We all heard from childhood about such predatory fish as common pike. She is even a character in fairy tales. But here's what it is, where it lives … Hardly anyone thought about these questions. Meanwhile, it is one of the largest freshwater fish.
Biology of common pike
Common pike (pike order, family Pike, genus Pike) is a predator. The origin of the name of the fish is not known for certain. According to experts, the name of the predator came simply from the word "puny". Thus, they began to call fish with a fairly elongated body and at the same time deceptively thin. But there is another version, according to which the word is derived from the common Slavic skeu, which means “to kill, stab, cut.”
The biology of the common pike is such that it can grow up to one and a half meters in length and weigh up to 35 kilograms. But, as a rule, the fish has a more modest size: a length of up to a meter and a weight of up to eight kilograms. Her body is somewhat reminiscent of a torpedo, her head is very large, and her mouth is quite wide. Interestingly, femaleslarger than males. The body of the fish has a characteristic elongation, it is difficult to confuse it with any other fish. But the head has some features, it is clearly seen that the lower jaw protrudes significantly forward. This is due to the fact that the common pike is a predator, and therefore has an unusual structure of the oral cavity, which is why it was nicknamed the "river shark".
Cowgirl coloration
At first glance it may seem that the fish has a standard color. But this is not entirely true. The color of the predator is very variable and depends on its habitat. The common pike (description is given in the article) changes colors depending on the degree of development and the nature of the vegetation that surrounds it. The fish can be gray-green, gray-brown, gray-yellow. At the same time, the back can be darker than the main background, and on the sides of the predator there are always large olive or brown spots that form a kind of stripe.
Unpaired fins are usually yellow-gray or brown with dark spots, and paired fins are orange. Even silver pikes live in some lakes. It should be noted that the overall color of the fish depends on many factors and may be subject to constant changes. Here the age of the individual, the time of year plays a role. The common pike has a dark color in a pond with muddy water and a silty bottom.
Pike habitats
The common pike lives in the fresh waters of North America and Eurasia. As a rule, the fish lives in the coastal region, in thickets, in slow-flowing or stagnant waters. In ponds, rivers, lakes, pike leads a sedentary life. But the fish iscan also be found in partially desalinated areas of the seas, for example, in the Riga, Finnish and Curonian bays of the B altic Sea, as well as the Taganrog Bay of Azov.
The common pike has a very wide habitat. Therefore, it is found in the basins of the Aral and Caspian Seas, and in the north the predator can be found from the Kola Peninsula to Anadyr, in the Amur River basin. In lakes and ponds, fish swim close to the shore, preferring shallow water littered with debris and thickets of algae. But in the rivers, pike can be found both at depth and near the coast. In large numbers, predators live in the mouths of rivers that flow into large reservoirs. In such places, as a rule, there are wide spills and abundant aquatic flora. However, fish prefer only those waters that have sufficient oxygen content.
Even a winter decrease in the level of oxygen in the water can lead to the death of predators. What conditions does the common pike prefer? Where it lives, we considered earlier. The fish calmly tolerates acidified water, and therefore is found even in swamps. But the pike avoids fast and rocky rivers. The main condition for the stay of fish is the presence of abundant vegetation. But in the northern regions, the predator, as a rule, hides under bushes, snags hanging over the water, or behind stones, where fish lie in wait for their prey.
Lifestyle
What is the lifestyle of the common pike? The description of the fish would be incomplete without mentioning the nutrition of the famous predator. Usually fishis motionless in its ambush, and then with lightning speed rushes at its victim. It is very rare that a creature manages to avoid the teeth of a pike if it is chasing potential prey. The peculiarity of the predator is that it not only pursues the victim in the water, but also makes amazing air jumps. She swallows the victim only from the head. Even if the pike grabbed the fish across the body, it will certainly quickly turn it over and send it head first into the mouth.
What does a pike eat?
The fish starts to prey very early. Having reached a length of 12-15 millimeters, the fry can already eat smaller carp larvae. However, during this period of development, small pike prefer to feed on invertebrates: mayflies, chironomid larvae, water donkeys. Having reached five centimeters, pikes completely switch to feeding on young growth of other fish. They can no longer eat only invertebrates. This is due to the fact that energy is spent on the extraction of food, which must be replenished with nutrients (invertebrates do not replenish the energy spent). Therefore, young pike die in aquariums if they are fed exclusively with small crustaceans.
Sometimes in floodplain water bodies that have lost contact with the river after the flood level has decreased, the young are isolated, but still the transition to carnivorous feeding is mandatory. In such cases, the pike develop unevenly. Small individuals feed on invertebrates and grow very poorly. At the same time, larger pike eat their smaller relatives, grow much faster and turn into real ones.cannibals consuming their own kind.
As a rule, this phenomenon is observed among individuals of larger sizes (ten centimeters or more). However, very small fish (3.1-4 cm) sometimes become cannibals. In some reservoirs, only pikes are found from fish. This amazing phenomenon occurs as a result of a whole sequential chain of cannibalism. In the end, the common pike remains the only inhabitant of the reservoir. The systematization of the process is as follows: small pike eat invertebrates, and larger relatives feed on them, which, in turn, are eaten by even larger individuals, and so on. The objective existence of such a chain is associated with the high fecundity of pikes, which makes it possible to obtain a significant number of offspring to feed relatives, including relatives as well.
When does the common pike feed? The way of life of fish is such that they eat in the evening or in the morning, but at night and at noon they almost always rest, digesting food. The menu of predators depends on different circumstances, and therefore can be very different. Basically it depends on where the common pike lives. Habitat determines the range of food available to fish. As a rule, they eat the most numerous individuals of the reservoir. And in the spring, for example, pikes can readily eat frogs. There are even cases when a predator dragged a mouse, a rat, a sandpiper or a squirrel swimming across the river under water.
