These pikes live no more than 10 years.

Muskellunge pike(lat. Esox masquinongy)- a rare species, as well as the largest pike in the family. The inhabitant of the North American continent got its name thanks to the Indians, who called the fish maashkinoozhe, meaning “ugly pike”. The predator received the second name “giant pike” due to its impressive size. Individual individuals grow up to 1.8 m and weigh up to 32 kg. The color of the pike is silver, brown-brown or green, the sides are covered with spots or vertical stripes.

black pike(striped pike)(lat. Esox niger)- a North American predator that inhabits lakes and overgrown rivers from the southern coast of Canada to Florida in the USA and further to the Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes. Adult pikes grow up to 60 cm in size with a weight of 2 kg and outwardly resemble northern common pike. The largest known representative of the species weighed just over 4 kg. Black pikes have a distinctive mosaic pattern on their flanks and a distinctive dark stripe above their eyes.

Amur pike(lat. Esox reicherti) lives in the reservoirs of Sakhalin Island and in the Amur River. Representatives of the species are smaller than those of the common pike: the largest individuals grow up to 115 cm with a body weight of 20 kg. Individuals of the species are characterized by small scales of a silvery or golden-greenish color. The coloring of the Amur pike resembles taimen, having numerous black-brown spots scattered throughout the body, from head to tail. Amur pike live in lakes up to 14 years.

Southern pike (Italian pike) (lat. Esox cisalpinus or Esox flaviae) lives in water bodies of central and northern Italy. The species was first identified in 2011, previously considered a subspecies of the common pike.

Aquitaine pike (lat. Esox aquitanicus) lives in the waters of France. This pike species was first described in 2014.

Pike spawning (reproduction)

The female pike becomes sexually mature at 3-4 years of age, the male pike matures by 5 years. Spawning begins after the end of ice melting, when the water temperature is only 3-6 degrees. The first to spawn near the coast, at a depth of up to 1 m, are small pikes, large individuals are the last to spawn. Predators gather in small groups: 2-4 males near the female. Large females can be surrounded by up to 8 male pike.

The amount of pike eggs depends on the size of the female. One individual spawns from 17 to 215 thousand eggs, the diameter of which is 3 mm. The stickiness of caviar is weak, part sticks to plants, the other immediately falls off. After 3 days, almost all pike eggs lose their stickiness, fall off and continue to develop at the bottom.

The incubation period depends on the warming of the water and can last from 8 to 14 days. The pike larvae that were born are 6.7-7.6 mm long. After the dissolution of the surrounding shell, the larvae begin to eat copepods and daphnia.

Growing up to 12-15 mm in length, young pikes are already able to successfully absorb the larvae of carp fish that spawn after the predator. With a fry body length of 5 cm, the pike diet consists entirely of fry of other fish species.

Pike is considered popular commercial fish, is actively bred in pond nurseries, and is also the subject of amateur and sport fishing.

According to the fishermen, a pike that has fallen off the hook remembers the bait that hurt it. Therefore, the fisherman will have to replace either the bait, or change the place of fishing.
Pike meat contains only 2-3% fat, therefore it is considered a valuable dietary product.
Numerous stories about the size of the caught individuals over time became overgrown with legends and myths. So, some sources claimed that at the beginning of the 13th century, King Frederick II personally caught a pike, ringed it with a golden ring and released it into the German lake Bjokkingen. After 267 years, fishermen caught this particular pike. For a couple of centuries, the fish grew to almost 6 m in length and weighed 140 kg. The ridge of the giant was identified in one of the cathedrals in Germany. Amazing story quickly debunked: the spine turned out to be made up of the vertebrae of different pikes, and the emperor at the beginning of the 13th century did not leave Italy and, with all his desire, could not fish in a German lake.

An adult pike reaches a length of up to 1.5 meters (most often about 1 meter), and the weight of the fish can reach up to 35 kg. But again, smaller individuals weighing up to 8 kg are more common. Long elongated body, large head and mouth. The lower jaw is pushed forward. The back is darker, and the sides are decorated with olive or brown spots that line up in stripes. Unpaired fins are darker, while paired fins are orange. Sometimes there are silver pikes.

The teeth of the pike are very sharp and are located not only on the jaw, but also in the palate and tongue. Teeth that fall out are replaced with new ones. At the same time, the teeth help not only to capture the victim, but also to swallow it. The female differs from the male in the external structure of the genitourinary system. In males, it looks like a narrow gap, and in females it looks like an oval depression with a pink color around the edges.

