The redfin pickerel (''Esox americanus americanus'') is a subspecies of

freshwater fish Freshwater fish are fish species that spend some or all of their lives in bodies of fresh water such as rivers, lakes, ponds and inland wetlands, where the salinity is less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine habitats in many wa ...

belonging to the pike family (

Esocidae Esocidae is a family of ray-finned fish in the order Salmoniformes, which contains pike, pickerel, and mudminnows. While the family traditionally only contained the genus ''Esox'', recent genetic and paleontological research have recovered ''Novu ...

) of the order

Esociformes The Esocoidei () is a small suborder of freshwater Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish, one of two suborders in the order Salmoniformes. It contains two families, Umbridae and Esocidae. The pikes of genus ''Esox'' give the order its name. This order ...

. Not to be confused with its close relatives, the grass pickerel and the

chain pickerel The chain pickerel (''Esox niger'') is a species of freshwater fish in the pike family (biology), family (family Esocidae) of order (biology), order Esociformes. The chain pickerel and the American pickerel (''E. americanus'') belong to the ''Esox ...

, this fish is unique in the fact that it has brightly colored red fins. Like all pikes, the redfin pickerel is an

ambush predator Ambush predators or sit-and-wait predators are carnivorous animals that capture their prey via stealth, luring or by (typically instinctive) strategies utilizing an element of surprise. Unlike pursuit predators, who chase to capture prey u ...

, lying amongst thick

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plants and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular Taxon, taxa, life forms, structure, Spatial ecology, spatial extent, or any other specific Botany, botanic ...

in wait for smaller, more agile

prey Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not ki ...

to enter within its range of attack.

Distribution and habitat

The redfin pickerel can be found in freshwater lakes, streams, and swamps along the Atlantic slope. Stable

populations Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

extend from

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

's Okeechobee Lake, and west into Gulf drainages up to Mississippi's

Pascagoula River The Pascagoula River is a river, about 80 miles (130 km) long, in southeastern Mississippi in the United States. The river drains an area of about 8,800 square miles (23,000 km²) and flows into Mississippi Sound of the Gulf of Mexico. ...

. In some parts of its range, notably toward the western extent, it overlaps with its sister species, the grass pickerel, ''Esox americanus vermiculatus''. Because the redfin pickerel is an ambush predator, the fish prefers freshwater habitats with high visibility and dense vegetation or decaying

organic matter Organic matter, organic material or natural organic matter is the large source of carbon-based compounds found within natural and engineered, terrestrial, and aquatic environments. It is matter composed of organic compounds that have come fro ...

in which to hide itself.

Physiology

The redfin pickerel, like other fish of the ''

Esox ''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 exten ...

'' genus, is well adapted to sprint

predation Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...

. The posterior positioning of the unpaired fins is testament to this, the

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

lining up with the

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

, and the

ventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

more rearward than would be found on other fish body types. The pectorals are shrunken to streamline the fish, while the

caudal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported only ...

is rather large so as to provide considerable

thrust Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that ...

. Further

adaptations In biology, adaptation has three related meanings. Firstly, it is the dynamic evolutionary process of natural selection that fits organisms to their environment, enhancing their evolutionary fitness. Secondly, it is a state reached by the p ...

correlating with their rushing style is a

hydrodynamic In physics, physical chemistry and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids – liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including (the study of air and other gases in moti ...

tube shaped body, a flat nose, and an unadorned head. The redfin pickerel relies heavily on vision to locate prey, as indicated by their large eyes and propensity for clear, shallow water. The scale coloration of the fish typically ranges from green to brown on the

lateral Lateral is a geometric term of location which may also refer to: Biology and healthcare * Lateral (anatomy), a term of location meaning "towards the side" * Lateral cricoarytenoid muscle, an intrinsic muscle of the larynx * Lateral release ( ...

portion, while the

side ranges from white to a pale amber. Vertical streaks of dark green line the lateral sides of these fish. This coloration is vital for hunting, as it allows the pickerel to

camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

within the vegetation as it waits for prey to approach. The mouth of the fish is located at the terminal position anterior of the snout and is lined with a series of long, conical teeth that can be used to capture fast moving prey. Unlike its larger northern relatives, the redfin pickerel grows to around twelve inches in length.

