Head to head
Zander vs Northern Pike
Zander
VS Northern Pike
The zander and the northern pike are two long, toothy, fish-eating predators that share many European lakes and rivers, and they look alike at a glance despite belonging to different families.
| Zander | Northern Pike | |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific name | Sander lucioperca | Esox lucius |
| Family | A member of the perch family, the Percidae | A member of the pike family, the Esocidae |
| Fins | A spiny first dorsal fin, like a perch | The dorsal and anal fins are set far back near the tail, forming one big accelerator for a single explosive strike |
| Jaws and teeth | Sharp, canine-like teeth in its jaws | Flattened, duck-like jaws holding several hundred teeth, including large curved fangs and backward-pointing teeth on the tongue and roof |
| Hunting | Hunts small fish such as roach and bleak, mostly at dawn, dusk, and at night, with large pale reflective eyes | Ambushes from cover in weedy bays, taking fish, frogs, crayfish, ducklings, and voles, and can swallow prey up to half its own length |
| Size | Can reach over a metre in length and many kilograms in weight | Commonly 45 to 75 cm, with large fish exceeding 1.3 m and 20 kg |
| Breeding | The male digs a shallow nest in spring and guards the eggs until they hatch | Breeds extremely early as the ice goes out, scattering eggs over flooded shallows with no parental care |
| Conservation status | Least Concern, and widely introduced, including to Britain in the 1960s | Least Concern, found right across the northern parts of North America, Europe, and Asia, though it can devastate native trout where introduced |
Zander vs Northern Pike: common questions
Is a zander related to a pike?
Not closely: the zander belongs to the perch family, while the pike belongs to its own family, the Esocidae, despite their similar long, toothy shape.
Which one hunts in murky water?
The zander, whose large, pale, reflective eyes are adapted to hunting in dim or cloudy water at dawn, dusk, and at night.
Which one guards its eggs?
The male zander digs a nest and guards the eggs, while the pike scatters its eggs in flooded shallows and gives them no care.