Esocidae

Last updated

Esocidae
Extant Esocidae.png
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Esociformes
Family: Esocidae
G. Cuvier, 1817
Genera

Esocidae is a family of fish in the order Esociformes, which contains pike, pickerel, and mudminnows. While the family traditionally only contained the genus Esox , recent genetic and paleontological research have recovered Novumbra and Dallia as members of the family Esocidae, being closer related to Esox than Umbra . Fossil specimens from the Mesozoic in North America have been assigned as two additional genera in this family.

Contents

Distribution

Esocidae has a holarctic distribution. Species in the genus Esox can be found in Eurasia and North America, while Dallia has a more restricted range in Alaska and eastern Siberia. Of extant esocids, Novumbra has the most restricted range of all, being found only on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state.

Fossils of esocids Estesesox and Oldmanesox have been recovered in North America. Estesesox fossils have been described from the Lance, Hell Creek, Oldman, Foremost, and Milk River Formations. Oldmanesox fossils have been described from the Oldman Formation. [1]

Behavior

Despite differing size and mouth shape, all extant species of esocids are sight-based ambush predators, taking any animal they can fit in their mouth. Both pike and blackfishes display cannibalistic tendencies. [2] [3] While the Olympic mudminnow is aggressively territorial to fish of the same size during the spawning season, it will generally leave its fry alone. [4]

Relationships

Esox is the youngest genus, with Dallia and Novumbra branching off farther up the line. The cladogram below has been found by López et al., [5] with the two additional fossil genera included at the base of the tree. Due to the fragmentary nature of Oldmanesox and Estesesox, very little information on the exact relationships between the two genera and the rest of the species in the family has been published. More recent genetic studies which place Dallia and Novumbra in Esocidae may influence future studies on placement of Estesesox and Oldmanesox within the Esocidae and/or Esociformes family trees.

Esociformes

Related Research Articles

The American pickerels are two subspecies of Esox americanus, a medium-sized species of North American freshwater predatory fish belonging to the pike family :

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Centrarchidae</span> Family of fishes

Centrarchidae, better known as sunfishes, is a family of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the order Perciformes, native only to North America. There are eight universally included genera within the centrarchid family: Lepomis, Micropterus, Pomoxis (crappies), Enneacanthus, Centrarchus, Archoplites, Ambloplites, and Acantharchus. A genetic study in 2012 suggests that the highly distinct pygmy sunfishes of the genus Elassoma are also centrarchids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salmonidae</span> Family of ray-finned fishes

Salmonidae is a family of ray-finned fish that constitutes the only currently extant family in the order Salmoniformes, consisting of 11 extant genera and over 200 species collectively known as "salmonids" or "salmonoids". The family includes salmon, trout, char, graylings, freshwater whitefishes, taimens and lenoks, all coldwater mid-level predatory fish that inhabit the subarctic and cool temperate waters of the Northern Hemisphere. The Atlantic salmon, whose Latin name became that of its genus Salmo, is also the eponym of the family and order names.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esociformes</span> Order of fishes

The Esociformes is a small order of freshwater ray-finned fish, with two families, Umbridae and Esocidae. The pikes of genus Esox give the order its name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern pike</span> Species of fish

The northern pike is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox (pikes). They are commonly found in moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere. They are known simply as a pike in Great Britain, Ireland, most of Eastern Europe, Canada and the U.S., although in the Midwest, they may be called a Northern.

Hemiramphidae is a family of fishes that are commonly called halfbeaks, spipe fish or spipefish. They are a geographically widespread and numerically abundant family of epipelagic fish inhabiting warm waters around the world. The halfbeaks are named for their distinctive jaws, in which the lower jaws are significantly longer than the upper jaws. The similar viviparous halfbeaks have often been included in this family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Osmeriformes</span> Order of fishes

The Osmeriformes are an order of ray-finned fish that includes the true or freshwater smelts and allies, such as the galaxiids and noodlefishes; they are also collectively called osmeriforms. They belong to the teleost superorder Protacanthopterygii, which also includes pike and salmon, among others. The order's name means "smelt-shaped", from Osmerus + the standard fish order suffix "-formes". It ultimately derives from Ancient Greek osmé + Latin forma, the former in reference to the characteristic aroma of the flesh of Osmerus.

