Well,Back Down the Rabbit Hole I go!

fishhead0103666

Alligator Gar
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May 14, 2018
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Interesting, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of them for sale before now that I think about it.
 

krichardson

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Jun 19, 2006
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Interesting, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of them for sale before now that I think about it.
He's got a few Tiger Muskies now.
I've got this guy taking floating pellets!
 

jjohnwm

Sausage Finger Spam Slayer
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Mar 29, 2019
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Very cool aquarium fish if your tank is big enough. Not superactive, but they display an unbelievable attack response when food is introduced. People who worry about being bitten by their Oscars or Piranhas...have never seen a Pike feeding...:)

Tiger Muskies??? That's one of my Grail Fish...for angling, not for aquariums. :)

The markings on your fish actually look kind of like Chain Pickerel or even Tiger Muskie; the Pike I am used to seeing have small oval white spots on a green background. Is ID certain? Counting the pores on the jaw is a positive ID method, and probably doable in a live fish in a tank.

I've rarely seen Pike this small, so maybe I'm way off on this, but it just looks off to me...?

wednesday13 wednesday13 might comment?
 
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tlindsey

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One of my favorite native species. My mother friend gave her a small esox. I really enjoyed watching that fish .
 

krichardson

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Very cool aquarium fish if your tank is big enough. Not superactive, but they display an unbelievable attack response when food is introduced. People who worry about being bitten by their Oscars or Piranhas...have never seen a Pike feeding...:)

Tiger Muskies??? That's one of my Grail Fish...for angling, not for aquariums. :)

The markings on your fish actually look kind of like Chain Pickerel or even Tiger Muskie; the Pike I am used to seeing have small oval white spots on a green background. Is ID certain? Counting the pores on the jaw is a positive ID method, and probably doable in a live fish in a tank.

I've rarely seen Pike this small, so maybe I'm way off on this, but it just looks off to me...?

wednesday13 wednesday13 might comment?
Thanks for the info and you just may be correct that the fish is misidentified,considering where I bought it from lol!.
 
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wednesday13

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Very cool aquarium fish if your tank is big enough. Not superactive, but they display an unbelievable attack response when food is introduced. People who worry about being bitten by their Oscars or Piranhas...have never seen a Pike feeding...:)

Tiger Muskies??? That's one of my Grail Fish...for angling, not for aquariums. :)

The markings on your fish actually look kind of like Chain Pickerel or even Tiger Muskie; the Pike I am used to seeing have small oval white spots on a green background. Is ID certain? Counting the pores on the jaw is a positive ID method, and probably doable in a live fish in a tank.

I've rarely seen Pike this small, so maybe I'm way off on this, but it just looks off to me...?

wednesday13 wednesday13 might comment?
1CA387E8-84E1-45BB-9B29-0B287BB43D4D.jpeg59D216E9-6689-4DF9-B7F0-C6A915076388.jpeg
Juvies have stripes/camo type pattern even. I see them regularly every year 3-6” range. They dont get that “classic pike” pattern until 12”+… I do agree its hard to tell in K krichardson pic. They get washed out when stressed. Its probably just from the bare tank. It may be a tiger tho. Very hard to tell with no size reference since they change so drastically from 4-18”… Should color up soon and we’ll know for sure lol… Pike juvies do have a bit of black under the eye for a while. Most people mistake this trait for only pickerel. What i pictured above are 100% pike. What looks off to me is under the eye and the black spots on the back fins.
 

jjohnwm

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Ah, so it is a size-related thing; thanks for that. Just didn't look "right" to me, but despite catching a ton of these fish, both in Ontario and Manitoba...I really only recall one specimen less than a foot long, and that was something like 35 years ago. My granddaughter caught a tiny one this year, maybe 3-4 inches long; I was more excited than she was when she pulled it in, and when it flipped off the barbless hook just as she lifted it from the water, I think I was more disappointed too. :)

There seems to be quite a difference between the fish in post 1 and post 7 above, but as you say, the post 1 fish seems pretty washed out. Looking forward to seeing how this critter develops. :)
 
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