Fish Identification

Florida Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides ﬂoridanus)

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The Florida largemouth bass, also known as the Florida bass, is a subspecies of the largemouth bass, which in turn is often called a northern largemouth. This ﬁsh occurs naturally in Florida. Mixtures of it and northern largemouth are called intergrades, as they are neither pure Florida nor pure northern strains. These ﬁsh occur from northern Florida to Maryland.

Florida bass grow to trophy size more readily than do northern largemouth bass. They have been stocked in many states, including California, which has produced near–world record 22-pounders from transplanted stocks, and in Texas, which has completely transformed its big-bass potential by stocking this ﬁsh.

Guadalupe Bass (Micropterus punctulatus)

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The Guadalupe bass is a member of the Centrarchidae family and is similar to the spotted bass (see: Bass, Spotted) in appearance. It has 10 to 12 dark bars along its sides, which are less distinct in older ﬁsh; it usually has 16 pectoral rays and 26 to 27 scales around the caudal peduncle. It can grow to almost 16 inches and usually weighs less than a pound. The all-tackle world record is a 3-pound, 11-ounce Texas ﬁsh taken in 1983.

In North America, Guadalupe bass are restricted to the Edwards Plateau in the Brazos, Colorado, Guadalupe, San Antonio, and upper Nueces (where introduced) River drainages in southern Texas. They occur in gravel rifﬂes, runs, and ﬂowing pools of creeks, as well as in small to medium rivers.

Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides)

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The largemouth bass is the biggest and most renowned member of the Centrarchidae family of sunﬁsh and its subgroup known as black bass. It is sometimes confused with the smallmouth in places where both species occur, and also with the spotted bass (see: Bass, Spotted). One subspecies, the Florida largemouth bass (see: Bass, Florida Largemouth), M. salmoides ﬂoridanus, is capable of attaining large sizes in appropriate waters but is otherwise similar.

Identification

The largemouth bass has an elongated and robust shape compared to other members of the sunﬁsh family. It has a distinctively large mouth, as the end of its maxillary (jaw) falls below or beyond the rear margin of the eye; the dorsal ﬁn has a deep notch separating the spiny and soft rays; and the tail is broad and slightly forked.

Although coloration varies greatly and is especially dependent on biological factors and host environments, the largemouth bass generally has a light green to light brown hue on the back and upper sides, white lower sides and belly, and a broad stripe of diamond-shaped blotches along the midline of the body.

This stripe particularly distinguishes it from its close relative the smallmouth bass, as does the upper jaw, which in the smallmouth does not extend past the eye. The largemouth lacks a tooth patch on the tongue, which helps distinguish it from the spotted bass.

Size/Age

Although the largemouth bass can live up to 15 years, the average life span varies; these ﬁsh seldom live more than 10 years. Throughout their range, largemouth bass encountered by anglers average 1 to 1.5 pounds (10 to 13 inches) but are commonly caught up to 5 pounds and less commonly from 7 to 10 pounds.

The maximum size attainable may be 25 pounds, but this has not been proven, and only about a dozen bass in the 20-pound class are known to have been caught. The largest specimen is the all-tackle world record of 22 pounds, 4 ounces, caught from Montgomery Lake, Georgia, in 1932.

Life history/Behavior

Largemouth bass spawn from late winter to late spring; the timing depends on latitude and temperature. Southern populations spawn earliest, and most northern populations latest. They begin to spawn about the time the water temperature reaches 60°F. Fish of about 10 to 12 inches are mature enough to reproduce for the ﬁrst time.

The male selects and prepares the nest site, a circular bed usually in 1 to 4 feet of water, often positioned near or including some type of object along the shoreline. The female is nudged to the nest site by the male, deposits her eggs, and leaves; the male guards the eggs, which hatch in a few days, and then guards the young fry for a short period.

Growth rates for largemouth bass are extremely variable, inﬂuenced as they are by broad geographical location (north versus south), the speciﬁc body of water they inhabit within a particular region, and individual differences even within the same population. Despite these influences, bass are capable of growing quickly under the right circumstances.