<i>Esox</i> Genus of fishes

Esox is a genus of freshwater fish commonly known as pike or pickerel. It is the type genus of the family Esocidae. The type species of the genus is Esox lucius, the northern pike.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chain pickerel</span> Species of freshwater fish

The chain pickerel is a species of freshwater fish in the pike family of order Esociformes. The chain pickerel and the American pickerel belong to the Esox genus of pike.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Powan</span> Species of fish

The powan is a kind of freshwater whitefish endemic to two lochs in Scotland, Loch Lomond and Loch Eck. It has been successfully introduced in two other sites, Loch Sloy and the Carron Valley Reservoir.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alaska blackfish</span> Species of fish

The Alaska blackfish is a species of freshwater fish in the esocid family (Esocidae) of order Esociformes. It inhabits Arctic regions of Alaska as well as Siberia and the Bering Sea islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freshwater whitefish</span> Subfamily of fishes

The freshwater whitefish are fishes of the subfamily Coregoninae, which contains whitefishes and ciscoes, and is one of three subfamilies in the salmon family Salmonidae. Apart from the subfamily Coregoninae, the family Salmonidae includes the salmon, trout, and char species of the subfamily Salmoninae, and grayling species of the subfamily Thymallinae. Freshwater whitefish are distributed mainly in relatively cool waters throughout the northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olympic mudminnow</span> Species of fish

The Olympic mudminnow is a fish native to the western lowlands of Washington: the Chehalis River basin, Deschutes River basin, and some Olympic Peninsula basins. It grows to 8 cm in length, and is Washington's only known endemic freshwater fish species. Although they strongly resemble killifish, mudminnows are more closely related to pike and muskellunge.

<i>Novumbra</i> Genus of fishes

Novumbra is a genus of mudminnows native to Oregon and Washington state, USA. Molecular data suggests that this genus is more closely related to Esox than Dallia and Umbra. Novumbra diverged from Esox roughly 65 million years ago in the Paleocene.

<i>Alectis</i> Genus of fish

Alectis is a genus of fish in the family Carangidae containing three extant species, all of which are large marine fishes. They are commonly known as threadfish, diamond trevallies or pompanos, although they have no close affiliation with the true pompano genus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Umbridae</span> Family of fishes

Umbridae is a family of fish in the order Esociformes, which contains pike, pickerel, and mudminnows. The single living genus, Umbra, occupies weed-choked freshwater habitats in eastern North America and eastern Europe. While the family traditionally contained the genera Umbra, Novumbra, and Dallia, recent genetic and paleontological research have recovered this grouping as paraphyletic, with Novumbra and Dallia being moved to the family Esocidae.

<i>Esox cisalpinus</i> Species of fish

Esox cisalpinus, the southern pike or cisalpine pike, is a species of freshwater fish known from central and northern Italy, southeastern France and Switzerland, and it might also occur in the western Balkans. It has traditionally been considered a southern European variant of the widespread northern pike, but was described as a separate species in 2011. Like the northern pike, southern pike are an important species for recreational fisheries and for its role as a top predator in freshwater ecosystems.

<i>Dallia</i> Genus of fishes

Dallia (Blackfish) is a genus of mudminnows native to Russia and Alaska. Molecular data indicates the genus is more closely related to Esox and Novumbra than Umbra.Dallia diverged from Novumbra + Esox approximately 66 million years ago.

The Aquitanian pike is a species of pike, a predatory fish native from the Charente to the Adour river drainages in the French Great South-West region. It was scientifically described in 2014, but had formerly been regarded as a population of the widespread northern pike. The two species generally resemble each other and they are able to hybridize. This represents as threat to the relatively localized Aquitanian pike, as northern pikes commonly have been used to stock places previously only inhabited by the Aquitanian pike; historically, the two had fully separated distributions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Redfin pickerel</span> Subspecies of fish

The redfin pickerel is a subspecies of freshwater fish belonging to the pike family (Esocidae) of the order Esociformes. Not to be confused with its close relatives, the grass pickerel and the chain pickerel, this fish is unique in the fact that it has brightly colored red fins. Like all pikes, the redfin pickerel is an ambush predator, lying amongst thick vegetation in wait for smaller, more agile prey to enter within its range of attack.

References

  1. Wilson, Mark V. H.; Brinkman, Donald B.; Neuman, Andrew G. (September 1992). "Cretaceous Esocoidei (Teleostei): early radiation of the pikes in North American fresh waters". Journal of Paleontology. 66 (5): 839–846. Bibcode:1992JPal...66..839W. doi:10.1017/S0022336000020849. ISSN   0022-3360. S2CID   132270276.
  2. Giles, N.; Wright, R. M.; Nord, M. E. (1986). "Cannibalism in pike fry, Esox lucius L.: some experiments with fry densities". Journal of Fish Biology. 29 (1): 107–113. Bibcode:1986JFBio..29..107G. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.1986.tb04930.x. ISSN   1095-8649.
  3. McPhail, J.D. (1981-01-01). "The Freshwater Fishes of Alaska, by J.E. Morrow". Arctic. 34 (3). doi: 10.14430/arctic2730 . ISSN   1923-1245.
  4. Hagen, D. W.; Moodie, G. E. E.; Moodie, P. F. (2011-02-14). "Territoriality and courtship in the Olympic mudminnow (Novumbra hubbsi)". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 50 (8): 1111–1115. doi:10.1139/z72-148.
  5. López, J. Andrés; Chen, Wei-Jen; Ortí, Guillermo (August 2004). "Esociform Phylogeny". Copeia. 2004 (3): 449–464. doi: 10.1643/cg-03-087r1 . ISSN   0045-8511. S2CID   198150295.