Northern Pike

Northern pike are circumpolar in the freshwater world of the northern hemisphere. Adult northern pike are usually solitary and highly territorial. Spawning adults will begin to move inshore or upstream to marsh areas to spawn as soon as the ice begins to break up or thaw in early spring. Spawning will normally occur during daylight hours in shallow quiet areas with a weed bottom.
Male northern pike begin courting the female pike by nudging her head region. The male northern pike then follows this head nudging behavior with multiple thrusting movements, to entice the female to extrude her eggs. As the female begins to release her eggs, the male pike will simultaneously begin to release his milt and fertilize the eggs as they settle down to the bottom.
The fertilized eggs will then hatch sometime in the next two to ﬁve weeks. Upon hatching, young pike will attach themselves to freshwater weeds and live oﬀ of their yolk sac while their mouths are still developing. Upon full development of their mouths, the young pike will feed on zooplankton and then graduate to insects and ultimately other ﬁsh and other prey. Northern pike are a prized recreational fish in the United States and an important commercial ﬁsh in Canada. In the state of Alaska they also comprise an important subsistence fishery.
It has been demonstrated that northern pike can have negative ecological impacts on aquatic ecosystems when introduced into non‐native waters.
Category:Fish