PIKE, PICKEREL, fresh-water, ravenous fishes of the family Luciide or Esocide. They are teleostomous fishes, forming, with the mud minnows, cyprinodonts and blind fishes, the order Haplomi. In the pikes the body is lengthened, flattened on the back, and tapers abruptly toward the tail. One dorsal fin exists, placed far back on the body, and opposite the anal fin. The mouth is very large and lower jaw projects, the biting edge of the upper jaw being formed by the maxillary and premaxil lary bones. Teeth are present in plentiful array, and are borne by almost every bone en tering into the composition of the mouth as well as small ones upon the tongue. They are very sharp and of various sizes, the larger ones having a hinge-like attachment by means of a ligament, to the bones. The body is clothed with small cycloid scales, or those of a simple rounded variety. There is a single genus (Lucius) with five species, four of which are confined to North America, the fifth being found in Europe and Asia also. The common pike (Lucius lucius) occurs in the rivers of Europe, northern Asia and North America. Pikes are the tyrants of their sphere, being the most voracious of fresh-water fishes. They feed upon smaller fishes, upon frogs, muskrats, and other animals; and young ducks and other aquatic birds have been known to be dragged below the water and devoured by these fishes. Perches and sunfish are said to escape the pike's attack owing to the presence of their spiny dorsal fins. When fully grown the pike may ordinarily attain a length of four feet, and there are instances on record in which these fishes have exceeded that length.
In America this species ranges from the Ohio River and southern New York to Alaska and Greenland, and is especially abundant in the lakes and rivers of British America. It prefers quiet waters; and remains for long pe riods suspended perfectly stationary in the water, but, when its prey approaches, darts upon it with the utmost suddenness and the speed of an arrow. Throughout the year, ex cept in the spring when they consort in pairs, the pike leads a solitary life; 100,000 to 500,000 eggs are deposited from April to May, accord ing to the latitude. No nest is made, and the non-adhesive eggs sink to the bottom. The muskellonge or muscalonge is a still larger spe cies, often attaining a length of five to eight feet and a weight of 100 pounds or more. It may be quickly distinguished from the pike, with which it is often confused, by the absence of scales from the lower part of the cheeks and the greater number of rays in the fins. It is found in the Great Lakes and other large bodies of water in that general region and northward. Being a pike on a large scale, its habits closely resemble those just described for that species.
It prefers the deeper waters, resting among plants near the bottom and is a most formidable enemy of all living creatures inhabiting the same waters.
The name ((pickerel" is the diminutive of pike and is employed to designate all of the small species as well as the young of the larger. The species to which this name is especially applied are the banded pickerel (L. amen canus), which seldom exceeds 12 inches, and is found in lowland streams of the Atlantic watershed from New England to Florida; the western pickered (L. vermiculatus), a similar species of the Mississippi Valley; and the com mon pickerel, pike, or jack (L. reticulatus) of the entire eastern United States. The last named attains a length of two feet and is com mon everywhere, being especially abundant in clear lakes, where it reaches the largest size.
All of these are most excellent table fishes. The dash with which they take the hook, and the vigor and determination with which they fight for liberty makes them great favorites with sportsmen, though their destructiveness to other game fishes has gained them many ene mies. The larger species, and especially the muskellonge, are usually taken by trolling, a copper wire line being used when they seek the depths of the lakes. The smaller ones may be taken with a light tackle, the chief precaution being to provide against the severance of the line by their sharp teeth. Live minnows or small frogs are tempting baits.
The name pike is also used for several other quite unrelated fishes which present some re semblance to the pikes in their elongated forms. Among these may be mentioned the gar pikes (Lepidosteus) and the sea pike or silver gar (Tylosuras). Consult Henshall, 'Bass, Pike, Perch and Others' (New York 1903) ' • and Cholmondeley-Pennell, 'Book of the Pike' (New York 1890).
a fish closely allied to the perch, but showing a resemblance to the pike in the elongated body and head. The Ameri can pike-perches belong to the genus Stizos tcdion, which differs from the European Lucio persa in the weaker development of the fin spines. From the true perches the pike-perches are easily distinguished by the elongated head and the presence of canine teeth on the jaws. The most important species is S. vitreum, which bears a large number of local names, but is best known as the wall-eyed pike (q.v.). The chief European species is L. sandra, which at tains a length of three or four feet, and weighs 25 or 30 pounds. The S. canadense inhabits many of the northern lakes of North America, and is slightly more cylindrical than S. vitreum, besides having more spots on the fins and no black spots back of the dorsal fins.