View source for Esox

{{Short description|Genus of fishes}}
{{Redirect|Pike (fish)|other fishes known by this name|Pike (disambiguation)#Fish{{!}}Pike}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{fossilrange|65.5|0|[[Early Paleocene]] to recent}}
| image = Esox lucius ZOO 1.jpg
| image_caption = [[Northern pike]] (''E. lucius'')
| parent_authority = 
| taxon = Esox
| authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]
| type_species = ''[[Northern pike|Esox lucius]]''
| type_species_authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]
| subdivision_ranks = [[Species]]
| subdivision = 
}}

'''''Esox''''' is a [[genus]] of [[freshwater fish]] commonly known as '''pike''' or '''pickerel'''. It is the type genus of the [[family (biology)|family]] [[Esocidae]]. The [[type species]] of the genus is ''[[Esox lucius]]'', the [[northern pike]]. 

''Esox'' have a fossil record extending back to the [[Paleocene]]. Modern large pike species are native to the [[Palearctic]] and [[Nearctic realm]]s, ranging across [[Northern America]] and from [[Western Europe]] to [[Siberia]] in [[North Asia]].

Pike have the elongated, [[torpedo]]-like shape typical of [[predatory fish]]es, with sharply pointed heads and sharp teeth. Their coloration is typically grey-green with a mottled or spotted appearance with stripes along their backs, providing [[camouflage]] among underwater weeds, and each individual pike marking patterns are unique like fingerprints. Pikes can grow to a maximum recorded length of {{convert|1.50|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, reaching a maximum recorded weight of 55 lb, 1 oz.<ref>{{cite web | title=Game Fish Database – International Game Fish Association | url=https://igfa.org/game-fish-database/?search_type=CommonNameSummary&search_term_1=pike }}</ref>

==Etymology==
[[Image:Hecht.jpg|thumb|left|A young ''[[Esox lucius|E. lucius]]'' specimen — a "[[chain pickerel]]" in the original sense — in an [[aquarium]].]]
The generic name ''Esox'' (pike fish) derives from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ἴσοξ (''ee-soks'', a large fish) and appears to be [[cognate]] with [[Celtic languages|Celtic]], [[Welsh language|Welsh]] ''eog'' and [[Irish language|Irish Gaelic]] ''iasc'' (fish), as well as alpine Gaulic ''*esosk'' which is consistent with the original [[Proto-Indo-European language|indoeuropean]] root for the common word for fish, ''*pei(k)sk''. [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] uses the [[Latin]] form ''Esox'' in reference to a large fish in the [[Rhine]] normally identified with [[Salmonidae]] (''lax'' or salmon). [[Carolus Linnæus]] attributes ''Esox'' to the pike fish which is of similar form and appearance but taxonomically different from the salmon forms, whereas the first mention of ''Esox'' as a marine animal appears in the writings of [[Hesychius of Alexandria|Hesychius]].

The [[English language|English]] common name "pike" is an apparent shortening of "pike-fish", in reference to its pointed head, as the [[Old English language|Old English]] word ''píc'' originally referring to a [[pickaxe]]. The [[plural]] of pike is also pike.<ref name="Fox-Davies" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Woodward |first=John |year=1892 |url=https://openlibrary.org/details/treatiseonherald02wooduoft |title=A treatise on heraldry, British and foreign |publisher=Edinburgh: W. & A.K. Johnston |page=694 |lccn=02020303 |access-date=29 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071102092851/http://www.openlibrary.org/details/treatiseonherald02wooduoft |archive-date=2 November 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

A [[Northern English English|Northern English]] and [[Scots language|Lowland Scots]] name for the pike, ''ged'', similarly derives from [[Old Norse language|Old Norse]] ''gaddr'' (spike) (cf. the modern [[Swedish language|Swedish]] name for the pike, ''gädda'', the Danish "gedde", the Norwegian "gjedde" and [[Scottish Gaelic]]: ''geadais''). <!--We have links to other language wikipedias for this [[Polish language|Polish]] - szczupak, [[French language|French]] - brochet, [[German language|German]] - Hecht, [[Russian language|Russian]] - Щука, [[Spanish language|Spanish]] - lucio, [[Italian language|Italian]] - luccio.--> The [[Dutch language|Dutch]] name for the pike (''snoek'') has been given to a wide variety of fish reminding sailors of the pike (see snoek, [[snook (disambiguation)|snook]]).

