Editing Esocidae

{{Short description|Family of ray-finned fishes}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{fossil range|76|0|[[Campanian]] to present}}
| image = Extant Esocidae.png
| taxon = Esocidae
| authority = [[Georges Cuvier|G. Cuvier]], 1817
| subdivision_ranks = Genera
| subdivision = *''[[Esox]]'' <small>[[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758</small><br />
*''[[Dallia]]'' <small>[[Tarleton Hoffman Bean|Bean]], 1880</small>
*''[[Novumbra]]'' <small>[[Leonard Peter Schultz|Schultz]], 1929</small>
*†''[[Estesesox]]'' <small>Wilson ''et al.'', 1992</small>
*†''[[Oldmanesox]]'' <small>Wilson ''et al.'', 1992</small>
*†''[[Archaeosiilik]]'' <small>Brinkman ''et al.'', 2025</small>
*†''[[Nunikuluk]]'' <small>Brinkman ''et al.'', 2025</small>
}}

'''Esocidae''' is a family of [[ray-finned fish]] in the order [[Salmoniformes]], which contains pike, pickerel, and mudminnows.<ref name="ECoF">{{cite web |title=Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes Classification - California Academy of Sciences |url=https://www.calacademy.org/scientists/catalog-of-fishes-classification/ |website=www.calacademy.org |access-date=23 October 2024 |language=en}}</ref> While the family traditionally only contained the genus ''[[Esox]]'', recent genetic and paleontological research have recovered ''[[Novumbra]]'' and ''[[Dallia]]'' as members of the family Esocidae, being closer related to ''Esox'' than ''[[Umbra (fish)|Umbra]]''. Fossil specimens from the [[Mesozoic]] in North America have been assigned as two additional genera in this family, although they may actually be more basal.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Near |first=Thomas J. |last2=Thacker |first2=Christine E. |date=2024-04-18 |title=Phylogenetic Classification of Living and Fossil Ray-Finned Fishes (Actinopterygii) |url=https://bioone.org/journals/bulletin-of-the-peabody-museum-of-natural-history/volume-65/issue-1/014.065.0101/Phylogenetic-Classification-of-Living-and-Fossil-Ray-Finned-Fishes-Actinopterygii/10.3374/014.065.0101.full |journal=Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History |volume=65 |issue=1 |doi=10.3374/014.065.0101 |issn=0079-032X}}</ref>

== Taxonomy ==
The family is classified as follows:'''<ref name=":1322">{{Cite web |last=Fricke |first=R. |last2=Eschmeyer |first2=W. N. |last3=Van der Laan |first3=R. |date=2025 |title=ESCHMEYER'S CATALOG OF FISHES: CLASSIFICATION |url=https://www.calacademy.org/eschmeyers-catalog-of-fishes-classification |access-date=2025-02-10 |website=California Academy of Sciences |language=en}}</ref>'''

* Family '''Esocidae'''
** Subfamily '''Dalliinae''' <small>[[David Starr Jordan|Jordan]], 1885</small>
*** Genus ''[[Dallia]]'' <small>[[Tarleton Hoffman Bean|Bean]], 1880</small>
** Subfamily '''Esocinae''' <small>[[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque|Rafinesque]], 1815</small>
*** Genus ''[[Esox]]'' <small>[[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]</small>
*** Genus ''[[Novumbra]]'' <small>[[Leonard Peter Schultz|Schultz]], 1929</small>

=== Classification ===
''Esox'' is the youngest genus, with ''Dallia'' and ''Novumbra'' branching off further up the line. The cladogram below has been found by López ''et al.'',<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=López |first1=J. Andrés |last2=Chen |first2=Wei-Jen |last3=Ortí |first3=Guillermo |date=August 2004 |title=Esociform Phylogeny |journal=Copeia |volume=2004 |issue=3 |pages=449–464 |doi=10.1643/cg-03-087r1 |issn=0045-8511 |s2cid=198150295 |doi-access=free}}</ref> with the two additional fossil genera included at the base of the tree. 

