Already one appearance of the freshwater fish can be judged on its predatory habits and extraordinary agility.Brigandine pike (photos demonstrate it) has a long arrow-shaped body with a powerful tail and several rejected back fins, which gives it the ability to perform rapid shots.Habitat - waters of the Caribbean Sea, as well as freshwater in North and Central America.
Brigandine pike exists on the planet has more than two hundred million years, since the time of the Cretaceous period.Now there are seven species of fish.Among them is even a decorative look - Brigandine pike aquarium, which, unlike its cousins, grows no more than thirty centimeters.During the previous hundred million years, these creatures are related to the class of ray-finned pantsirnikoobraznyh squad not to have absolutely no evolutionary change that gives modern scholars definite ideas about the appearance and habits of prehistoric freshwater fish.
Brigandine pike, though dressed in the armor of a medieval knight, is the undisputed mistress of major rivers and their numerous tributaries, which carry their waters to the Gulf of Mexico.These freshwater creatures, among other things, also perfectly breathe atmospheric air thanks to its well-developed swim bladder.Brigandine pike knowingly got its name: its body, its shape resembles the outline of an ordinary pike, covers a solid and extremely durable shell.It consists of a large diamond-shaped flakes coated with a special substance on the outside - ganoinom that is very similar in composition to the enamel of the teeth of land animals and man.
This shell has the strength of that spear underwater gun from him bounce as from armor plate.Brigandine pike also called Cayman fish because of the long snout, like the head of a crocodile, which is combined with a complete crocodile habits.And the fish in the water, is so striking resemblance to the caiman that fishermen often confuse these very different representatives of the water world.
All lepisosteus, as noted above, are typical of freshwater fish, although sometimes they can be found in the salt waters of the Caribbean.Even in a fairly young age, they begin to awaken predatory instincts.Barely reaching the length of five centimeters, they go out on their first hunt, attacking other fish fry.As a rule, lepisosteus use ambush tactics podkaraulivaya prey out of hiding.
then it manifested in all its splendor of their crocodile manners.Like these bloodthirsty murderers, billfish powerful jaws grabs the victim across the body and can hold it in this position for a long time, before finally exhausted swallow prey.However, despite its rather impressive size (some individuals reach four meters in length and weighs about 150 kg), for the people, these fierce and aggressive predators do not pose a great danger.
disturbed swimmer or fisherman, billfish prefer to flee immediately goes to a depth.As demonstrated by the research group of American scientists conducted in the lower reaches of the Mississippi River, these predators, attacks on the person are extremely rare, even in direct contact.Aggression towards people is possible only when Brigandine pike extremely hungry, wounded or badly frightened.
As for their habits, it should be noted that these predatory freshwater inhabitants most of the time still, motionless in the water.Only in the summer, which is characterized by a significant decrease in oxygen in the water, float to the surface billfish to breathe fresh air.
The meat of this fish is almost not used for human consumption because it is very tough and has a specific flavor.Caviar billfish as inedible due to their toxicity, although the ovaries of females sometimes reach large masses of ten kilograms.