Species: Pike

Genus: Pike

Family: Pike

Class: Ray-finned fish

Order: Pike

Type: Chordates

Kingdom: Animals

Domain: Eukaryotes

Where does the pike live?

Pike lives in freshwater reservoirs or in desalinated parts of the seas. The pike fish is found in northern Eurasia and North America. Lives in low-flowing or stagnant waters, in thickets, most often in the coastal zone. You can meet her in fresh bays of the Baltic, Azov, Black, Caspian and Aral Seas. Pike will not live where there is a strong current, but they will not live in small ponds either. Since pike can die with a lack of oxygen in winter, it will be easier for it to survive in large bodies of water where oxygen is available in winter.

What does a pike eat?

The pike is a predator. Most often, she preys on perches, roach, ruff, goby, minnow and other fish. In spring, pike can feast on crayfish and frogs. There are cases when pikes captured small ducklings, mice, rats that swam across the pond from the water. They can also feed on their weaker relatives. The prey of a pike predator depends on its size. On average, a pike absorbs prey, which is 50-65% of its length. Thus, pikes are often bred to control low value and small fish in ponds.

Pike lifestyle

Pike keep alone and only during spawning can unite in groups. The pike most often spends the whole day motionless in the thickets, waiting for its prey. Then he swiftly pounces on her and captures her with his sharp teeth. The pike swallows its victims almost always from the head. If the fish was captured from the side, then the pike quickly turns its head towards itself and begins to swallow.

When feeling very hungry, the pike can patrol its territory and rush to catch up with its prey. Pike are very fond of the sun. It can rise up and freeze motionless under the sun's rays.

Pike breeding

Spawning in pike begins in the spring when the ice melts. Females lay eggs on algae at a depth of 50 cm to 1 meter. And the males follow the females and fertilize them with their milk. One female can lay from 50 to 190,000 eggs! After 8-14 days, fry hatch from the eggs. At first they feed on plankton, then they switch to fish larvae and soon begin a full-fledged hunt for small fish. Pike reach sexual maturity by 2-4 years of their life. On average, pikes live up to 20 years.

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Pike is a predatory fish belonging to the Pike family, the class Ray-finned fish and the Pike-like order. The species has become quite widespread in freshwater reservoirs in many countries.

Description of pike

Due to their species characteristics, pikes are able to withstand acidic water well and feel comfortable in water bodies with a pH of 4.75. In conditions of a significant decrease in the oxygen content in fish, breathing is inhibited, therefore, pike living in overseas reservoirs, in winter period often die.

Appearance

The length of an adult pike reaches one and a half meters with a mass in the range of 25-35 kg. The fish has a torpedo-shaped body, a large head and a wide mouth. The color of the representatives of the species is very variable, directly dependent on the environment, the nature and degree of development of aquatic vegetation. Pike can be gray-greenish, grayish-yellowish and grayish-brown in color with a dark back area and the presence of large brown or olive spots and transverse stripes on the sides. Unpaired fins are yellowish-gray or brown in color and have characteristic dark spots. The paired fins are orange in color. In the waters of some lakes there are so-called silver pikes.

This is interesting! Male and female pike differ in the shape of the urogenital opening. In the male, it looks like a narrow and oblong slit, painted in the color of the womb, while in females there is an oval-shaped depression surrounded by a pinkish roller.

A distinctive feature of the pike is the presence of a protruding lower jaw on a very elongated head. lower jaw teeth different size used by fish to capture prey. On other bones located in the oral cavity, the teeth are smaller in size, directed with sharp ends into the pharynx and plunging into the mucous membranes.

Due to this feature of the structure of the teeth, the caught prey passes easily and quickly, and when trying to escape, it rises and is reliably held by the pharyngeal teeth. Pike is characterized by the change of teeth located on the lower jaw, which has an inner surface covered with soft tissue with rows of replacement teeth. Such teeth are distinguished by adjoining the existing teeth in the back, due to which a single group or the so-called "dental family" is formed.

If working teeth fall out of use, then their place is taken by the bases of neighboring replacement teeth belonging to the same family. At first, such teeth are soft and unstable, but over time, their bases tightly adhere to the jaw bones and become stronger.

It should be noted that the teeth of representatives of the species never change at the same time. In the conditions of some reservoirs, the change of teeth in a pike intensifies only with the onset certain season when predatory fish stop hunting too large and active prey.