Life cycle

Spawning Spawn is the Egg cell, eggs and Spermatozoa, sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of freely releasing eggs and sperm into a body of water (fresh or marine); the physical act is ...

typically occurs in the spring, spanning from late February to early May, with fish in warmer waters breeding earlier in the year than those that live in colder waters. In order to breed, these solitary fish will leave the rivers and lakes they live in to meet others of their kind in small streams that range from to . The redfin pickerel engages in a

polyandrous Polyandry (; ) is a form of polygamy in which a woman takes two or more husbands at the same time. Polyandry is contrasted with polygyny, involving one male and two or more females. If a marriage involves a plural number of "husbands and wives ...

style of mating, in which one female scatters her eggs among the vegetation while multiple males will release their milt in the water surrounding it. The parents abandon the area soon after, leaving their young to fend for themselves. After hatching within a range of roughly 12 to 14 days, the

larval A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...

pickerel will

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

together for protection. Upon reaching

sexual maturity Sexual maturity is the capability of an organism to reproduce. In humans, it is related to both puberty and adulthood. ''Puberty'' is the biological process of sexual maturation, while ''adulthood'', the condition of being socially recognized ...

after two years, the fish will adopt a solitary lifestyle. They can be expected to live for five years, though some specimens have been documented to survive for eight years.

Diet

The redfin pickerel is an ambush predator, lying in wait for unsuspecting prey animals to get within striking range. The pickerel fills the role of

apex predator An apex predator, also known as a top predator or superpredator, is a predator at the top of a food chain, without natural predators of its own. Apex predators are usually defined in terms of trophic dynamics, meaning that they occupy the hig ...

in its small, shallow,

aquatic environment An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem found in and around a body of water, in contrast to land-based terrestrial ecosystems. Aquatic ecosystems contain communities of organisms—aquatic life—that are dependent on each other and on their environm ...

, feeding on smaller fishes,

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the infraorder Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. Taxonomically, they are members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea. They breathe through feather-like gills. Some spe ...

, and insect larvae. The newly hatched larvae meanwhile will feed on small organisms like

water flea The Diplostraca or Cladocera, commonly known as water fleas, is a superorder of small, mostly freshwater crustaceans, most of which feed on microscopic chunks of organic matter, though some forms are predatory. Over 1000 species have been recog ...

s, amphipods and insects.

Ecological concerns

The redfin pickerel and its sister subspecies, the grass pickerel, sit comfortably in a position of

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

as determined by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...

(IUCN). Despite this rating, the redfin pickerel is still threatened by rampant

environmental degradation Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

. Threats from

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

are ever present with the continued drainage of

wetlands A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

and the building of dams drying up extraneous streams, but scientist have also noticed a heavy threat of

biomagnification Biomagnification, also known as bioamplification or biological magnification, is the increase in concentration of a substance, e.g a pesticide, in the tissue (biology), tissues of organisms at successively higher levels in a food chain. This inc ...

of metals in the species and in the surrounding community. The redfin pickerel is the top predator of its area, meaning it faces the greatest danger from toxin exposure. As it eats smaller fish and other animals that have been exposed to harmful substances, the chemicals, particularly environmental mercury, build up in the tissues of the pickerel. If the fish is then eaten by a bird or human, the prospect of

mercury poisoning Mercury poisoning is a type of metal poisoning due to exposure to mercury. Symptoms depend upon the type, dose, method, and duration of exposure. They may include muscle weakness, poor coordination, numbness in the hands and feet, skin rashe ...

could be a serious threat.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:pickerel, redfin redfin pickerel Fauna of the Northeastern United States Freshwater fish of the Southeastern United States redfin pickerel redfin pickerel Freshwater fish of North America