Summary
1. | In Spain, pike of both sexes are sexually mature at one year old, and, in the four breeding seasons up to and including this year, specimens of this age have been used for artificial propagation. Maturity does not occur as early as this in other countries. | ||||
2. | The keeping of the parents in such a small place (the pond was, as indicated above, subdivided into three compartments for fish of different size) does not prevent spawning, and during the four years no fish failed to become sexually mature. It must be stressed that wild fish have never been used for the artificial propagation. | ||||
3. | Females confined in a small compartment in order to bring on maturation have always become sexually mature within a few days. | ||||
4. | The rate of growth of the pike in Spain is extraordinary compared with that observed in other countries, as will be seen from the diagrams. | ||||
5. | All these peculiarities are, in our opinion, related to the ecological characteristics of Spanish waters, notably the very high temperatures. We believe that this brief sketch of our methods will be of interest to anyone wishing to introduce pike into North Africa or any country of similar latitude. |