Character and lifestyle

In any reservoirs, pikes prefer fairly dense and very well-grown thickets, represented by aquatic vegetation. As a rule, predatory fish simply stand motionless for a long time and wait for their prey. Only after the predator sees a suitable prey, a quick and rather sharp jerk follows. Curious is the fact that pikes always swallow the caught prey exclusively from the head, even if the victim was grabbed across the body.

This is interesting! On fairly warm and sunny days, even the largest pikes prefer to go into shallow water and bask under the rays, so you can often see an impressive accumulation of large fish located at a depth of a quarter of a meter near the coastline.

Even the largest in size, adult pikes prefer to be located in shallow water, so there are well-known cases when waters are relatively small lake, at a depth not exceeding half a meter, fishermen caught very large specimens. For an aquatic predator, the oxygen content is important, therefore, in too small reservoirs, fish can die in long and too frosty winters. Also, fish can die if the amount of oxygen in the aquatic environment up to 3.0 mg / liter.

It must be remembered that pikes always wait for their prey only where there is any kind of hiding place.. For example, the largest adults, unlike pike that are too small or medium in size, may well also be found at sufficient depth, but the predator will still strive to find dense algae or snags. When attacking a prey, representatives of the species are guided by the lateral line and vision.

How long do pike live

To correctly determine the age of a pike, the vertebrae of a predatory fish are used. Despite the fact that many fish are characterized by a short life cycle of about five years, the age of centenarians belonging to the Pike family, the class Pike fish and the Pike order is most often a quarter of a century.

This is interesting! There is a legend according to which a young pike was ringed by King Frederick of Germany, and after 267 years this predator was caught by fishermen, had a weight of 140 kg and a length of 570 cm.

pike species

The only genus of Pike currently includes seven different types. All types of pike differ markedly in habitats, appearance characteristics and some other features:

common pike (Esox lucius). It is a typical and most numerous representative of the genus, inhabiting a significant part of fresh water bodies in the countries of North America and Eurasia, where it lives in water thickets and stagnant waters, closer to the coastal part of water bodies;
American, or red-finned pike (Esox americanus). The species lives exclusively in the eastern part of North America and is represented by a pair of subspecies: the northern red-finned pike (Esox americanus americanus) and the southern or grass pike ( Esox americanus vermiculatus). All representatives of the subspecies grow to a length of 30-45 cm and a weight of one kilogram, and also differ in a shortened snout. The southern pike does not have orange fins;
Muskellunge pike (Esox masquinongy). It belongs to rare species, as well as the largest representatives in the family. The name was obtained thanks to the Indians, who dubbed such a fish "ugly pike." The second name of the aquatic predator - "giant pike", was received by the fish due to its very impressive size. Adult individuals may well reach a length of 180 cm with a weight of up to 30-32 kg. The color can be silver, brown or green, and side part cover spots or vertical stripes;
Black, or striped pike (Esox nigga). Adult individuals of this species grow to a length of 55-60 cm with a weight in the range of 1.8-2.0 kg. In appearance, the predator resembles an ordinary northern pike. The weight of the largest and most famous this moment representative of this species slightly exceeded four kilograms. The black pike has a characteristic mosaic type pattern on the sides, as well as a distinctive dark stripe above the eyes;
Amur pike (Esox reicherti). All representatives of this species are smaller than those of the common pike. The largest adults grow up to about 115 cm and have a body weight in the range of 19-20 kg. A specific feature is the presence of rather small silvery or golden-greenish scales. The color of the Amur pike resembles the color of taimen scales, which is due to the presence of numerous black-brown spots scattered over the surface of the entire body, from head to tail.

The species Italian pike (Esох sisalpinus or Esох flaviae) is also quite well studied - it was first isolated only seven years ago and previously considered a subspecies of the common pike. Less well known is the Aquitaine pike (Esох aquitаnicus), first described four years ago and living in reservoirs in France.

This is interesting! It should be noted that hybrid individuals are not able to reproduce in natural conditions, and it is for this reason that their independent population does not currently exist.

Range, habitats

The most common species lives in most water bodies of North America and Eurasia. All representatives of the southern or grass pike (Esox americanus vermiculatus) live in the waters of the Mississippi, as well as in waterways that flow into the Atlantic Ocean.

