Chain pickerel
| Chain pickerel | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Esociformes |
| Family: | Esocidae |
| Genus: | Esox |
| Species: | E. niger |
| Binomial name | |
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Esox niger Lesueur, 1818 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Esox reticulatus |
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Esox reticulatus
The chain pickerel or Southern Pike (Esox niger) is a species of freshwater fish in the pike family (family Esocidae) of order Esociformes. The chain pickerel and the American pickerel belong to the Esox genus of pike.
French naturalist Charles Alexandre Lesueur described the chain pickerel in 1818. Its species name is the Latin word niger "black".
It is also known as the "gunfish", "federation pike" or "federation pickerel". Pickerel is often a name given to walleye, although the true name belongs to the chain pickerel. Common nicknames in the southeastern United States are the "southern pike", "grass pike", "jack", "jack fish", and "eastern pickerel".
The chain pickerel has a distinctive, dark, chain-like pattern on its greenish sides. Its body outline resembles that of the northern pike. It may reach up to 30 in long only on rare occasions. The opercles and cheeks of the fish are entirely scaled. The average size for chain pickerel, however, is 24 in and 3 lb. (The average chain pickerel caught by fishermen is under 2 lb). It lives around 8 yr.
Its range is along the eastern coast of North America from southern Canada to Florida, and west to Texas. On the Atlantic Coast, in Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, the chain pickerel extend as far as 46°N. The fish inhabits fresh water from the Mississippi Valley into southern Wisconsin. It also is commonly found in Lake Michigan and the lower portion of the Great Lakes.
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Wikipedia