The English "pike" originally referred specifically to the adult fish, the diminutive form "'''pickerel'''" (now used to name some of the smaller pike species, e.g. ''[[Esox americanus|E. americanus]]'' and ''[[Esox niger|E. niger]]'') referring to the young. The [[walleye]] (''Sander vitreus'') is sometimes called a pickerel or a walleyed pike, but it is unrelated to the pike, being a member of the perch family ([[Percidae]]). Pike are not to be confused with the unrelated [[pikeminnows]] of genus ''[[Ptychocheilus]]'' (family [[Cyprinidae]]) or [[pikeperch]] (''Sander lucioperca'') which is more akin to walleye than to pike. Pike are also called "jackfish" in North America and informally "slough shark" in Western Canada.

== Taxonomy ==

=== Evolution ===
''Esox'' is the one of three extant members of the family [[Esocidae]], alongside the physically dissimilar ''[[Dallia]]'' and ''[[Novumbra]]'', the latter of which is its closest relative. Fossils of ''Esox''-like esocids are known as far back as the [[Late Cretaceous]] in freshwater habitats of North America. Indeterminate ''Esox'' fossils are known from the [[Early Paleocene]]-aged [[Fort Union Formation]] of Montana, US and the [[Ravenscrag Formation]] of Saskatchewan, Canada, which represent the oldest records of the genus, only about 70,000 years after the [[Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event]]. These early ''Esox'' coexisted with their older relative, the extinct ''[[Estesesox]]'', and suggest that ''Esox'' either evolved very shortly after the extinction event, or already existed by the [[Late Cretaceous]] and immigrated to these localities shortly after the extinction event.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brinkman |first1=Donald B. |last2=Divay |first2=Julien D. |last3=David G. DeMar |first3=Jr |last4=Mantilla |first4=Gregory P. Wilson |date=2025-07-08 |title=Moderate extinctions and slow recovery of non-marine teleost fishes across the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary, with a systematic appraisal of early Paleocene teleost fishes from Saskatchewan, Canada and Montana, USA |url=https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2025/5566-teleost-fishes-across-the-cretaceous-paleogene-boundary |journal=Palaeontologia Electronica |language=English |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=1–54 |doi=10.26879/1559 |issn=1094-8074|doi-access=free }}</ref>

