Chain Pickerel (Esox Niger)



This fish, a member of the pike family, is also known
as pickerel eastern pickerel, mud pickerel grass
pickerel, lake pickerel, reticulated pickerel, pond
Lake Surveys pickerel, federation pickerel pike, green pike,
duck-billed pike, chainsides, jack, snake,
Stocking Program picquerelle, and water wolf.

Distribution

Species The chain pickerel is limited to eastern and
Factsheets south-central North America, south from Colchester
County, Nova Scotia, east of the
Allegheny-Appalachian mountains, to central Florida,
west to eastern Texas, and north to Missouri and the
Tennessee River system in Alabama.

Although it is normally a freshwater fish, it has been known to find
its way into brackish (salt) waters in the eastern and Gulf states. In
Canada it occurs only in Nova Scotia, western New Brunswick, and the
Eastern townships of Quebec, south of the St. Lawrence River. It was
introduced in Nova Scotia and can be found in Digby and Yarmouth
counties and as far east as Hants and Colchester counties.

Physical Characteristics

The chain pickerel has the following characteristics:

* a long, narrow body;

* the fish gets its name from the chain-like pattern on its sides;

* the adults are coloured bright green, through olive-green to
nearly brown on the back and upper sides; its sides are
prominently marked by yellow-green to yellow areas broken by
dark, interconnecting markings resembling links of a chain;

* the young are bright green through brown to almost black on the
back, with a pronounced golden mid-dorsal stripe; the upper sides
are bright green to almost black; the chain markings do not
develop until the fish is about 6 to 8 inches in length;

* the average length is 15 to 20 inches (38.1 to 50.8 cm);

* its head is long, flat, and naked on top and somewhat concave
between the eyes, which are high on the head and moderately
large; the pupil of the eye is yellow and its mouth is large with
small hook-like teeth set in the roof of its mouth and long
canines at the sides;

* it has a long snout which is 44 to 48 per cent of its head
length;

* the lower jaw is slightly longer than the snout;

* it has one dorsal (back) fin; the caudal or tail fin is long and
deeply forked; pelvic fins are present;

* the lateral line is complete.

Facts on Pickerel

The largest chain pickerel caught was 29.5 inches long and
weighed nine pounds. It was taken near Homerville, Georgia, U.S.A. The
record Canadian chain pickerel was caught in Nova Scotia in 1989. It
weighted 5.38 lb.
These fish are able to tolerate large changes in water. For
example, they can live in water with salinities as high as 15 ppt
(parts per thousand) and in water as acid as pH 3.8.

Fish Facts

In Canada, the chain pickerel is not a
sought-after sportfish. In some of the eastern
seaboard states where it is plentiful it is a
favoured fish, second only to largemouth bass.
In Nova Scotia, the fish is somewhat
controversial. Some anglers defend it for its
sporting qualities, while others condemn it
for its trout- eating tendencies.

The flesh is tasty, white and flaky,
but may taste weedy in the summertime. (It is
best to remove the skin during this time as it
may be the mucus that contributes to the bad
taste.)

Chain pickerel should not be
transported alive from one watershed to
another, as they can have an adverse effect on
native fish. It is illegal to stock lakes with
chain pickerel.

Natural History

Until 1973, there was almost no published information on the Canadian
populations of chain pickerel.

Although the pickerel is mainly a spring spawner, in the U.S. some
fish spawn in the fall. In the spring, shortly after the ice melts,
adults enter the spawning areas which are flooded areas of streams, as
well as lakes and ponds. Spawning takes place in areas 3 to 10 feet (1
to 3 m) deep when the water temperatures reach 8 to 11C (47 to 52F)
in April or May. Spawning generally lasts no longer than 7 to 10 days.
The pickerel does not build a nest. During spawning, a single female
and one or two males swim slowly around over the flooded vegetation.
Periodically throughout the day, they roll inward and sharply flex
their bodies so that the eggs and milt are shed at the same time.
Through a violent lash of the tails, the fertilized eggs are spread
over the bottom.

The eggs are 2 mm in diameter and light yellow in colour. Like eggs of
some other fish, these eggs are slightly sticky, so that they will
fasten to vegetation. The number of eggs laid by one female in the
U.S. was estimated to be 6,000-8,000. No care is given to the eggs,
which hatch in 6 to 12 days depending on the temperature.

The newly hatched young are 4.2 to 7.0 mm in length. They sink to the
bottom when they hatch, where they attach themselves to vegetation by
a sticky gland on the tip of their snout. The young live on the egg
yolk for about a week. Growth is very fast in the first year. In
crowded situations, considerable cannibalism may take place. Females
grow faster, mature sooner, live longer, and grow to be larger than
males.

Sexual maturity is reached earlier in the south. In the north, most
pickerel mature in the third or fourth year. The average life span is
3 or 4 years with a maximum at 8 or 9 years, depending on conditions
and growth rate. The chain pickerel is a solitary fish, establishing
territories in the summer and hiding motionless in the vegetation most
of the time. Its primary habitats are sluggish streams and heavily
vegetated lakes and ponds, often not much deeper than 10 feet (with
summer temperatures 21 to 30C). In winter they move into deeper
water, staying active and taking food under the ice.

The pickerel is a born hunter with physical characteristics that allow
it to swim quickly. It is equipped with a set of teeth for quickly
grabbing prey. They are primarily fish eaters but will also take
amphibians, snakes, small birds, and small rodents.

The young fish have a number of predators, including basses, grebes,
frogs, loons, yellow perch, mergansers, herons, kingfishers, and
ospreys.