PIKE FAMILY--Esocidae

     Members of this family have elongate bodies and duck-bill shaped mouths with large teeth. Pikes are also characterized by cycloid scales deeply scalloped on their anterior margins, and scales on the head. They possess large, sharp, blade-like teeth on the dentaries, premaxillae, vomer, palatines, and tongue. The maxilla is toothless. All members of the group are predacious, dwelling in open waters of lakes, ponds and streams. All are essentially spring spawners and broadcast the eggs over the vegetation in shallow waters, usually in swampy or marshy areas. Muskellunge are in larger lakes with deeper channels; northern pike are in shallower waters, such as lakes and newly-formed impoundments.

Northern pike and muskellunge are northern cool-water species that live decades and grow to huge size. They are among our largest species, after the sturgeon. The northern pike range up to more than 54 in and 35 lbs; the muskellunge range to more than 60 lbs. Pickerels are warmwater species that reproduce early and remain small.