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Chain pickerel
Esox niger
Bill Byrne, MA
Division of Fisheries and Wildlife
Habitat requirements and life history:The
chain pickerel, a native species, is the most common pike
in Massachusetts. It inhabits clear, quiet water in lakes,
ponds and rivers where aquatic vegetation is abundant. Chain
pickerel spawn early in the year, ususally right after the
ice melts. Females, attended by one or more males, broadcast
their eggs in shallow water over submerged vegetation. Young
pickerel feed on insects at first, but when they reach about
3 inches in length, they begin eating other fish, which is
their principal food. A chain pickerel usually lies in wait
in a weed bed and grabs the prey with its large mouth, which
contains many, long sharp teeth. (Sources:
Massachusetts Wildlife, No. 2, 2000, Special Fishing Issue
and AMC Guide to Freshwater Fishing in New England)
Total length:
13 - 19 inches (older fish up to 24 inches)
Pollution tolerance (US EPA): Tolerant
Classification:
Macrohabitat generalist
Number of fish found during 1954 & 2001
Fish Surveys*.
| Location |
No. of Fish 1954 |
No. of Fish 2001 |
| Assabet River |
62 |
39 |
| Assabet Brook |
|
7 |
| Danforth Brook |
13 |
|
| Elizabeth Brook |
|
5 |
| Fort Meadow Brook |
|
1 |
| Hop Brook |
|
3 |
| Howard Brook |
1 |
|
| Nashoba Brook |
116 |
16 |
| North Brook |
15 |
2 |
| Spencer Brook |
28 |
|
| Total |
235 |
73 |
*Sources:
Schlotterbeck, L.C. and W.A. Tompkins, 1954. "A
Fisheries Investigation of the Merrimack and Ipswich River Drainages."
Bureau of Wildlife Research and Management, Massachusetts Division
of Fisheries and Game.
DFW, 2001. Assabet Watershed Fish Survey. MA Department of
Fisheries and Wildlife, Westborough, MA.
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