The chain pickerel (Esox niger) is a species of freshwater fish in the pike family (family Esocidae) of order Esociformes. The chain pickerel and the American pickerel (E. americanus) belong to the Esox genus of pike.
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OviparousOviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withThe 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. 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. It may reach up to 78.7 centimetres (31.0 in) long only on rare occasions. 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 places the pickerel is known as a "gunfish", "gunny" or "slime dart", due to its characteristic slime coating.
A blue color morph lacking the usual reticulated pattern has been described in a New York population.
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 Hampshire, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia although it is considered an invasive species in Nova Scotia, the chain pickerel extend as far as 46°N. 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. It is considered invasive in northern areas.
Chain pickerel live in a variety of habitats, including pools within creeks or rivers, lakes with vegetation cover, swamps and other wetlands. Chain pickerel are tolerant of brackish water with salinity levels of up to 22 ppt. They are also acid tolerant to a pH of 3.8.
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, worms, mice, crayfish, insects, and a wide variety of other foods. It is not unusual for pickerel to leap out of the water at flying insects, or even at dangling fishing lures. 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.
Spawning occurs in flooded vegetation at the end of winter or beginning of spring when the water temperature is between 2–22 °C (36–72 °F). A secondary fall spawning has been reported in Pennsylvania. Fertilization is external and eggs and sperm are mixed by the adults' tail movements. Up to 50,000 eggs may be released by the female. No parental care is provided, and the eggs hatch between six and twelve days after they are laid. The fry possess adhesive glands on their snouts that they use to attach to vegetation. It takes six to eight days for the fry to absorb their yolk sac, at which point they begin to actively hunt.