This is interesting! Pike may well be found in the desalinated waters of some seas, including the Finnish, Riga and Curonian bays of the Baltic Sea, as well as the Taganrog Bay of the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov.

The black or striped pike (Esох niger) is a well-known North American predator that inhabits the waters of lakes and overgrown rivers from the southern coast of Canada to the state of Florida and further, to the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Valley.

Amur pike (Esох reicherti) is a typical inhabitant of natural water bodies on Sakhalin Island and the Amur River. Mtalian pike (Esox sisalpinus or Esox flaviae) is a typical inhabitant of reservoirs in northern and central Italy.

Pike diet

The basis of pike nutrition is representatives of a wide variety of fish species, which include roach, perch and ruff, bream, silver bream and minnow, char and minnow, as well as sculpin. This aquatic predator does not disdain at all even representatives belonging to its own species. In spring or early summer, frogs and molting crayfish are very willingly eaten by a fairly large predator.

There are well-known cases when pike grabbed and dragged under the water small ducklings, not too large rats and mice, as well as squirrels and sandpipers, which often swim across rivers during the natural migration season. The largest pikes are quite capable of attacking even adult ducks, especially in the phase of feathered molting, when such birds cannot rise from the reservoir into the air. It should also be noted that the prey of adult and large pike very often become fish, the weight and length of which is 50-65% of the weight and length of the aquatic predator itself.

According to scientists who have studied the pike diet well, the diet of this medium-sized aquatic predator is most often dominated by low-value and most numerous fish species, therefore pike is currently a necessary component of a rational fish economy. The absence of this fish most often becomes the main reason for a sharp and uncontrolled increase in the number of perch or small ruff.

A fish like pike is well known even to those who are not at all interested in fishing. People learn about it from childhood from fairy tales, fables, riddles or from the primer, where this toothy creature often represents the letter "Sh". From the point of view of biology, the common pike is a predatory fish of the ray-finned class, the pike-like order and the pike family. This is one of the largest inhabitants of fresh waters and the most common predatory fish in the world.

Appearance

The length of an average adult representative of the common pike species is 1 meter and weighs 8 kilograms. Individual creatures grow up to 1.5-1.8 m and weigh about 35 kg - usually these are females, which are generally larger than males. They say that the name "pike" comes from the word "feeble" - this is how the long and, at first glance, thin body of the fish seems. At the same time, its head is strongly elongated, and the lower jaw protrudes forward, which gives this freshwater predator some resemblance to a shark.

Biological description

The body of the pike is laterally compressed and covered with small scales with a lot of mucus - this helps the predator to make rapid jerks under water. The head of the fish is large, while almost half of it is the jaw, and the snout is strongly flattened.

At the same time, the eyes are located on the sides of the head and sit quite high, which gives the “freshwater shark” the opportunity to inspect a large area in search of prey without turning around. In addition to excellent vision, the lateral line helps her to hunt - a special organ that reacts to the movements of water created by various fish.

The fins of the pike also help the fish make quick jerks, but its main locomotor apparatus- This is a wide and muscular tail, the structure of which helps her to gain high speed almost instantly. In general, all the features of how the pike looks clearly indicate that this is a deadly predator, perfectly adapted to the pursuit of prey.

Color features

The color of the pike largely depends on its habitat and perfectly performs a camouflage function. The color of the fish scales changes depending on the type of underwater vegetation surrounding it, it can be greenish-gray, gray-brown, silvery or have a yellowish tint.

The back of the predator is darker than the main color, and on its sides you can see olive-colored spots running from head to tail in transverse stripes - a kind of camouflage pattern. Her belly is light, most often white, covered with grayish spots. Unpaired fins are brown or dirty yellow, while paired fins are painted in dull shades of orange. They are often covered in spots or streaks.

Young pike are light in color, which darkens with age, and fish that prefer shallow water are lighter than deep-sea ones. The tone of the scales is also affected by the prevalence of a particular food in the fish area, as well as several other factors that affect the production of biological pigment.

pike teeth

One of the main special predators is the structure of her mouth. The lower jaw of the fish is covered with fang-like teeth of various sizes, designed to capture and hold prey. On the upper jaw, the teeth are smaller and directed inward with points. What's interesting is that pike teeth can be completely immersed in the mucous membrane so that food passes into the throat without problems, the predator does not chew the prey, but swallows it whole. At the same time, if the victim tries to escape, the upper fangs-brushes rise again, blocking the path.

