Species: Esox lucius
Northern Pike
Species
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Actinopterygii
Order
Esociformes
Family
Esocidae
Genus
Esox
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
grand brochet
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Fishes - Bony Fishes - Other Bony Fishes
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Actinopterygii - Esociformes - Esocidae - Esox - May hybridize with other esocids (e.g., where pike introduced).
Ecology and Life History
Habitat Type Description
Freshwater
Migration
true - true - false - May migrate between spawning and nonspawning habitats.
Non-migrant
true
Locally Migrant
true
Food Comments
Young initially eat large zooplankton and immature aquatic insects. After 7-10 days fishes begin to enter diet and eventually dominate. Adults feed opportunistically on vertebrates small enough to be engulfed. (Scott and Crossman 1973). Sight feeder.
Reproduction Comments
Spawns in spring as soon as ice begins to break up. Produces a single clutch per year. Eggs hatch in 12-14 days at typically prevailing temperatures. Males sexually mature at 1-2 years in south, at age 5 in north; females mature at 2-3 years in south, at age 6 in north.
Ecology Comments
Adults solitary except at spawning. Evidence from New England indicates that landlocked populations of Atlantic salmon may be negatively influenced as abundance of northern pike and/or ESOX hybrids increases.
Length
133
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-09-13
Global Status Last Changed
1996-09-13
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.AB=S5&CA.BC=S5&CA.LB=S5&CA.MB=S5&CA.NF=SNR&CA.NT=S5&CA.NU=SNR&CA.ON=S5&CA.QC=S5&CA.SK=S5&CA.YT=S5&US.AK=SE&US.AZ=SE&US.AR=SE&US.CO=SE&US.CT=SE&US.DC=SE&US.GA=SE&US.ID=SE&US.IL=S4&US.IN=S4&US.IA=S5&US.KS=SE&US.KY=SE&US.ME=SE&US.MD=SE&US.MA=SE&US.MI=S5&US.MN=SNR&US.MO=S4&US.MT=S5&US.NN=SE&US.NE=S4&US.NV=SE&US.NH=SE&US.NJ=SE&US.NM=SE&US.NY=S5&US.NC=SE&US.ND=SNR&US.OH=S4&US.OK=SE&US.PA=S3&US.RI=SE&US.SD=S5&US.TN=SE&US.TX=SE&US.UT=SE&US.VT=S4&US.VA=SE&US.WA=SE&US.WV=SE&US.WI=S5&US.WY=SE" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - Range is Holarctic and includes the Atlantic, Arctic, Pacific, Great Lakes, and Mississippi River basins from Alaska to Labrador, south to Pennsylvania, Missouri, and Nebraska (Page and Burr 2011). This species has been introduced in many areas southward of the native range.
Global Range Code
H
Global Range Description
>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)