Trivia question for Oct-13-2011

Carter’s turn and this time he picked a unique fish.  Its menacing jaws; a streamlined body and great appetite earned this fish the tag ‘freshwater shark’.

The young of these free swimming fish feed on small invertebrates starting with daphnia, and quickly move on to bigger prey like isopods or gammarus. When the body length is 4 to 8 cm they start feeding on small fish. It eats mainly fish, but on occasion water voles and ducklings have also been known to fall prey to these guys. Some of these young fish have been found dead from choking on a similar size of one of their own species. They also feed on frogs, insects and leeches. They are not very particular and eat spiny fish like perch and will even take sticklebacks if that is the only available prey.

So here are Carter’s questions: Tell us what this ferocious looking fish is called and tell us what is so special about their digestive juices?  Also, tell us what percentage of their total body-weight does their brain account for?

Good Luck 😉

Answer:

Congratulations goes out to William Powell from Michigan for being the first with the correct answer. A special thanks also goes out to Carmel and Robert for their input as well.  The fierce looking fish we featured is the Northern Pike. The northern pike, known simply as a pike in Britain, Ireland, and the USA, or as jackfish in Canada), is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and freshwaters of the northern hemisphere.

These guys are able to most anything they find.  The pike has highly acidic digestive juices that can corrode metal.  The pike’s brain accounts for less than one thousandth of its total bodyweight.  Here si more on these ferocious fish: Northern Pike

Thanks for playing along 😉