=== Species ===
Currently, seven recognized species are placed in this genus, within two [[Subgenus|subgenera]]:<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Grande |first1=Terry |last2=Laten |first2=Howard |last3=López |first3=J. Andrés |date=2004 |title=Phylogenetic Relationships of Extant Esocid Species (Teleostei: Salmoniformes) Based on Morphological and Molecular Characters |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1448733 |journal=Copeia |volume=2004 |issue=4 |pages=743–757 |doi=10.1643/CG-04-007R1 |jstor=1448733 |issn=0045-8511|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Image 
!Subgenus<ref name=":0" />!! Scientific name !! Common name !! Subspecies !!Distribution
|-
| 
| rowspan="5" |'''''Esox''''' (pikes)||''[[Esox aquitanicus]]'' <small>[[Gaël Pierre Julien Denys|Denys]], [[Agnès Dettai|Dettai]], [[Henri Persat|Persat]], [[Mélyne Hautecœur|Hautecœur]] & [[Philippe Keith|Keith]], 2014</small> || [[Aquitaine|Aquitanian]] pike<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Denys, Gaël Pierre Julien |author2=Dettai, Agnès |author3=Persat, Henri |author4=Hautecœur, Mélyne |author5=Keith, Philippe | year=2014 |title=Morphological and Molecular Evidence of Three Species of Pikes ''Esox'' spp. (Actinopterygii, Esocidae) in France, including the Description of A New Species |journal=Comptes Rendus Biologies | volume=337 |issue=9 | pages=521–34 |doi=10.1016/j.crvi.2014.07.002|pmid=25242691 |url=https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/biologies/articles/10.1016/j.crvi.2014.07.002/ |doi-access= |url-access=subscription }}</ref> ||   ||[[Charente River|Charente]] to the [[Adour River|Adour]] drainages in southwestern [[France]]
|-
|[[File:Esox cisalpinus Muse.jpg|150px]] ||''[[Esox cisalpinus]]'' <small>[[Pier Giorgio Bianco|Bianco]] & [[Giovanni Battista Delmastro|Delmastro]], 2011</small> || Southern pike<ref>Lucentini, Puletti, Ricciolini, Gigliarelli, Fontaneto, Lanfaloni, Bilò, Natali, Panara (2011). ''Molecular and Phenotypic Evidence of a New Species of Genus Esox (Esocidae, Esociformes, Actinopterygii): The Southern Pike, Esox flaviae.'' PLoS ONE 6(12): e25218. [[doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0025218]]</ref> ||   || [[central Italy|central]] and [[northern Italy]], southeastern France and [[Switzerland]], and it might also occur in [[western Balkans]].
|-
|[[File:Esox lucius1.jpg|150px]] ||''[[Northern pike|Esox lucius]]'' <small>[[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]</small> || Northern pike ||   || [[Great Britain|Britain]], [[Ireland]], [[northern Europe]], most of [[Canada]], and most parts of the [[United States]]
|-
|[[File:Muskellunge (Duane Raver).png|150px]] || ''[[Esox masquinongy]]'' <small>[[Samuel L. Mitchill|Mitchill]], 1824</small> || Muskellunge ||
* ''Esox masquinongy masquinongy'' (Great Lakes muskellunge or Spotted muskellunge )
* ''Esox masquinongy ohioensis'' (Chautauqua muskellunge or Barred muskellunge)
* ''Esox masquinongy immaculatus'' (Clear muskellunge)
|| mesotrophic lakes and large rivers from northern Michigan, northern [[Wisconsin]], and northern [[Minnesota]] through the Great Lakes region, north into Canada
|-
|[[File:Свежевыловленная амурская щука.JPG|150px]] || ''[[Esox reichertii]]'' <small>[[Benedykt Dybowski|Dybowski]], 1869</small>|| Amur pike ||   ||the [[Amur River]] system in [[Northeast Asia]]
|-
|[[File:Redfin pickerel (Duane Raver).png|150px]]
| rowspan="2" |'''''Kenoza''''' (pickerels)
|''[[Esox americanus]]'' <small>[[Johann Friedrich Gmelin|J. F. Gmelin]], 1789</small>
|American pickerel
|
* ''[[Esox americanus americanus]]'' <small>[[Johann Friedrich Gmelin|J. F. Gmelin]], 1789</small> (Redfin pickerel)
* ''Esox americanus vermiculatus'' <small>[[Charles Alexandre Lesueur|Lesueur]], 1846</small> (Grass pickerel)
|the [[St. Lawrence River|St. Lawrence]] drainage in [[Quebec]], down to the [[Gulf Coast]] from [[Mississippi]] to [[Florida]]; the [[Great Lakes Basin]] from [[Ontario]] to [[Michigan]], down to the western Gulf Coast, from [[East Texas]] to Mississippi.
|-
|[[File:Chain pickerel (Duane Raver).png|150px]]
|''[[Esox niger]]'' <small>[[Charles Alexandre Lesueur|Lesueur]], 1818</small>
|Chain pickerel
|
|southern Canada to Florida, and west to Texas. On the [[Atlantic Northeast]] in [[Maine]], [[New Hampshire]], [[New Brunswick]] and [[Nova Scotia]]
|-
|}

[[Hybrid (biology)|Hybrids]] between ''Esox masquinongy'' and ''Esox lucius'' are well-known and referred to as the [[tiger muskellunge]].

==== Fossil species ====
[[Image:Fossil - Hecht (Esox).jpg|thumb|Fossil specimen of ''[[Esox lepidotus]]'']]
[[File:Esox kronneri NPS.jpg|thumb|Fossil specimen of ''[[Esox kronneri]]'', the earliest known pickerel]]
The following fossil species are known:<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kovalchuk |first1=Oleksandr M. |last2=Wilson |first2=Mark V.H. |last3=Grande |first3=Terry |year=2017 |title=A review of Neogene and Quaternary pikes of southeastern Europe and a new species from the early Pleistocene of Nogaisk, Ukraine |journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |volume=62 |doi=10.4202/app.00311.2016 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Codrea |first1=Vlad Aurel |last2=Trif |first2=Nicolae |last3=Toth |first3=Levente |date=2018-09-30 |title=First report of a Pliocene pike (Esocidae: Esox) in Transylvania, Romania |url=https://gq.pgi.gov.pl/article/view/25976 |journal=Geological Quarterly |volume=62 |issue=3 |page=1428 |doi=10.7306/gq.1428|doi-access=free |bibcode=2018GeolQ..62.1428C }}</ref>''<ref name="Grande1999" />''

