Family Esocidae

Pikes

The family comprises three genera (Esox, Dallia, Novumbra) related to salmonid fishes and the mudminnows of the family Umbridae. Esox, comprises seven species, three of which are endemic to North America and two endemic to Europe. They are highly distinctive, predatory fishes with a large, duckbill-like snout and dorsal and anal fins located far back on the body. Esox lucius, native to North America and Eurasia; E. cisalpinus, endemic to Italy; and E. aquitanicus, endemic to France, are species known from the West Palearctic. Additionally, E. reichertii is endemic to the Amur basin in Russia, Mongolia, and China. Pikes have a rich fossil record, spanning from the Late Cretaceous to the Holocene and covering much of the northern hemisphere. The first species of Esox (E. tiemani) was discovered in the Palaeocene of Alberta and Saskatchewan (Canada), estimated to be approximately 62 million years old. Fossils of Esox from the Eocene and later periods are also well documented in Europe. Due to its commercial value, E. lucius has been introduced locally in West Asia. In Spain, the introduction of E. lucius has resulted in the local extirpation of almost all native fish species, where Esox maintain high population densities and feed predominantly on crayfish (also introduced). The ecological effects of non-native pike in West Asia still need to be studied.

Further reading. Crossman 1978 (systematics); Wilson 1980 (fossil pikes); Denys et al. 2014 (species diversity).