Food and feeding habits Adult bass predominantly eat other ﬁsh, including gizzard shad, threadﬁn shad, golden shiners, bluegills and other sunﬁsh, small catﬁsh, and many other small species, plus crayﬁsh. They are extremely opportunistic, however, and they may consume snakes, frogs, salamanders, mice, and other creatures.

As aggressive predators, bass primarily are ambush feeders, but they may pursue ﬁsh in open water, where there are no ambush opportunities. In normally warm waters, digestion occurs fairly quickly; however, at extremely warm or cold temperatures digestion actually slows, causing the bass to feed less frequently and making them less susceptible to anglers.

Bass are well known for their ability to locate prey in turbid water and at night. Although they are primarily sight feeders when water clarity permits, they otherwise use their highly developed lateral line to detect vibrations and locate prey. They can also detect odors, but their senses of smell and taste are poorly understood by scientists and evidently used less for feeding than are their senses of sight or hearing.

Other Names

black bass, largemouth, bigmouth, linesides, Oswego bass, green bass, green trout, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, southern largemouth, northern largemouth; French: achigan à grande bouche; German: forellenbarsch; Italian: persico trota; Japanese: okuchibasu; Portuguese: achiga.

Distribution

The largemouth bass is endemic only to North America, and its native range was generally the eastern half of the United States and southern-most Ontario and Quebec in Canada. Since the late 1800s, its range has been expanded to include major or minor portions of every state in the United States, except Alaska, and most of the southern fringes of Canada, as well as numerous countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.

Habitat

The largemouth bass is typically described as a ﬁsh that frequents the weedy sections of ponds and lakes. In reality, the largemouth is highly adaptable to many environments and to many places within various types of water.

These bass inhabit creeks, ditches, sloughs, canals, and many little potholes that have the right cover and forage, but they live principally in reservoirs, lakes, ponds, and medium to large rivers, and not always in the weedy sections.

More speciﬁcally, however, they orient toward cover and ﬁnd most of their food in or near some form of cover. Favored haunts include logs, stumps, lily pads, brush, weed and grassbeds, bushes, docks, fencerows, standing timber, bridge pilings, rocky shores, boulders, points, weedline edges, stone walls, creekbeds, roadbeds, ledgelike dropoffs, humps, shoals, and islands. Although much bass cover is nearshore, some bass do spend time away from shore, especially in unvegetated lakes.

Largemouth bass are most active in waters ranging from 65° to 85°F; the lower 70s is likely optimum. Yet they do well in temperatures much higher and lower, including waters that touch the 90°F mark, as well as frozen lakes that dip to the mid-30s.

Peacock Bass

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Peacock bass are among the world’s hardest-ﬁghting freshwater ﬁsh. They willingly take lures, strike hard, and provide a strong and exciting battle.

The term “peacock bass” is a misnomer, but it is a name that has good marketing value and one that has stuck in the English-speaking world. Species that are called peacock bass in English are formally known as pavón in Spanish-speaking countries and as tucunaré in Brazil.

Like many other ﬁsh that are called bass, peacock bass are not true bass but are members of the Cichlidae family. Their body shape is generally basslike, however. All known species of peacock bass have a prominent black eyespot, surrounded by a gold ring (ocellus), on their tail ﬁn.

Butterfly peacock bass (Cichla ocellaris)

The butterfly peacock bass is also known as peacock cichlid, tucunare, tuc; in Spanish as pavón mariposa, pavón amarillo, pavón tres estrellas, marichapa; in Portuguese as tucunaré-acu; and in Hawaiian as lukanani. It was introduced in Hawaii (where it is primarily known as tucunare) from British Guyana in 1957, and in Florida in 1984 and 1986; it has also been stocked in Puerto Rico, Panama, Guam, and the Dominican Republic.

Butterﬂy peacock bass possess great variation in color. They are generally yellowish green overall, with three dark, yellow-tinged blotches along the lateral midsection; these blotches intersect with faint bars, which typically fade in ﬁsh weighing more than 3 to 4 pounds.