Big pikes can affordattack waterfowl, and it does not have to be a duckling, it can be an adult duck. For such tricks, a predator is sometimes called a duckling. The literature even describes a case when a pike grabbed a goose by the paw and did not let go until he pulled the fish ashore.
However, it cannot be said that the pike causes great harm to the fish industry. In natural waters, it regulates the community by eating small things, weak and sick fish, while it enables larger and he althier individuals to grow faster and produce good offspring. Pike digest food very slowly. That's why he eats periodically. And in winter, fish do not eat at all.
Spawning predator
How does the common pike reproduce? The characterization of fish would be incomplete without mentioning reproduction. As we have said, pikes are incredibly prolific fish. They reach puberty at 3-5 years, while their length is 35-40 centimeters. Females begin to spawn immediately after the ice melts at a temperature of 3-6 degrees. For this, fish are suitable in shallow water, under the shore. As a rule, smaller individuals go to spawn, then medium ones, and only then the largest ones. Each female is guarded by 2-4 males, up to eight potential applicants can be near a large one. The female swims in front, and the males follow her on the sides or hold on to her back. Pike rub against bushes, stumps, knots, cattail stalks and other objects. They do not stay in one place and move around the spawning ground all the time. It is during this period that caviar is spawned. At the end of the spawning process, all fishrush in different directions and splash heavily, and males sometimes jump out to the surface of the water.
It's hard to imagine, but depending on the size of the female, she is able to lay from 17.5 to 215 thousand eggs. Large caviar, up to 3 millimeters in diameter, is scattered by the female, and then glued to the plants. After a few days, the stickiness is lost, the eggs fall off and continue their development at the bottom of the reservoir. In those places where there is no vegetation, they immediately find themselves at the bottom. After 8-14 days, larvae begin to hatch, which at first feed on small crustaceans (cyclops and daphnia).
How long do pike live?
Common pike (photos are given in the article) can live up to twenty years. However, there is evidence that a thirty-three-year-old fish was once caught. In general, in the literature you can find an incredible number of legends regarding the amazing vitality of pikes. Especially incredible is the story of the Heilbron pike, which was caught by King Frederick II and marked by him with a golden ring in 1230 in a lake near Beckingen. The legend says that the same fish was re-caught after 267 years. At that time, she already weighed 140 kilograms and had grown to 5.7 meters in length. The ridge of this outlandish creature was exhibited in the cathedral of the city of Mannheim. However, later it turned out that this story is just a fishing tale. It turned out that the spine of the exhibit was nothing more than a hoax, since it was made up of the spines of several fish. And such amazing stories.there are quite a few.
How do they catch predatory fish?
Common pike is a commercial fish. Its meat is completely lean and not very tasty, but it is considered quite an important dietary product. In the old days, the Cossacks on the Don did not recognize such fish and threw it back into the river. But in the Middle Ages in England, pike was considered a very tasty and expensive fish. Fish fillet is very popular among French women, and therefore in France pike is not only caught, but also bred in artificial ponds.
In our country, catching it is also very popular among fishermen. Most often, spinning is used for this, this is the most difficult type of fishing, but also the most interesting. With the knowledge of precise technique and the right choice of bait, fishermen can get a great trophy.
The fishing season begins in early spring, with the arrival of the first warm days, but before the floods. This period falls at the end of March and the beginning of April. For fishing, it is better to choose small rivers. The period after spawning is especially good for fishing, because seven to twelve days after it, the spring zhor begins in pike. This period can be very short, and can last up to twenty days. A starving fish bites on any bait. But it is better to catch it closer to the spawning grounds. As soon as it ends, other fish rush here, attracted by pike caviar. And the predator does not waste time and feeds on new prey.
Sharp and strong wind makes the pikego to the depths. When fishing, it is worth considering the specifics of the reservoir. For example, in small rivers, fishing should be carried out near pools and pits.
Fish bite improves significantly towards the end of summer when the heat subsides. And in September it becomes very intense and remains so in the daytime, almost until the moment when it becomes ice. Feeling the approach of cold weather, the fish tries to accumulate fat, and therefore it feeds heavily and falls for the bait faster. A particularly large catch can be obtained during quiet autumn evenings with fogs. Autumn fishing attracts many anglers, leaving their bottom and float rods, they pick up spinning rods in order to catch a predator.
Interesting facts about fish
Periodically, predators change their teeth. Some anglers believe that predators do not feed during such periods. But this is absolutely not true. The process occurs gradually, the teeth change one at a time, but painfully. And yet, even during such periods, the fish hunt.
The teeth on the lower jaw of the fish perform the function of capturing food. They have the shape of fangs and at the same time different sizes. But on the upper jaw, the teeth are smaller, their points are directed inside the mouth. When capturing the victim, she no longer has a chance to escape from the predator's mouth.
According to experienced fishermen, pike is a very cunning fish. And sometimes it's hard to catch her. Once a fish is off the hook, it remembers the bait that hurt it. Therefore, next time she will never bite on the same complementary foods. Fishermen in such casesyou should change either the place of fishing or the bait.
Fishing Planet
Fishing is so popular that it is reflected in the computer game Fishing Planet. The unique common pike is one of the possible trophies of virtual fishing. Fishing Planet is a very realistic fishing simulator (online). It was created by true lovers of this activity for the same avid fishermen. In this game, you can choose fish, tackle, strive to improve your skills. And you can also include friends in the process. Of course, the simulator will not replace real fishing, but there are many fans of it, because the creators of the game tried to make it very realistic and interesting.
Instead of afterword
In our article we tried to tell the most interesting facts about the famous predator, which is a thunderstorm of rivers and lakes. But at the same time, pike is valued for its dietary meat and is a desirable trophy for every fisherman.
