What is Chain pickerel?
{{speciesbox | name = Chain pickerel | image = Esox niger.jpg | image_caption = ''Esox niger'' | image_upright = 1.1 | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref>{{cite iucn | url = https://www.iucnredlist.org/details/202402/0 | title =''Esox niger''| author =NatureServe | year =2015 | access-date =February 25, 2016 }}</ref> | genus = Esox | species = niger | authority = [[Charles Alexandre Lesueur|Lesueur]], 1818<ref>{{ITIS |id=162143 |taxon=Esox niger |access-date=5 December 2004}}</ref> | synonyms = ''Esox reticulatus'' }} The '''chain pickerel''' (''Esox niger'') is a species of [[fish]] that has a number of [[nickname]]s such as the '''grass pickerel''', '''jack''', '''[[pickerel]]''', '''common pickerel''', and '''eastern pickerel'''. It is a freshwater [[game fish]] and the smallest member of the [[Esocidae]] family. They are native to Atlantic and [[Gulf Coast of the United States|Gulf Coast]] [[Tributary|tributaries]]. Chain pickerel have been [[Introduced species|introduced]] into the [[Lake Ontario|Lakes Ontario]] and [[Lake Erie|Erie]] [[Drainage basin|drainages]] as well as other places. They are found in shallow pools of [[lake]]s, [[stream]]s, and tidal and non-tidal [[river]]s. They are [[Predation#Ambush predator|ambush feeders]] that will strike at anything that swims near them. They feed mainly during [[Day|daylight]] hours. == Physical description == Chain pickerel has the same [[torpedo]]-like shape of the [[Muskellunge]] and [[Northern pike]]. They have different [[Pattern|markings]] than either of their family members. They have a chain-like [[pattern]] of dark markings on a [[yellow]]ish to [[green]]ish body.<ref name=Schultz153>Ken Schultz, ''Ken Schultz's Field Guide to Freshwater Fish'' (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2004), p. 153</ref> This pattern is what they were named for. Like other pike they have a forked tail [[fin]] and a long pointed head. Chain pickerel have a dark bar underneath each eye.<ref name=MD.DNR>{{cite web