The iris of the eye is frequently deep red. A conspicuous hump exists on top of the head in breeding males, and spawning ﬁsh have an intensiﬁed yellow coloration. They are distinguished by the absence of black markings on the opercula and are believed to attain a maximum size of 11 to 12 pounds; the all-tackle world record is a 12-pound, 9-ounce individual from Venezuela.

Speckled peacock bass (Cichla temensis)

The speckled peacock bass is also known as speckled pavon, painted pavon, striped tucunare; in Spanish as pavón cinchado, pavón pintado, pavón trucha, and pavón venado; in Portuguese as tucunaré-pacu. It was introduced to Florida in 1985.

Speckled peacock bass have dark blotches on the opercula and three distinctive vertical black bars on their bodies; these may become more pronounced with age, although this does not appear to be absolute. There are light or faint spots on the dorsal and caudal fins, and a conspicuous hump exists on top of the head in a breeding male.

Some individuals (described as another color phase) may have four to six horizontal rows of light-colored dashes or spots along the sides and speckling over the rest of their bodies and ﬁns; these ﬁsh are called “spotted peacock bass” by many anglers and were previously thought to be a distinct species.

The speckled peacock bass is the only peacock bass that has broken longitudinal lines and spots on the head, opercula, and caudal and dorsal ﬁn regions, resulting in a speckled appearance. Many speckled peacock bass, however, especially the largest specimens, do not exhibit this speckling along their ﬂanks.

Speckled peacock bass exhibit many color variations, the adults being lighter than the juveniles. Generally, they are dark green to black along the back, golden to yellow or light green along the ﬂanks, and lighter on the belly.

The pelvic, the anal, and the lower half of the caudal ﬁns are often reddish in color, sometimes yellowish green. These colors are general conformities, however, and signiﬁcant variations exist, especially in intensity (some have an orange or a bronze tinge), which may or may not be due to season or habitat.

This species attains the greatest size of all the peacock bass. The current all-tackle world record is a 27-pound speckled peacock bass from Brazil.

Distribution

Though native to South American jungle or rain forest rivers and reservoirs, peacock bass have been introduced in appropriate North American waters through stocking efforts, most notably in small lakes and canal systems in southern Florida and warmwater reservoirs in Texas.

Redeye Bass (Micropterus coosae)

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There are two widely recognized forms of this member of the black bass group of the Centrarchidae family: the Apalachicola, which is called a shoal bass, and the Alabama, which is generally referred to as the redeye bass or the true redeye.

The shoal bass has yet to be described fully or given a distinct scientiﬁc name, and there is some confusion over the two. A scrappy ﬁghter, the redeye bass often jumps when hooked and is hard to catch. Its white, ﬂaky meat is of good table quality, similar to that of other black bass.

Identification

As its name indicates, the redeye bass is characterized by the considerable amount of red in its eyes. It is bronze olive above, with brownish to greenish sides, and yellow-white to blue below, usually with dark vertical bars on the ﬂanks. The bars on the caudal peduncle are diamond shaped with light centers.

It has a prominent dark spot on the gill cover and rows of dark spots on the lower sides, as well as white upper and lower outer edges on the orange-tinged tail. The upper jaw of its large mouth extends to the rear portion of the eye but not beyond, and there is usually a patch of teeth on the tongue.

The redeye has redder ﬁns than do other black bass; the ﬁrst and the second dorsal ﬁns are connected, and the second dorsal and the caudal ﬁns and the front of the anal ﬁn are brick red on young ﬁsh. There is a dusky spot on the base of the tail, which is also darkest on a young ﬁsh. There are 12 dorsal rays and 10 anal rays.

The shoal bass can normally be distinguished from the redeye bass by a prominent spot immediately before the tail and another on the edge of the gill cover, which is generally indistinct on the redeye. The shoal bass also lacks white outer edges on the tail, has smaller scales, and lacks the patch of teeth on the tongue. It has 12 to 13 dorsal rays and 10 to 11 anal rays.

Size/Age

The redeye bass grows to 18.5 inches and about 3 pounds, although some reach more than 8 pounds and live as long as 10 years. The shoal form grows faster, although it generally reaches about 15 inches in length. The all-tackle world record is an 8-pound, 12-ounce ﬁsh taken in Florida in 1995.

