The Northern Pike

 Pike is the common name of a family of freshwater fish noted for their greedy appetite
and fighting quality. Members of the pike family
have long, slender bodies and a duckbill-shaped snout filled with many teeth. Two members of the pike family are called pikerel: the bulldog pickerel, also called the redfin pickerel, the mud pickerel, or the grass pickerel; and the chain pickerel. the three forms of muskellunge also are in the pike family. The so-called pike perch, more accurately called a walleye, is a perch. The gar pike (garfish) is a gar.

The northern pike and the muskellunge are the most important members of the pike family. They are often displayed as trophy fish. The northern pike lives in the northern fresh waters of Europe and Asia, and in the Great lakes and smaller lakes in Canada and upper Mississippi Valley of North America. The northern pike may grow to be 4 feet (1.2 meters) long and weight more than 40 pounds (18 kilograms). It commonly weighs from 2 to 10 pounds (0.9 to 4.5 kilograms). It is bulish-greenish-gray, with irregular rows of whitish or yellowish spots. The northern pike is a fine game fish. Its flesh is good to eat.

                                                              Jennifer Pike

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St. Joseph's Intermediate "Exploring Land Habitats" Project