American pickerel
Taxobox
name = Redfin and grass pickerels Istatus = secure
image_width = 250px
image_caption = Redfin pickerel
("E. americanus americanus")
regnum =Animal ia
phylum = Chordata
classis =Actinopterygii
ordo =Esociformes
familia =Esocidae
genus = "Esox "
species = "E. americanus"
binomial = "Esox americanus"
binomial_authority = Gmelin, 1789The American pickerels are two
subspecies of "Esox americanus", aspecies offreshwater fish in the pike family (familyEsocidae ) of orderEsociformes : the redfin pickerel, "E. americanus americanus" Gmelin, 1789, and the grass pickerel, "E. americanus vermiculatus" Lesueur, 1846.Both subspecies are native to
North America . The redfin pickerel's range extends from the Saint Lawrence drainage inQuébec down to the Gulf Coast, fromMississippi toFlorida , while the grass pickerel's range is further west, extending from theGreat Lakes Basin , fromOntario toMichigan , down to the western Gulf Coast, from easternTexas toMississippi .The two subspecies are very similar, but the grass pickerel lacks the redfin's distinctive orange to red fin coloration, its fins having dark leading edges and amber to dusky coloration. In addition, the light areas between the dark bands are generally wider than the bands on the body grass pickerel and narrower on the redfin pickerel. These pickerels grow to a maximum overall length of 40 cm (16 in) and a maximum weight of 2.25 pounds
The redfin and grass pickerels occur primarily in sluggish, vegetated waters of pools, lakes, and swamps, and are
carnivorous , feeding on smaller fish. Larger fishes, such as thestriped bass ("Morone saxatilis"),bowfin ("Amia calva"), and grayweakfish ("Cynoscion regalis"), in turn, prey on the pickerels when they venture into larger rivers or estuaries.These fishes reproduce by scattering spherical, sticky eggs in shallow, heavily-vegetated waters. The eggs hatch in 11–15 days; the adults guard neither the eggs nor the young.
The "E. americanus" subspecies are not as highly prized as a
game fish as their larger cousins, thenorthern pike andmuskellunge , but they are caught by anglers.Lesueur originally classified the grass pickerel as "E. vermiculatus," but it is now considered a subspecies of "E. americanus."
"E. americanus americanus" is sometimes called the brook pickerel. There is no widely-accepted English common collective name for the two "E. americanus" subspecies; "American pickerel" is a translation of the systematic name and the French "brochet d'Amérique."
References
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