{{clade| style=font-size:90%;line-height:90%
|label1=[[Esociformes]]
  |1={{clade
    |1=[[Umbridae]]
    |label2='''Esocidae'''
    |2={{clade
|label3=''Incarte sedis''
           |1=†''[[Oldmanesox]]''
           |2=†''[[Estesesox]]''
|5={{clade
           |1= ''[[Dallia]]''
           |6={{clade
              |1=''[[Novumbra]]''
              |7={{clade
                 |1=''[[Esox]]''
}} }} }} }} }} }}

The fossil genera ''Estesesox'' and ''Oldmanesox'' have been recovered in North America. ''[[Estesesox]]'' fossils have been described from the [[Lance Formation|Lance]], [[Hell Creek Formation|Hell Creek]], [[Oldman Formation|Oldman]], [[Foremost Formation|Foremost]], and [[Milk River Formation|Milk River]] Formations. ''[[Oldmanesox]]'' fossils have been described from the Oldman Formation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wilson |first1=Mark V. H. |last2=Brinkman |first2=Donald B. |last3=Neuman |first3=Andrew G. |date=September 1992 |title=Cretaceous Esocoidei (Teleostei): early radiation of the pikes in North American fresh waters |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022336000020849/type/journal_article |journal=Journal of Paleontology |language=en |volume=66 |issue=5 |pages=839–846 |bibcode=1992JPal...66..839W |doi=10.1017/S0022336000020849 |issn=0022-3360 |s2cid=132270276}}</ref> In 2025, two more fossil esocid genera were described from the Prince Creek Formation of Alaska: ''[[Archaeosiilik]]'' and ''[[Nunikuluk]]''.<ref name="Brinkman2025">{{Cite journal |last=Brinkman |first=Donald B. |last2=López |first2=J. Andrés |last3=Erickson |first3=Gregory M. |last4=Eberle |first4=Jaelyn J. |last5=Muñoz |first5=Xochitl |last6=Wilson |first6=Lauren N. |last7=Perry |first7=Zackary R. |last8=Murray |first8=Alison M. |last9=Van Loon |first9=Lisa |last10=Banerjee |first10=Neil R. |last11=Druckenmiller |first11=Patrick S. |date=2025 |title=Fishes from the Upper Cretaceous Prince Creek Formation, North Slope of Alaska, and their palaeobiogeographical significance |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/spp2.70014 |journal=Papers in Palaeontology |language=en |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=e70014 |doi=10.1002/spp2.70014 |issn=2056-2802}}</ref>

Due to the fragmentary nature of ''Oldmanesox'' and ''Estesesox'', little information on the exact relationships between the two genera and the rest of the species in the family has been published. More recent genetic studies which place ''Dallia'' and ''Novumbra'' in Esocidae may influence future studies on placement of ''Estesesox'' and ''Oldmanesox'' within the Esocidae and/or Esociformes family trees.<ref name=":1" />

== Distribution ==
Esocidae has a [[Holarctic realm|holarctic]] distribution. Species in the genus ''Esox'' can be found in Eurasia and North America, while ''[[Dallia]]'' has a more restricted range in [[Alaska]] and eastern [[Siberia]]. Of extant esocids, ''[[Novumbra]]'' has the most restricted range of all, being found only on the [[Olympic Peninsula]] in [[Washington (state)|Washington state]].

== Behavior ==
Despite differing size and mouth shape, all extant species of esocids are sight-based [[ambush predator]]s, taking any animal they can fit in their mouth. Both pike and blackfishes display cannibalistic tendencies.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Giles|first1=N.|last2=Wright|first2=R. M.|last3=Nord|first3=M. E.|date=1986|title=Cannibalism in pike fry, Esox lucius L.: some experiments with fry densities|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1095-8649.1986.tb04930.x|journal=Journal of Fish Biology|language=en|volume=29|issue=1|pages=107–113|doi=10.1111/j.1095-8649.1986.tb04930.x|bibcode=1986JFBio..29..107G |issn=1095-8649}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=McPhail|first=J.D.|date=1981-01-01|title=The Freshwater Fishes of Alaska, by J.E. Morrow|journal=Arctic|volume=34|issue=3|doi=10.14430/arctic2730|issn=1923-1245|doi-access=free}}</ref> While the [[Olympic mudminnow]] is aggressively territorial to fish of the same size during the spawning season, it will generally leave its fry alone.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hagen|first1=D. W.|last2=Moodie|first2=G. E. E.|last3=Moodie|first3=P. F.|date=2011-02-14|title=Territoriality and courtship in the Olympic mudminnow (Novumbra hubbsi)|url=https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/abs/10.1139/z72-148|journal=Canadian Journal of Zoology|volume=50|issue=8|pages=1111–1115|language=en|doi=10.1139/z72-148}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q1987393}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Esocidae| ]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Georges Cuvier]]
[[Category:Euteleostei families]]


{{Esociformes-stub}}