* †''[[Esox aralensis]]'' <small>Sytchevskaya, 1974</small> - Middle [[Oligocene]] of [[Kazakhstan]]
* †''[[Esox borealis]]'' <small>Sytchevskaya, 1976</small> - [[Late Oligocene]] of [[Omsk Oblast]], Russia
* †''[[Esox columbianus]]'' <small>Smith, Morgan & Gustafson, 2000</small> - [[Pliocene]] of [[Washington (state)|Washington]], US ([[Ringold Formation]])<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Gerald R. |last2=Morgan |first2=N. |last3=Gustafson |first3=E. |date=2000 |title=Fishes of the Mio-Pliocene Ringold Formation, Washington: Pliocene Capture of the Snake River by the Columbia River |url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/48664 |journal=Papers on Paleontology |language=en-US |issue=32 |pages=1–47|hdl=2027.42/48664 }}</ref>
* †''[[Esox dispar]]'' <small>Sytchevskaya, 1976</small> - Late Oligocene of Omsk Oblast, Russia
* †''[[Esox kronneri]]'' <small>[[Lance Grande|Grande]], 1999 -</small> [[Ypresian|Early Eocene]] of [[Wyoming]], US ([[Green River Formation]])''<ref name="Grande1999" />''
* †''[[Esox lepidotus]]'' <small>[[Louis Agassiz|Agassiz]], 1844</small> - [[Late Miocene]] of Germany
* †''[[Esox longkouensis]]'' <small>[[Meemann Chang|Chang]] & Zhou, 2002</small> - [[Late Paleocene]]/Early Eocene of [[Shandong]], China ([[Huangxian Formation]])<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chang |first1=Meemann |last2=Zhou |first2=Jiajian |date=2002 |title=狗鱼(Esox, Teleostei)化石在 中国的首次发现 |url=http://www.ivpp.cas.cn/cbw/gjzdwxb/xbwzxz/200901/W020090813371966889802.pdf |journal=Vertebrata PalAsiatica |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=81–96}}</ref>
* †''[[Esox moldavicus]]'' <small>Sytchevskaya, 1974</small> - Pliocene to [[Early Pleistocene]] of [[Ukraine]] & [[Moldova]]
* †''[[Esox papyraceus]]'' <small>[[Franz Hermann Troschel|Troschel]], 1854</small> - Late Oligocene of Germany
* †''[[Esox primaevus]]'' <small>Gaudant, 1978</small> - [[Rupelian|Early Oligocene]] of France
* †''[[Esox nogaicus]]'' <small>Kovalchuk, Wilson & Grande, 2017</small> - Early Pleistocene of Ukraine
* †''[[Esox sibiricus]]'' <small>Sytchevskaya, 1974</small> - Late Miocene and [[Zanclean|early Pliocene]] of Ukraine, Russia (Omsk, [[Tuva|Tuva Republic]], [[Transbaikal]]), Kazakhstan & Mongolia
* †''[[Esox tiemani]]'' <small>Wilson, 1980</small> - Late Paleocene of Canada ([[Paskapoo Formation]])
The oldest fossil species of ''Esox'' is ''Esox tiemani'', from the late [[Paleocene]] of Canada, which differs little from modern species.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Sinha |first1=Sinjini |last2=Brinkman |first2=Don B |last3=Murray |first3=Alison M. |date=2019-12-14 |title=A morphological study of vertebral centra in extant species of pike, Esox (Teleostei: Esociformes) |url=https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/vamp/index.php/VAMP/article/view/29357 |journal=Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology |volume=7 |pages=111–128 |doi=10.18435/vamp29357 |s2cid=213203684 |issn=2292-1389|doi-access=free }}</ref> Two additional fossil species, both from the [[Late Cretaceous]] of Alberta, Canada, are placed in their own genera: ''[[Estesesox foxi]]''<ref name="Wilson, Brinkman & Neuman, 1992">Wilson, Brinkman & Neuman, 1992</ref> ([[Santonian]] to [[Campanian]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Fossilworks: ''Estesesox'' |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displayCollResults?taxon_no=63047}}</ref>), and ''[[Oldmanesox canadensis]]''<ref name="Wilson, Brinkman & Neuman, 1992" /><ref name="Grande1999" /> (Campanian to [[Maastrichtian]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Fossilworks: ''Oldmanesox'' |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displayCollResults?taxon_no=63048}}</ref>). ''Esox kronneri'' is one of the rarest known fish from the [[Eocene]]-aged [[Fossil Butte National Monument|Fossil Butte]] ''[[Lagerstätte|lagerstatte]]'' of Wyoming, USA. ''E. kronneri'' appears to be more closely related to the North American pickerels (subgenus ''Kenoza'') than to the circumboreal "pike" (subgenus ''Esox'') lineage, suggesting these two lineages diverged by the [[Ypresian|Early Eocene]].<ref name="Grande1999">{{cite journal |last=Grande |first=L. |title=The First ''Esox'' (Esocidae: Teleostei) from the Eocene Green River Formation, and a Brief Review of Esocid Fishes |journal=[[Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology]] |volume=19 |issue=2 |year=1999 |pages=271–292 |doi=10.1080/02724634.1999.10011141 |bibcode=1999JVPal..19..271G }}</ref>

