A lot of fables, fairy tales and legends were invented about the pike. And this is not surprising. Pike is a well-known freshwater predator that can live in any lake, river, pond, small headquarters. She does not live only in mountain rivers and in ponds that completely freeze in winter.
Many people think that she can live 100 years or more. All these are fictions and myths. Like all living things, it has its own time span. So how many years does a pike live? This article will tell.
Cunning and angry
The structure of the body of the pike suggests that it is a predatory and gluttonous fish. Her body is oblong, squeezed on the sides, adapted to quick and rapid throws. Hunting from an ambush, swiftly and unexpectedly.
Half of the head is occupied by a mouth dotted with sharp teeth, and the snout is flattened and elongated. The teeth are located on the palatine bones, tongue, lower jaw. They fall alternately throughout the year, and new ones grow in their place. The fish has good vision, the structure of the eyes allows it to see in front, side and above itself.
The pike is a cautious and insidious predator. Rarely what kind of fish manages to escape from the sharp teeth of this hunter. She fearlessly attacks prey, which is 1/3 of her weight. In addition to fish, it feeds on frogs, lizards, snakes. In famine, he does not disdain his relatives.
Waterfowl chicks also fall under the scope of pike. She loves to feast on food waste that is thrown into the river. The pike swallows the prey as a whole (like a python) and, until it digests it, does not go hunting. An adult pike weighing 10-12 kg is enough to hunt 1-2 times a week.
Already in the 16-17th centuries, people thought about how many years a pike lives. Fish, it seemed to them, could exist for 100, 200, and even more years. How many fables were invented about this! But in reality, the pike does not live for so long. The long-liver among fish is considered to be catfish, which often celebrates its 100th anniversary.
How pike grows and how many years live
It would seem that a predator is invulnerable and can easily live for more than a dozen years. But not so simple. Pike, like any other fish, is susceptible to catch, attack of other predators, such as otters.
Her eggs, which she throws in early spring, are readily eaten by migratory birds. Young relatives are attacked by their relatives, who are larger and stronger. Those pikes that managed to grow up often get sick with various diseases or die from poor environmental conditions. Well, how many years does a pike mate and adult live?
Weight and age
The body weight and age of this fish are closely interconnected. The older the pike, the harder it is. The more chances she has to live to a respectable age.
Some sources claim that pike live 30 years or more. Accordingly, the body weight of a fish of this age will be about 40 kg. This is due to the fact that the first 3 years the mass of an individual reaches only 1 kg. And then every year she adds 1 kg.
Thus, a pike 4-5 years old will weigh 2-3 kg with a body length of 70-75 cm. Adult individuals aged 10-12 years weigh about 12-16 kg. Old pikes that live to 25-30 years old weigh 30-40 kg.
River life
Is there a relationship between habitat and age of fish? The question of how many years pike live in the river remains relevant and open. If the reservoir in which the predator lives is rich in food, environmental indicators are good, it lives well until the age of 20-25.
Pike, who have survived to 30 years, are mainly found in the rivers of Siberia, the Far East, and the Urals. This is explained by the inaccessibility of water bodies in comparison with the south of the country. Where there is intensive fishing, where poachers hunt, pike do not live to old age.
There is a legend that the King of Germany, Friedrich, ringed a young pike. And after 267 years, fishermen caught it. She weighed 140 kg with a length of 5.7 m. Our Tsar Boris Fedorovich also ringed a pike, which was caught 100 years later. Its weight was 60 kg, and its length was 2.5 m. But this is more of a legend than an answer to the question of how many years a pike lives.