Northern Pike (Esox lucius) Home Range Area and Average Depth

Abstract

Northern pike (Esox lucius) are large ambush predators of other fish in northern temperate lakes. Cook and Bergersen (1998) found that in the summer these fish tend to occupy shallow water with large amounts of vegetation. They also reported that the pike in their study showed low levels of activity with most activity occurring at dawn or dusk. Some studies (Minns, 1995) have suggested a correlation between a fish’s size and the size of it’s home range. Others (Jepsen et al., 2001) suggest that individual fish within populations show different hunting behavior based on preference and prey availability. Some fish stay in one small area, some remain in a few favorite areas, and others move frequently and lack a distinct home range. Jepsen et al. suggest that in areas with higher prey density a small home range may be possible, while areas with low prey density may force the fish to move more frequently. Our study focused on the home range size and average depth of pike and whether these were correlated to the length of the fish. We also took data on the vegetation types, water temperature, and activity patterns but due to time constraints we were unable to analyze this data in depth. It is included in our raw data in Appendix B for future uses.