The alleged [[Late Cretaceous]] species "''Esox monasteriensis''" <small>von der Marck, 1863</small> is thought to be an indeterminate teleost. Other fossil fish genera such as ''[[Enchodus]]'' and ''[[Platinx]]'' also had their [[type species]] be initially described under ''Esox''.''<ref name="Grande1999" />''

==Diet==
[[Image:Esox hdm.JPG|thumb|right|Pike in [[Haus des Meeres]], [[Vienna]]]]
Pike feed on a wide range of food sources, predominantly smaller [[shoal fish]]. Pike are also cannibalistic, sometimes preying upon smaller members of their own species. This can be seen clearly in the [[northern pike]].

They will also prey on [[insect]]s and [[amphibian]]s such as [[newt]]s or [[frog]]s in times when their usual food is scarce, and occasionally on small [[mammal]]s like [[Mole (animal)|moles]] or [[mouse|mice]] when caught water-borne. Small birds such as [[duck#Predators|duckling]]s may become a target for hungry pike. Pike are also known to prey on swimming [[snake]]s.

They are, however, undeserving of their reputation for being overly vicious predators. There have been some incidents of pike "attacks" on people.<ref>{{cite news |title=Water skier bitten by giant pike |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/sep/01/2 |website=The Guardian |date=31 August 1999 |access-date=26 July 2023}}</ref> However these are rare cases of mistaken identity, where the pike mistakes human body parts, such as fingers, for prey. Pike's further reputation as a [[coarse fish|pest]] seems to lie predominantly amongst a small handful of anglers and fishery managers who think that invasive species of 
pike are a threat to native rough fish and also other sport fish.

==Angling and handling methods ==
[[File:SaveDePike.jpg|thumb|280px|Sign on the [[River Shannon]], [[Ireland]]]] [[File:HandlingBigPike.JPG|thumb|280px|A caught pike, supported by the [[Operculum (fish)|gill cover]]s to prevent the fish from biting the hand of the angler who caught it]]

Effective methods for catching this hard-fighting fish include dead baits, live baits, and lure fishing. Pike can easily be damaged when handled since they are not as robust as their reputation would suggest and have a very sensitive slime coat. Since pike have numerous sharp teeth it is wise to take extreme care when unhooking them. The use of a wet leather [[Gauntlet (glove)|gauntlet]] and [[surgical forceps]] to remove hooks is highly recommended on safety grounds.

