Chain pickerel
Template:Short description Template:Speciesbox The chain pickerel (Esox niger) is a species of freshwater fish in the pike family (family Esocidae) of order Esociformes.<ref>Template:FishBase species</ref> The chain pickerel and the American pickerel (E. americanus) belong to the Esox genus of pike.<ref name=range/>
TaxonomyEdit
French naturalist Charles Alexandre Lesueur described the chain pickerel in 1818. Its species name is the Latin word niger "black".<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>
Nicknames include the "southern pike", "grass pike", "jack", "jackfish", "gunny" and "eastern pickerel". In central Florida the chain pickerel is known locally as "Gatorfish" <ref name="fuller">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
DescriptionEdit
The chain pickerel has a distinctive, dark, chain-like pattern on its greenish sides. There is a vertical dark marking underneath the eye, which helps to distinguish the chain pickerel from redfin pickerel (Esox americanus americanus) and grass pickerel (E. americanus vermiculatus), in which the mark curves posteriorly.<ref name="Kirk">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Its body outline resembles that of the northern pike (E. lucius). Unlike northern pike, however, the opercles and cheeks of chain pickerel are entirely scaled.<ref name=range/> It may reach up to Template:Convert long only on rare occasions.<ref name="Kirk"/> The average size for chain pickerel, however, is 24 in (61 cm) and 3 lb (1 1/2 kg). (The average chain pickerel caught by fishermen is under 2 lb). It lives around 8 yr. In some placesTemplate:Where the pickerel is known as a "gunfish", "gunny" or "slime dart",Template:Citation needed due to its characteristic slime coating.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
A blue color morph lacking the usual reticulated pattern has been described in a New York population.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
DistributionEdit
Its range is along the eastern coast of North America from southern Canada to Florida, and west to Texas. In the New England, the species occurs in Maine and New Hampshire. The fish inhabits fresh and brackish water from the Mississippi Valley. It also is commonly found in Lake Michigan and the lower portion of the Great Lakes.<ref name=range>Pike, Pickerel and Muskalonge, Alfred C. Weed, Zoology Leaflet 9, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, 1927, pg. 19.</ref> In the Canadian Maritimes, chain pickerel is known from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
Chain pickerel is considered an invasive species in Nova Scotia, where native fish stocks have been severely impacted by the effects of its introduction, primarily through its role as a voracious predator.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Historical angling destinations in the province's mainland, like Kejimkujik National Park, have been heavily impacted by the illegal introduction of this fish to the area.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
HabitatEdit
Chain pickerel live in a variety of habitats, including pools within creeks or rivers,<ref name="fuller"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> lakes with vegetation cover, swamps<ref name="fuller"/> and other wetlands.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Chain pickerel are tolerant of brackish water with salinity levels of up to 22 ppt.<ref name="fuller"/> They are also acid tolerant to a pH of 3.8.<ref name="fuller"/>
DietEdit
Like the northern pike, the chain pickerel feeds primarily on smaller fish, until it grows large enough to ambush large fish from cover with a rapid lunge and to secure it with its sharp teeth. Chain pickerel are also known to eat frogs, snakes,<ref name=ADorg>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> worms, mice, other small mammals,<ref name=ADorg /> crayfish, insects,<ref name=ADorg/> and a wide variety of other foods.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It is not unusual for pickerel to leap out of the water at flying insects, or even at dangling fishing lures.Template:Cn Raney (1942) studied chain pickerel in a New York pond and found that golden shiners were found in the stomachs of 47.3% of the 234 chain pickerel examined. Brown bullheads were found in 13.8%, and pumpkinseed sunfish were found in 13.2%. Crayfish of the genus Cambarus were present in 42% of the chain pickerel.<ref name=ADorg /><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
ReproductionEdit
Spawning occurs in flooded vegetation at the end of winter or beginning of spring<ref name="Kirk"/><ref name="ADorg"/> when the water temperature is between Template:Convert.<ref name="ADorg"/> A secondary fall spawning has been reported in Pennsylvania.<ref name="Ross">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Fertilization is external and eggs and sperm are mixed by the adults' tail movements.<ref name="Ross"/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Up to 50,000 eggs may be released by the female.<ref name="ADorg"/> No parental care is provided, and the eggs hatch between six and twelve days after they are laid.<ref name="Ross"/> The fry possess adhesive glands on their snouts that they use to attach to vegetation.<ref name="Ross"/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> It takes six to eight days for the fry to absorb their yolk sac, at which point they begin to actively hunt.<ref name="ADorg"/>
AnglingEdit
The chain pickerel is a popular sport fish. It is an energetic fighter when hooked. Anglers have success with live minnows, spinnerbaits, spoons, topwater lures, plugs, and flies, usually tied with some kind of feather or bucktail material.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> If the angler intends to release a fish, it is advisable use pliers to flatten the barbs on the lure's hooks. Chain pickerel can swallow an entire lure, so it will be much easier to free a deeply hooked fish and get it back into the water as soon as possible.Template:Cn
Practically any bass lure can be effective for pickerel, although like most pike, they seem to be particularly susceptible to flashy lures which imitate small forage fish. Dragging a plastic worm, lizard, frog, or other soft imitation can also be extremely effective. A Texas rig method is recommended with these soft baits for productive fishing in the weeds.Template:Cn
A steel leader is necessary for sharp-toothed and active fish at two to three pounds. The angler would also do well to use 12- to 17-lb-test line on an open-faced spinning reel. Methods are similar to those for bass, such as dragging a lure through weeds in shallow water and jerking it side-to-side to give it the look of injured prey. Chain pickerel are voracious and opportunistic feeders, and will attack most any fodder that moves into their range of vision.Template:Cn
The International Game Fish Association (IGFA) all-tackle world record chain pickerel is a Template:Convert fish, caught in Homerville, Georgia on February 17, 1961 by angler Baxley McQuaig, Jr., while the IGFA all-tackle length world record is Template:Convert long, caught in Henderson Harbor, Lake Ontario, New York on November 4, 2019 by angler Burnie Haney.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>