It is also interesting that the pike fish changes its teeth throughout its life. Some fishermen believe that during this period she does not eat anything, but in fact the change does not occur at the same time, healthy, new and changing fangs can be combined in the mouth.

In some seasons, when the need to change teeth intensifies, the predator becomes less active and prefers not to hunt large prey that can escape.

Replacing these very important “tools” in the life of any predator is possible because inside the pike jaw is covered with soft tissue, under which there are additional rows of “spare” teeth, 2-4 for each. When the working canine falls out of use, a substitute canine takes its place, which is soft at first and is attached to the jaw with one base, but then hardens and grows tightly to a new position.

habitats

The range of the common pike is very wide - all of North America and most of Eurasia (excluding the Iberian Peninsula). This fish prefers freshwater rivers and lakes, but is also found in desalinated bays of the Baltic and Azov Seas, where it tolerates brackish water well. On the territory of Russia, it inhabits almost every second body of water - not only natural lakes, ponds and rivers, but also artificial reservoirs and quarries.

Pikes are not found in mountain rivers, too dry areas, places with stagnant water and reservoirs where the oxygen content is less than 2-3 mg / l - under such conditions, the fish cannot fully breathe and die. Generally Predator is quite unpretentious but prefers calm and calm waters.

Young lake pikes usually stay close to the shore. There they choose a shelter - a snag, thickets of underwater plants, a boulder or a bottom break, where they wait for their prey. Having reached a certain size and weight of 3-4 kg, they move closer to deep water, where they look for large pits and depressions. Fishermen sometimes separate those living in standing water pike on deep-water and shallow-water "grasses", but in fact they are representatives of the same species at different stages of life.

Pike, which have chosen flowing waters as their habitat, prefer never to sail far from the coast, regardless of age and size. The largest populations of these fish can be found in the mouths of rivers flowing into freshwater reservoirs, where reservoirs form a wide flood, rich in food and aquatic vegetation for camouflage.

Hunting and Diet

Pike are known for their gluttony and illegibility in food. After a winter hunger strike, she is ready to devour any prey, including her own kind - about 20% of the diet big fish are made up of smaller counterparts. In some isolated populations, when the fry find themselves in a body of water cut off from the river due to lower water levels, they have to survive solely through cannibalism.

There are entire lakes located in northern Yakutia and Canada, where the only fish species is pike: its fry feed on zooplankton, small individuals feed on fry, and large ones feed on small ones. Despite the simplification, such ecosystems formed naturally as a result of a lack of food and are quite stable - scientists have established from the bone remains at the bottom and in the coastal zone that only pikes lived in such reservoirs for centuries. However, this is just an interesting exception, and under normal conditions, the diet of the "freshwater shark" mainly consists of the following fish:

perch;
roach;
carp;
bleak;
gudgeon;
crucian carp;
rudd.

As a rule, the pike preys on the most numerous inhabitants of its reservoir, and treats unfamiliar species with caution. It happens that the predator attacks prickly-finned fish, such as ruff, pike perch or perch; in this case, it acts cautiously and begins to swallow the prey only when it completely ceases to resist. In addition, she prefers not to eat tench and burbot because of the slippery mucus covering their body.

In spring, this fish is not averse to eating frogs, as well as small mammals swimming across water bodies during migrations or in search of food: rats, squirrels, moles. Pike can also attack waterfowl, such as waders and ducklings, and sometimes especially large specimens can drag an adult duck or drake to the bottom.

The voracity of the "freshwater shark" is explained by the fact that it digests food very slowly - the fish feeds until the stomach is full and the last victim is stuck in the mouth, sticking out of it with its tail forward. Having eaten, the pike rests for several days without eating anything. If she cannot digest some of the hard parts of her prey, then she simply burps them.

The predator most often attacks from a hiding place: having noticed potential food, it very slowly and silently turns its head towards it, after which it makes a lightning dash and grabs the prey. If the prey managed to escape, the pike most often does not pursue it, but hides again and waits for the next one. An exception to this rule, when the fish is especially voracious and actively chases for any food, is its behavior during the zhora, which happens three or four times a year during such periods:

Spring - pre-spawning, coinciding with the beginning of the growth of aquatic plants and the end of winter fasting.
Post-spawning - in April-May, when the fish needs to restore their lost strength.
Sometimes in May-July, with the greatest abundance of food.
In autumn, with the first cold snap, when the fish store energy for wintering, during which they eat almost or not at all.