If practicing catch and release fishing, care for the pike should be the pike angler's utmost concern. The formerly recommended practice of grasping a pike by its eye sockets (misinterpreted as "its eyes") resulted in numerous released pike that quickly died from the inability to see prey any longer. The current recommended method of grasping pike is to close the hand firmly over the [[Operculum (fish)|gill covers]], and to make the period of handling as short as possible before release. Grabbing a pike by the gill covers is not feasible when a pike is very big, but it is easy to handle a pike by inserting the fingers at the bottom of the gill opening and grabbing the lower jaw. Big pike should also be supported at the belly. When a pike is held this way it is also easier to keep the mouth open to remove a hook. Some anglers now use special grips to grab the pike's front lower jaw, which can add to the safety of an angler because of the danger imposed by the hooks of the lure or tackle and the pike's teeth. However, these can cause serious damage to a pike's lower jaw. The Pike Anglers Club was formed in 1977 to campaign for the preservation of pike and the sport of pike fishing.

{{How-to section|date=April 2025}}

Pike are susceptible to ''gut hooking'' when fished for with natural bait. Upon taking the bait, the pike will hold it for a short time in its mouth as it moves off. The pike will then, usually, turn the bait in its mouth, so that it sits in alignment with its throat to ease swallowing. It is recommended that when pike fishing the process is not allowed to go this far and a strike is recommended as soon as a bite is indicated. Otherwise, what is known as ''gut hooking'' will result, which will normally kill or seriously injure the fish. Dutch research shows that cutting the line immediately when the fish is gut hooked will still give low mortality (14%). The hooks in the gut or stomach were either encapsulated or removed from the body.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hsvdekleuter.nl/documents/snoek-kennis.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2009-02-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090327035307/http://www.hsvdekleuter.nl/documents/snoek-kennis.pdf |archive-date=27 March 2009}}</ref> Placing hooks near the rear of the bait reduces the risk of deep hooking.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.pikeanglersclub.co.uk/coping-with-deep-hooked-pike/ |title=Coping with Deep Hooked Pike &#124; Pike Anglers Club of Great Britain |access-date=10 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130913060224/http://www.pikeanglersclub.co.uk/coping-with-deep-hooked-pike/ |archive-date=13 September 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> To minimize injury from gut hooking the hook should be taken out from the gills where you will insert your pliers or forceps. Grab as close to the base of the hook as you can and rotate the eye of the hook toward the bottom of the fish's mouth and be removed carefully as to not rehook the fish.

Other methods of catching and handling pike that are now frowned upon are the [[Fishing gaff|gaff]] and the gag. The gaff is a metal hook on the end of a pole used to hook through the fish's body in place of a more humane landing net. A gag is a device for holding open the pike's mouth whilst unhooking. These are now illegal in Scotland, as they put a huge amount of pressure on a pike's jaw, thus causing irreparable damage.

===Cuisine===
[[File:Quenelle de brochet sauce Nantua.jpg|thumb|''Quenelle de brochet [[sauce Nantua]]'']]
The taste of pike and pickerel is highly esteemed, but the "multitude of long, fine, forked bones" are problematic.<ref name="root">Waverley Root, ''Food'', 1996, p. 353</ref>
<ref>'Piscator', "Pike Fishing", ''The Sportsman'' (Second Series), '''2''':3:[https://books.google.com/books?id=ISkGAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA139 139] (March 1840)</ref> The dish of ''[[quenelles de brochet]]'' (pike dumplings), which puts the meat through a sieve, was invented to deal with this.<ref>Marthe Daudet, Shirley King, translator and adaptor, ''Pampille's Table: Recipes and Writings from the French Countryside from Marthe Daudet's ''Les Bons Plats de France'' [1934]'', [https://books.google.com/books?id=fEDNMxPABLAC&pg=PA153 p. 153]</ref> Indeed, [[Escoffier]] believed, falsely, that ''quenelles'' had completely displaced the whole fish from the menu.<ref name="root"/>

==Submarines and tanks==
Two [[United States Navy]] [[submarine]]s have been named ''Pike'' – [[USS Pike (SS-6)|SS-6]] of 1903 and [[USS Pike (SS-173)|SS-173]] of 1935 – and three – [[USS F-3 (SS-22)|SS-22]] of 1912, [[USS Pickerel (SS-177)|SS-177]] of 1936, and [[USS Pickerel (SS-524)|SS-524]] of 1944 – named ''Pickerel''. In addition, the [[Soviet Navy|Soviet]] submarines known to [[NATO]] as the [[Victor-class submarine|Victor III class]] and [[Akula-class submarine|Akula class]] are called the ''Shchuka'' (Щука, "pike") class in [[Russian language|Russian]]. The Soviet [[IS-3 (tank)|Iosif Stalin tank (IS-3)]] was also nicknamed ''Shchuka'', in reference to its sharply pointed hull front.

