Editing American pickerel

{{Short description|Species of fish}}
{{more footnotes|date=March 2013}}
{{Speciesbox
 | name = Redfin and grass pickerels
 | image = Redfin pickerel (Duane Raver).png
 | image_caption = Redfin pickerel, ''E. americanus americanus''
 | image2 = Esox americanus vermiculatus.jpg
 | image2_caption = Grass pickerel, ''Esox americanus vermiculatus''
 | status = LC
 | status_system = IUCN3.1
 | status_ref = <ref>{{cite iucn |author=NatureServe |date=2013 |title=''Esox americanus'' |page=e.T184100A15363111 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T184100A15363111.en |access-date=27 September 2022}}</ref>
 | genus = Esox
 | species = americanus
 | authority = [[Johann Friedrich Gmelin|J. F. Gmelin]], 1789
 | subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
 | subdivision = ''Esox americanus americanus'' <small>J. F. Gmelin, 1789</small><br />
''Esox americanus vermiculatus'' <small>[[Charles Alexandre Lesueur|Lesueur]], 1846</small>
}}

The '''American pickerel''' (''Esox americanus'') is a medium-sized [[species]] of [[North America]]n [[freshwater fish|freshwater]] [[predatory fish]] belonging to the [[pike (fish)|pike]] family.<ref>{{FishBase|genus=Esox |species=americanus |access-date=3 September 2024}}</ref> The genus ''[[Esox]]'' is placed in [[family (biology)|family]] [[Esocidae]] in [[order (biology)|order]] [[Esociformes]]). 

Two [[subspecies]] are sometimes recognised:
* '''[[Redfin pickerel]]''', sometimes called the '''brook pickerel''', ''E. americanus americanus'' [[Gmelin (taxonomy)|Gmelin]], 1789;
* '''Grass pickerel''', ''E. americanus vermiculatus'' [[Lesueur (taxonomy)|Lesueur]], 1846.

Lesueur originally classified the grass pickerel as ''E. vermiculatus,'' but it is now considered a subspecies of ''E. americanus.''

There is no widely accepted [[English language|English]] common collective name for the two ''E. americanus'' subspecies; "American pickerel" is a translation of the [[French language|French]] [[systematic name]] ''brochet d'Amérique.''

== Description ==
The two subspecies are very similar, but the grass pickerel lacks the redfin's distinctive orange to red [[fish fin|fin]] coloration. The former's fins have dark leading edges and amber to dusky coloration. In addition, the light areas between the dark bands are generally wider on the grass pickerel and narrower on the redfin pickerel. Record size grass and redfin pickerels can weigh around {{convert|2|lb}}<ref>{{Cite web|date=9 November 2020|title=New York State Freshwater Fishing Records|url=https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7935.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-03|website=New York State Department of Environmental Conservation|archive-date=2021-04-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422074554/https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7935.html}}</ref> and reach lengths of around {{convert|13|in|cm}}.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Stegemann|first=Eileen C.|date=1989|title=Pikes - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation|url=https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7034.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-03|website=New York State Department of Environmental Conservation|archive-date=2021-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309203511/https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7034.html}}</ref> Redfin and grass pickerels are typically smaller than [[chain pickerel]]s, which can be much larger.<ref name=":0" />

== Distribution and habitats ==
The redfin and grass pickerels occur primarily in sluggish, vegetated waters of [[stream pool|pool]]s, [[lake]]s and [[wetland]]s, and are [[carnivorous]] predators feeding on smaller fish. However, larger fishes, such as the [[striped bass]] (''Morone saxatilis''), [[bowfin]] (''Amia calva'') and gray [[weakfish]] (''Cynoscion regalis''), prey on the pickerels in turn when the latter venture into larger rivers or [[estuaries]].

The pickerels reproduce by scattering spherical, sticky [[ichthyoplankton|egg]]s in shallow, heavily vegetated waters. The eggs hatch in 11&ndash;15 days; the adult pickerels guard neither the eggs nor the young.

Both subspecies are native to the [[freshwater]] [[waterbody|bodies]] of [[North America]], and are not to be confused with their more aggressive big cousin, the [[northern pike]]. The redfin pickerel's range extends from the [[Saint Lawrence River|Saint Lawrence]] [[drainage basin|basin]] in [[Quebec]] down to the [[Gulf of Mexico|Gulf Coast]], from [[Mississippi]] to [[Florida]]; while the grass pickerel's [[range (biology)|range]] is further west, extending from the [[Great Lakes Basin]], from [[Ontario]] to [[Michigan]], down to the western Gulf Coast, from eastern [[Texas]] to [[Mississippi]].

== Fishing ==
The ''E. americanus'' subspecies are not as highly prized as a [[game fish]] as their larger cousins, the [[northern pike]] and [[muskellunge]], but they are nevertheless caught by [[angling|anglers]]. ''McClane's Standard Fishing Encyclopedia'' describes [[fishing rod#Ultra-light rods|ultralight tackle]] as a sporty if overlooked method to catch these small but voracious pikes.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
* {{FishBase species alt|ID=2709|taxon=''Esox americanus americanus''|year=2004|month=October}}
* {{FishBase species alt|ID=2710|taxon=''Esox americanus vermiculatus''|year=2004|month=October}}
* {{ITIS |id=162140 |taxon=''Esox americanus'' |access-date=5 December 2004}}
* Weinmand, M.L.; Lauer, T.E., "Diet of grass pickerel ''Esox americanus vermiculatus'' in Indiana streams." Journal of Freshwater Ecology 22-3 (2007): 451–460
* Midkiff, E.S.; Tarter, D.C., "Diet and growth of larval and juvenile grass pickerel ''Esox americanus vermiculatus'', and central mudminnow, ''Umbra limi'', in the Green Bottom Wildlife Management Area, Cabell County West Virginia." ''Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science'' 68- 2-4 (1996): 37–46
* Weed, A.C., "Pike, pickerel and muskalonge." Field Mus Nat Hist Zool Leaflet 9 (1927): 1–52
* Cain, M.L.; Lauer, T.E.; Lau, J.K., "Habitat use of grass pickerel ''Esox americanus vermiculatus'' in Indiana streams." American Midland Naturalists 160-1 (2008):96–109
* Lachance, S., "Report on the situation of the Redfin Pickerel, ''Esox americanus americanus'', in Canada." Canadian Field-Naturalist 115-4 (2001): 597–607

==External links==
{{Wikispecies}}
{{Commons category|position=left}}

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[[Category:Esox|American pickerel]]
[[Category:Fish of the Eastern United States]]
[[Category:Fish of the Great Lakes]]
[[Category:Fish described in 1789|American pickerel]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin|American pickerel]]