Fish Guide

Esociformes
Northern pike (Esox lucius)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia   Phylum: Chordata   Class: Actinopterygii   Superorder: Protacanthopterygii   Order: Esociformes
Families
Esocidae (pikes) Umbridae (mudminnows)

Esociformes is a small order of ray-finned fish, with two families, the Umbridae (mudminnows) and the Esocidae (pikes). The pikes of genus Esox give the order its name. There are ten species--five in each family.

This order is closely related to the Salmoniformes, the two comprising the superorder Protacanthopterygii, and are often included in their order. The esociform fishes first appeared in the mid-Cretaceous -- early products of the Euteleost radiation of that time. Today they are found only in fresh water in North America and the northern Eurasian regions.

Pikes

The pikes tend to be lie-in-wait, ambush predators, with elongated snouts, long, well-muscled torsos, forked tails, and dorsal and anal fins set well back and opposite each other for rapid acceleration along a straight line, allowing the fish to quickly emerge from cover to capture its prey. Prey capture is facilitated by the impaling of the prey animal on the sharp teeth, after which the pike retreats to cover, turns the prey around, and swallows it, head first.

Anatomically, the pikes are characterized by the presence of shark-like, maxillary teeth, a mesocoracoid, and the absence of an adipose fin, breeding tubercules, and pyloric cecae.

The two more prominent species of Escoformidae are Esox lucius, or the northern pike, a popular sport fish that may reach lengths as great as a meter and a half, and the "muskie," E. masquinongy, which grows even larger.

Mudminnows

Mudminnows are much smaller than their pike cousins, with usual lengths of less than 20 cm. However, they are also extremely efficient, lie-in-wait, ambush predators, feeding mostly on the sorts of invertebrates commonly found in warm backwaters. Of the three North American species of genus Umbra, one, U. limi, possesses a limited capability for air breathing. Umbra spp. are most commonly found in the Atlantic coast regions of North America, along the marshy, low-oxygen areas of the Mississippi River, and in similar environments in Europe.

References

• "Esociformes". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. October 2004 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2004.
• Esociformes (TSN 553131). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 8 December 2004