== Cultural significance ==
=== Mythology ===
Russian mythology holds that the pike is one of several forms assumed by evil water spirits called [[vodyanoy]], and a ravenous mythical pike is traditionally blamed for decimating the fish population in the [[Sheksna River]]. Russian fairy tales, on the other hand, also tell about an old wise pike that can fulfil wishes of the one who catches it, if its catcher releases it back into its habitat.<ref>"Emelya the Simpleton", russian folklore fairy tale. [[At the Pike's Behest]]</ref>

In the Finnish ''[[Kalevala]]'', [[Väinämöinen]] creates a [[kantele]] (string instrument) from the jawbone of a pike.

===Heraldry===
In [[heraldry]], the pike is called a '''lucy''' (English heraldry) or a [[ged (heraldry)|ged]] (Scottish heraldry).<ref name="Fox-Davies">{{Cite book |last=Fox-Davies |first=Arthur Charles |year=1909 |url=https://openlibrary.org/details/completeguidetoh00foxdrich |title=A Complete Guide to Heraldry |publisher=London: T.C. & E.C. Jack |page=255|lccn=09023803}}</ref> It is usually [[blazon]]ed either ''[[Attitude (heraldry)#Other attitudes|naiant]]'' (swimming), ''embowed'' (bowed) or ''hauriant'' (jumping), though pairs of lucies may appear ''addorsed'' (back to back), as in the arms of the [[Finland|Finnish]] town of [[Uusikaupunki]] (''Argent, two lucies addorsed azure'').{{Citation needed|date=May 2009}}<!-- Need a ref for arms of Uusikaupunki -->

{|
|[[File:Uusikaupunki.vaakuna.svg|thumb|120px|[[Uusikaupunki]] coat of arms]]
|[[File:Blason_Lucy_de_Cockermouth_(selon_Gelre).svg|thumb|120px|The canting arms of [[Baron Lucy|Lucie de Cockermouth]]:
''Gules, three lucies in pale argent, (2 and 1).'']]
|[[File:Wappen Gimte.svg|thumb|120px|Coat of arms of [[Gimte]], in [[Lower Saxony]], [[Germany]].]]
|}

=== Literature ===
In [[George R. R. Martin]]'s ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' series of [[epic fantasy]] novels, both the [[seat of government|seat]] and the [[royal bastard|highborn bastard]]s of the [[Iron Islands]] are named "Pyke", likely inspired by the pike fish since the islands are inhabited by [[Viking]]-like [[seafaring]] warriors who frequent [[piracy|pirate]] ships and [[raid (military)|raid]] the coastal regions.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Esox}}
{{Wikispecies|Esox}}
* {{ITIS |taxon=Esox |id=162138 |access-date=5 December 2004}}
* ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]],'' s.vv. "Esox", "Ged<sup>1</sup>", and "Pike, n.<sup>4</sup>".
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070221112350/http://www.pacgb.co.uk/pdfs/pikeinyourwaters.pdf Pike in Your Waters], the Pike Anglers Club, pub 2003
* [http://www.pikefishingscotland.com/pike-preservation-equipment/ Pike Preservation - Fishing Equipment] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160902161851/http://www.pikefishingscotland.com/pike-preservation-equipment/ |date=2 September 2016 }}, Pike Fishing Scotland
* [http://www.greenhobbymodel.com/floattubeireland/index.html Float Tube Fishing In Ireland] Pike Fishing from a Float Tube
* Pike Fishing in Denmark [http://www.carp.dk Coarse Fishing in Denmark]
* Pike Fishing in Scotland [http://www.ipike.co.uk Coarse Fishing in the Highlands]
* [http://www.river-swimming.co.uk/safety2.htm River Swimming Water Safety] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150729074447/http://www.river-swimming.co.uk/safety2.htm |date=29 July 2015 }} mentions Pike attack as a risk of [[open water swimming]]. Accessed 21 October 2007

{{Heraldic creatures}}
{{Seafood}}
{{Meat|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q191674}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Esox| ]]
[[Category:Fish in heraldry]]
[[Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]
[[Category:Freshwater fish genera]]
[[Category:Extant Santonian first appearances]]
[[Category:Green River Formation]]