COLIN'S CONJOINED PIKE COMMENTS

Hi Jon,

It's impossible to be sure from that photograph and I'm not familiar with the image but my instinct suggests it's two pike interlocked, so answer e.)

Pike attempting to devour one another and coming unstuck is a familiar theme in angling history and more than a few have been washed up having choked on similar sized esox. Some examples ended up being stuffed in the position they were found. Pike teeth face backwards so anything entering the jaws is difficult to reject. Also their gill rakers have sharp ends that can act as hooks which may have occured here.

The rope suggests the fish were carried through the gill covers for the table and may have just come to rest in that position.
I fail to see how a predatory fish survived to the size it has (the right hand one must be at least 20 lbs) when it relies on ambush and quick strikes for food. A co-existent twin hanging off the side at 90 degrees must be a bit of a disadvantage. Still, there are records of completely blind pike being caught in reasonably well fed condition and scavenging makes up a substantial part of esox diet.

Pike suffer from two fairly common abnormalities, coalesced vertebrae - which lends them a curious stunted appearance and a pug nose deformity, a kind of Arthur Mullard look with a shortened upper jaw and convex face, both a bit scary but I've never seen a Siamese one.

Best,

Colin Higgins