BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Ptychocheilus oregonensis
Northern Pikeminnow
| Scientific Name: | Ptychocheilus oregonensis (Richardson, 1836) | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | Northern Pikeminnow | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | F-PTOR | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Feb 2016) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S5 (Jul 2025) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2005) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | Generally 21-30 cm SL; may reach length of 63 cm and mass of 13 kg. | ||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Male squawfish first reach sexual maturity at age 3, females at age 4. Spawning occurs May-July. Each female produces 6700-83000 eggs. Eggs hatch in one week at 65 F; young are free-swimming in 14 days (Wydoski and Whitney 1979). Congregates in groups of up to 8000 individuals (Johnston and Page 1992). | ||||||||||
| Global Ecology Comments: | Life span estimated at 15-20 years (Scott and Crossman 1973). | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
N / Y / N / na / |
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| Global Migration Comments: | May migrate from lakes to streams to spawn (a few hundred yards to several miles) (Simpson and Wallace 1982). | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Small to large rivers, lakes. Prefers still or slow moving waters. In lakes, adults usually found offshore; young occur in inshore waters during summer but move to deeper offshore waters during fall. Spawns in gravelly shallows. May spawn along lake shores or in gravelly sections of streams. Does not build a nest. Broadcasts eggs over rocks (Johnston and Page 1992). | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Invertivore: Adult, Immature
Piscivore: Adult, Immature |
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | Small individuals feed primarily on aquatic and terrestrial insects. Adults feed on fish, insects, insect larvae, crustaceans and some plankton during spring and summer. Fishes are the major component of the diet in winter. | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | Y | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 30/ / | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | Pacific drainages from Nass River, British Columbia, to Columbia River drainage of northern Nevada, east to western Montana; Harney River basin, eastern Oregon; Peace River system (Arctic basin), British Columbia and Alberta, east of the Continental Divide; common, locally abundant (Scott and Crossman 1973, Lee et al. 1980, Page and Burr 1991). | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | Hammerson, G. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Oct 08, 1993 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
Brown, C. J. D. 1971. Fishes of Montana. Big Sky Books, the Endowment and Research Foundation, Montana State University, Bozeman. MT. 207 pp. |
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Carney, D. A., and L. M. Page. 1990. Meristic characteristics and zoogeography of the genus Ptychocheilus (Teleostei: Cyprinidae). Copeia 1990:171-181. |
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Johnston, C. E., and L. M. Page. 1992. The evolution of complex reproductive strategies in North American minnows (Cyprinidae). Pages 600-621 in R. L. Mayden, editor. Systematics, historical ecology, and North American freshwater fishes. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California. xxvi + 969 pp. |
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Lee, D. S., C. R. Gilbert, C. H. Hocutt, R. E. Jenkins, D. E. McAllister, and J. R. Stauffer, Jr. 1980. Atlas of North American freshwater fishes. North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, North Carolina. i-x + 854 pp. |
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Mayden, R. L., W. J. Rainboth, and D. G. Buth. 1991. Phylogenetic systematics of the cyprinid genera Mylopharodon and Ptychocheilus: comparative morphometry. Copeia 1991:819-834. |
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Page, L. M., and B. M. Burr. 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes: North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 432 pp. |
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Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp. |
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Scott, W. B., and E. J. Crossman. 1973. Freshwater fishes of Canada. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Bulletin 184. 966 pp. |
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Simpson, J. and R. Wallace. 1982. Fishes of Idaho. The University Press of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho. 238 pp. |
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Wydoski, R. S., and R. R. Whitney. 1979. Inland fishes of Washington. The University of Washington Press, Seattle. 220 pp. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1993. Species Summary: Ptychocheilus oregonensis. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Mar 10, 2026).