Aquitanian pike

Esox aquitanicus

Forty One Point Six Centimeters Esocid Fish

Temperate
Regional distribution
Freshwater fish
Atlantic Ocean
Europe
Medium
Temperate fish

The Aquitanian pike (Esox aquitanicus) is a species of pike, a predatory fish native from the Charente to the Adour river drainages in the French Great South-West region. It was scientifically described in 2014, but had formerly been regarded as a population of the widespread northern pike (Esox lucius). The two species generally resemble each other and they are able to hybridize.

Class: Teleosts
Order: Pikes and Mudminnows
Family: Esocidae
Genus: Esox
Maximum length: 41.6 cm
Water: Freshwater
Distribution: Europe: France. Present in the Charente, Dordogne, Eyre, and Adour basins. Lake Mouriscot constitutes its currently known most southern location. Considering the biogeographical history of Atlantic French drainages, it should occur in the Garonne basin too, but the population could have regressed following the introduction of the Northern Pike E. lucius . There are still higher probabilities to encounter the Aquitanian pike in small tributaries, where humans do not stock Northern Pike, than in larger streams. It might be present in the "Sèvre niortaise" basin, but no specimen was captured, and in the Loire drainage, but we captured only E. lucius individuals. It is possible that Aquitanian pike is stocked and sold as E. lucius by fish farmers of southwestern France, in order to restock wat

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