These dates are very arbitrary and depend on the climate and weather in the region. The period of fish zhora can be determined by its characteristic behavior - it aggressively pursues prey, jumping out of the water, greedily grabs any fishing catch, and sometimes even throws it ashore during the chase.

Once, eyewitnesses described a case when a particularly voracious individual grabbed a goose and did not let go until he pulled it ashore.

Spawning and life cycle

The female pike reaches puberty by 3-4 years, and the male - by 5. This fish begins to spawn the very first of the freshwater species - in early spring, when the ice has barely left the surface of the water, and the temperature is only 3-6 ° C. Spawning occurs in the coastal zone, at a depth of half a meter to a meter, while small individuals are the first to lay off the game, and only then - large ones. During the breeding season, predators gather in small groups - usually 2-4 males per female, but especially large females can gather up to 8 males around them.

For spawning, river predators choose floods and tributaries, where there are small areas with a quiet current, while lake predators prefer shallow coastal waters for this. Pike caviar has a low stickiness- it most often settles immediately or clings to plants and disappears after three days, after which it also goes to the bottom. Pike eggs are only 3 mm in diameter, and their maturation period is 8-14 days at a standard temperature of 6-7°C. The female, depending on the size, produces from 50 to 180 thousand eggs, of which, due to group spawning, almost all will be fertilized.

Pike fry are only 6.7-7.6 mm long. Immediately after the dissolution of the outer shell of the egg, they already begin to prey on small invertebrates: daphnia, cyclops, water donkeys, insect larvae, such as chirominda and mayflies. Having reached a modest length of 1.2-1.5 cm, pike fry already feed on the young of other fish, for example, larvae of carps spawning after pike. With a length of 5 cm, the diet of small gluttons is already entirely made up of fry of other species.

Pike lives on average 18-20 years, with ideal conditions can live up to 30, but such fish are rare. There are legends that allegedly these fish can live for several centuries or more, but most of them have been refuted, and the maximum documented age of a caught individual is 33 years.

Pike in the fishery

This large predator is one of the most popular targets in recreational and sport fishing. In addition, it is bred artificially in special pond nurseries. Pike grown to large sizes are valuable trophies for fishermen, and their lean (only 1-3%) meat is considered a useful dietary product, because the freshwater "shark" is a valuable commercial resource. For no other type of fish, so many different methods and devices for catching have been invented as for pike. Among them stand out:

spinning;
float rods;
samolovy;
girders;
bottom fishing rods;
mugs;
supplies.

In this case, fishing for live bait is considered the best way with the help of bottom tackle, which can be thrown away without arousing suspicion in the fish. When catching this agile predator, one should take into account the peculiarities of the reservoir, as well as the season: in spring, when it is hot, it is very active and rushes to any bait, and in winter, on the contrary, it prefers not to waste energy and not move unless absolutely necessary.

The pike fishing season begins in the first warm days of the year, usually in late March or early April. Especially good fishing is obtained after fish spawning, as well as at the end of summer, when the heat subsided, but the cold had not yet come - the time is considered favorable from the first days of September until an ice crust appears on the reservoirs, before which the predator tries to gain fat for the winter. It is believed that cloudy weather is best for pike fishing.

The common pike is a familiar and familiar, but at the same time unusual and unique fish in its own way, which has not in vain become a character in many legends and fairy tales. This is a formidable predator, but at the same time a valuable object of pond farming and a natural "orderly" of reservoirs, cleansing them from weak and sick fish. Like all living things on Earth, the pike rightfully occupies its place in ecosystems and in human trade.

It is not in vain that they say about fishermen - inveterate ones, because they are ready to fish at any time of the year and day. There are many in our rivers and lakes. Not only the appearance of fish, taste, but also, of course, the way they are caught differs. One of the most popular fishing trophies is pike fish.

Appearance and pike habitat

Pike belongs to the pike family. It's predatory River fish , in our fresh water bodies it is considered one of the largest. Average size pike up to 1 meter and up to 5 kg.

But individuals are registered up to 1.5 meters in size, and up to 35 kg. Its body is torpedo-shaped, its head is large with a wide mouth. The jaw with the lower rows of teeth protrudes slightly forward.

The teeth of the pike are very sharp, there are a lot of them, in several rows, and they are located not only on the jaws, but also on the palate, tongue and gills. The jaws are arranged so that when the prey is captured, the teeth go into the mucous membrane of the mouth, but if the victim tries to escape, they rise and hold it.

