Everything about Esociformes totally explained
Esociformes is a small order of
ray-finned fish, with two families, the Umbridae (mudminnows) and the Esocidae (pikes). The pikes of genus
Esox give the order its name. There are ten species--five in each family.
This order is closely related to the
Salmoniformes, the two comprising the superorder
Protacanthopterygii, and are often included in their order. The esociform fishes first appeared in the mid-
Cretaceous -- early products of the
Euteleost radiation of that time. Today they're found only in fresh water in
North America and the northern
Eurasian regions.
Pikes
The pikes tend to be lie-in-wait, ambush
predators, with elongated snouts, long, well-muscled torsos, forked tails, and dorsal and anal fins set well back and opposite each other for rapid acceleration along a straight line, allowing the fish to quickly emerge from cover to capture its prey. Prey capture is facilitated by the impaling of the prey animal on the sharp teeth, after which the pike retreats to cover, turns the prey around, and swallows it, head first.
Anatomically, the pikes are characterized by the presence of shark-like, maxillary teeth, a mesocoracoid, and the absence of an
adipose fin, breeding tubercules, and pyloric cecae.
The two more prominent species of Escoformidae are
Esox lucius, or the northern pike, a popular sport fish that may reach lengths as great as a meter and a half, and the "muskie,"
E. masquinongy, which grows even larger.
Mudminnows
Mudminnows are much smaller than their pike cousins, with usual lengths of less than 20 cm. However, they're also extremely efficient, lie-in-wait, ambush predators, feeding mostly on the sorts of invertebrates commonly found in warm backwaters. Of the three North American species of genus
Umbra, one,
U. limi, possesses a limited capability for air breathing.
Umbra spp. are most commonly found in the Atlantic coast regions of North America, along the marshy, low-oxygen areas of the Mississippi River, and in similar environments in Europe.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Esociformes'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://esociformes.totallyexplained.com">Esociformes Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
