Just by the appearance of this freshwater fish one can judge its predatory habits and extraordinary agility. The armored pike (photos clearly demonstrate this) has a long arrow-shaped body with a powerful tail and fins slightly tilted back, which makes it possible for it to make swift throws. Habitat - the waters of the Caribbean Sea, as well as freshwater reservoirs of North and Central America.
The shell pike has existed on the planet for more than two hundred million years, since the Cretaceous period. Now there are seven varieties of these fish. Among them there is even a decorative species - the armored pike aquarium, which, unlike its relatives, grows no more than thirty centimeters. Over the previous hundred million years, these creatures, belonging to the order of the armor-like ray-finned class, have not undergone any evolutionary changes at all, which gives modern scientists certain ideas about the appearance and habits of prehistoricfreshwater fish.
The armored pike, like a medieval knight dressed in armor, is the undisputed mistress of large rivers with their numerous tributaries that carry their waters to the Gulf of Mexico. These freshwater creatures, among other things, also breathe atmospheric air perfectly thanks to their well-developed swim bladder. The armored pike got its name for a reason: its body, with its shape resembling the outlines of an ordinary pike, covers a solid and extremely durable shell. It consists of large diamond-shaped scales, covered on the outside with a special substance - ganoin, which is extremely similar in composition to the enamel of the teeth of terrestrial animals and humans.
Thanks to this, the shell has such strength that the spears of a spear gun bounce off it, as if from an armor plate. The armored pike is also called caiman fish because of the long snout, similar to the head of a crocodile, which is combined with quite crocodile habits. Moreover, the fish in the water has such a striking resemblance to the caiman that fishermen often confuse these extremely different representatives of the water world.
All armored pikes, as noted above, are typical freshwater fish, although they can often be found in the s alty waters of the Caribbean Sea. Even at a fairly young age, predatory instincts begin to awaken in them. Barely reaching a length of five centimeters, they go on their first hunt, attacking the fry of other fish. As a rule, armored pikes use ambush tactics,stalking prey from hiding.
This is where their crocodile manners show up in all their splendor. Like these bloodthirsty killers, the shell grabs the victim across the body with powerful jaws and can hold it in this position for a long time before finally swallowing the exhausted prey. However, despite their rather impressive size (some individuals reach four meters in length and weigh about 150 kg), these ferocious and aggressive predators do not pose a great danger to humans.
Disturbed by swimmers or fishermen, shellfish prefer to flee, instantly going into the depths. As studies by a group of American scientists conducted in the lower reaches of the Mississippi River have shown, cases of attacks by these predators on humans are extremely rare, even with direct contact. Aggression towards people is possible only when the armored pike is extremely hungry, injured or very frightened.
As for their habits, it should be noted that these predatory inhabitants of freshwater reservoirs spend most of their time motionless, frozen in the water column. Only during the summer period, which is characterized by a significant decrease in oxygen in the water, shellfish float to the surface to breathe in fresh air.
The meat of these fish is practically not eaten by people, because it is extremely tough and has a specific taste. Shellfish eggs are also inedible due to their toxicity, although the ovaries of large females sometimes reach a mass of tenkilograms.
