User:SriMesh/Sandbox/Northern Pike

Appearance and body structure

• Translation from Ukrainian at User:Demidov2007/Translations:

Northern pike can reach more than 1.5 meters in length, while their weight can be around 35 kg (by some accounts - even more), female are always larger than males.

The body is colored with spots and stripes. Bright stripes cover the body along and across. Depending on the nature and degree/power of development of the coastal vegetation, pike can have grayish-greenish, серо-бурой or yellowish colors, a dark spin/back, whitish abdomen, with gray крапинами, silver pike may be found in some lakes. Spinal, anal and tail flippers are brown, with black spots; thoracic and abdominal ones are yellowish-red.

Description

• English Article at Northern Pike

Northern pike are most often olive, shading into yellow to white along the belly. The flank is marked with short, light barlike spots and there are a few to many dark spots on the fins. The lower half of the gill cover lacks scales and they have large sensory pores on their head and on the underside of the lower jaw which are part of the lateral line system. Unlike the similar-looking and closely related muskellunge, the northern pike has light markings on a dark body background and fewer than six sensory pores on the underside of each side of the lower jaw.

Pike grow to a relatively large size; lengths of 150 centimetres (59 in) and weights of 25 kg (55 pounds) are not unheard of. The heaviest specimen known so far was caught in an abandoned stone quarry, in Germany, in 1983. She (the majority of all pikes over 8 kg (18 pounds) are females) was 1.47 m (4.8 ft) long and weighed 31 kg (67 pounds). The longest pike ever recorded was 152 cm (60 in) long and weighed 28 kg (61 pounds). Historic reports of giant pike, caught in nets in Ireland in the late 1800s, of 41 to 42 kg (89 to 92 pounds), were researched by Fred Buller and published in "The Doomsday Book of Mammoth Pike". The British Isles have not managed to produce much in the way of giant pike in the last 50 years or so however; therefore there is substantial doubt surrounding those earlier claims. Currently, the IGFA recognizes a 26 kg (55 pound) pike caught by Lothar Louis in Lake of Grefeern, Germany, on 16 Oct, 1986 as the all-tackle world record northern pike. Northern pike in North America seldom reach the size of their European counterparts; one of the largest specimens known was a 21 kg (46 pound, 2 ounce) specimen from New York state. It was caught in Great Sacandaga Lake on September 15, 1940 by Peter Dubuc. There are reports of far larger pike, but these are either misidentifications of the pike's much larger relative the muskellunge, or simply have not been properly documented and belong in the realm of legend.

Identification and Body Appearance

• Merger of the two above:

Northern pike are most often olive, shading into yellow to white along the belly. Depending on the nature and abundance of the coastal vegetation, pike can have grayish-greenish, olive or yellowish colors. Northern Pike are identified by a dark back, with whitish abdomen. Spinal, anal and tail flippers are brown, with black spots; thoracic and abdominal ones are yellowish-red. The flank is marked with short, light barlike spots and dark spots on the fins. The lower half of the gill cover lacks scales and they have large sensory pores on their head and on the underside of the lower jaw which are part of the lateral line system. Unlike the similar-looking and closely related muskellunge, the northern pike has light markings on a dark body background and fewer than six sensory pores on the underside of each side of the lower jaw. silver pike may be found in some lakes.

Pike grow to a relatively large size; lengths of 150 centimetres (59 in) and weights of 25 kg (55 pounds) are not unheard of. Female are always larger than males.} The heaviest specimen known so far was caught in an abandoned stone quarry, in Germany, in 1983. She (the majority of all pikes over 8 kg (18 pounds) are females) was 1.47 m (4.8 ft) long and weighed 31 kg (67 pounds). The longest pike ever recorded was 152 cm (60 in) long and weighed 28 kg (61 pounds). Historic reports of giant pike, caught in nets in Ireland in the late 1800s, of 41 to 42 kg (89 to 92 pounds), were researched by Fred Buller and published in "The Doomsday Book of Mammoth Pike". The British Isles have not managed to produce much in the way of giant pike in the last 50 years or so however; therefore there is substantial doubt surrounding those earlier claims. Currently, the IGFA recognizes a 26 kg (55 pound) pike caught by Lothar Louis in Lake of Grefeern, Germany, on 16 Oct, 1986 as the all-tackle world record northern pike. Northern pike in North America seldom reach the size of their European counterparts; one of the largest specimens known was a 21 kg (46 pound, 2 ounce) specimen from New York state. It was caught in Great Sacandaga Lake on September 15, 1940 by Peter Dubuc. There are reports of far larger pike, but these are either misidentifications of the pike's much larger relative the muskellunge, or simply have not been properly documented and belong in the realm of legend.