On the lower jaw, teeth can be replaced - old by new ones. Moreover, they grow all at the same time, just the replacement teeth are in soft tissue behind the active tooth. When it falls out, the "spare" teeth are displaced and take up free space.

The color of the pike can be varied, depending on the environment. The main color of the small pike scales is gray, and the spots on the body can be different, from yellowish to brown.

The back is always darker, the spots on the sides form stripes across the body. Adults have a darker body color. They also look darker than the rest, living in the muddy water of silty lakes.

Paired fins are orange and rarely red, unpaired brown or gray. The coloration of both sexes is the same, the female can be distinguished from the male by a larger size and a different arrangement of the genitourinary system.

Pike is found in the temperate zone and in the north. The fresh waters of Eurasia and North America are its habitats. It is also found in desalinated parts of the sea, for example, in the bays of the Baltic and Azov Seas, as well as in the Black, Aral and Caspian Seas.

In the northern part, there is a separate species - the Amur pike, which lives in the Amur River of the same name. Habitat in the north from the Kola Peninsula to Anadyr.

Most often it keeps in the coastal zone, in bushes, thickets, snags, where there is no fast current. It also lives in lakes and streams. Pike cannot be found in turbulent reservoirs, as well as in a small stagnant pond.

Pike need a lot of oxygen, so they cannot survive the winter in a small body of water. Most often, even if they get there during the flood of the river, winter icing does its job - pikes die in such reservoirs, along with some others.

To prevent this from happening, the anglers themselves are trying to take care of the fish - they break through large ice holes, which are covered with branches and sprinkled with snow so that the water does not freeze longer in them, and oxygen can enter the reservoir.

Pike lifestyle

Pike during the day usually keeps close to the shore, in water thickets. He tries to get close to large objects behind which he can easily hide, and at the same time, so that the food is not too far away.

Small individuals try to stick to reeds and other algae, where small fish usually live, suitable for their food. Larger individuals stay at a depth, but also try to find shelter in the form of a snag or a flooded bush.

Pike love warm sunshine, and on clear days they swim up to the very shores, putting up a dark back and holding still for a long time. Large ones do not stand near the coast, but also float back to the surface, holding on to grass thickets.

If disturbed, they dive with a loud splash, but still try to stay close to their "beach". By the way, at pike fishing, it is much more convenient to catch it on spinning in clean water, so you need to try to drive it out of the grass. In various reservoirs, the lifestyle of the pikes living in it is slightly different, but still, first of all pike is a thief and predator.

Pike nutrition

Practically from infancy, pikes try animal food. Even fry, whose diet is based on zooplankton, try to hunt the larvae of various small fish, although at that time they themselves are only 1.5 cm long. Growing up to 5 cm, pike completely switch to eating fish.

In the winter season, the activity of the pike is sharply reduced, this also applies to food. But she always hunts in the same way - hiding in the bushes or grass, she abruptly rushes at the prey passing by.

The pike swallows the fish head first. If you manage to grab it across the body, then the predator will turn the fish over, for ease of swallowing. At this point, the brush teeth turn in such a way that the fish moves into the throat without interference.

In the event that the prey tries to escape, the sharp teeth will rest against it with their points and the victim will have only one way - right into the stomach of the pike. During the hunt, the pike uses both vision and a sensitive organ - the lateral line, which is developed not only along the entire length of the body, but also on the head.

Pike are not particularly picky about food, they can eat everything they can catch and fit in their throats. These are gobies, whitefish, bream, perch, roach, crucian carp, ruff, gudgeon, minnow, and even smaller pikes themselves.

Quite often they eat fellows if there are a lot of them in the reservoir and they are smaller in size. They also eat chicks, ducklings, waders, molting crustaceans and small animals (hare,) caught in the water.

In the mountain lakes of Canada, where only pikes are found, adults eat their own offspring. If we talk about the pike's appetites, it is known that it easily swallows food that makes up 50-65% of its own weight and size.

Reproduction and life expectancy of pike

Pike spawns in early spring, as soon as the ice melts. Caviar lays in algae at a depth of 0.5-1 meters. The female lays eggs, and the males accompany her and fertilize them with milk. One individual can sweep 20-200 thousand eggs.

Caviar is fixed on grass, algae, and then falls to the bottom and fry develop from it within 8-14 days. Pikes become sexually mature at the age of 2-4 years.