Spawning

Spawning occurs in spring, when water temperatures are between 60° and 70°F, usually over coarse gravel at the head of a pool. Males build the nest and guard the eggs and fry.

Food

Redeye feed primarily on terrestrial and larval insects, crayﬁsh, and small ﬁsh.

Other Names

black bass, Coosa bass, shoal bass, Flint River smallmouth.

Distribution

Redeye bass are found in the Alabama, the Savannah, the Coosa, the Chattahoochee, and the Warrior River systems in Georgia and Alabama, and in southeastern Tennessee (Conasauga drainage). They have been introduced to a limited degree in California, Puerto Rico, and Kentucky’s upper Cumberland River drainage.

Shoal bass occur in the Apalachicola River system in Florida and in the Chattahoochee, the Chestatee, and the Flint Rivers in Georgia.

Habitat

Inhabiting the rocky runs and pools of creeks and small to medium rivers, redeye bass prefer the cold headwaters of small streams. They seldom exist in natural lakes, ponds, or reservoirs, and they prefer water temperatures in the mid-60s. Shoal bass are most likely to thrive in main-channel habitats.

Roanoke Bass (Ambloplites cavifrons)

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The Roanoke bass is a sunﬁsh and a member of the Centrarchidae family, similar in body shape to a rock bass (see: Bass, Rock) or warmouth (see). It can be identiﬁed by its unscaled or partly scaled cheek and the several iridescent gold to white spots on its upper side and head. It is olive to tan above, has a dark and light marbling on the sides, and often sports rows of black spots and a white to bronze breast and belly.

It is also distinguished by the 39 to 49 lateral scales, 11 anal rays, and 27 to 35 scale rows across its breast between the pectoral ﬁns. The all-tackle world record is a 1-pound, 5-ounce ﬁsh taken in Virginia in 1991. Growing to a maximum of 14.5 inches, the Roanoke

bass occurs in North America in the Chowan, the Roanoke, the Tar, and the Neuse River drainages in Virginia and North Carolina. It inhabits the rocky and sandy pools of creeks and small to medium clear rivers.

Rock Bass (Ambloplites rupestris)

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The rock bass is actually a member of the sunﬁsh family and is not a true bass. Rock bass are fun to catch because they can be caught on many types of baits and lures, and they put up a decent ﬁght on ultralight tackle. Rock bass are known to overpopulate small lakes, making population control measures necessary.

Identification

Although it looks like a cross between a bluegill and a black bass, the rock bass is actually a large and robust sunﬁsh with a deep body; it is less compressed than most sunﬁsh and is more similar to a black bass in shape. The back is raised, and the large head is narrow, rounded, and deep.

The mouth of the rock bass is large in comparison to other sunﬁsh; the upper jaw reaches beyond the beginning of the eye but not to the back of the eye. It has two connected dorsal ﬁns, ﬁve to six anal ﬁn spines, and large eyes.

The rock bass is olive brown or bronze on the back and sides, with faint lines of tiny dark marks; the centers of the scales below the lateral line also have dark markings that form 11 or more rows and give the ﬁsh a striped appearance. In some rock bass, the coloring is lighter but consistent underneath, whereas others are silver, gray, or white on the bellies.

The ventral ﬁns have pale circular spots, and all ﬁns are usually darker at their margins, although the edges of the anal spines are white, the tips of the pectoral ﬁns are clear, and the pelvic ﬁns sometimes have a white edge. A distinguishing characteristic is the bluish-black blotch found on the tips of the gill covers.

Rock bass are frequently confused with the warmouth (Lepomis gulosus; see: warmouth). Warmouth have teeth on their tongue, whereas rock bass do not. There are also six spines in front of the anal ﬁn of a rock bass, as opposed to the three spines in the warmouth. Rock bass may resemble the mud sunﬁsh as well (see: Sunﬁsh, Mud); rock bass have forked tails and rough scales, whereas mud sunﬁsh have rounded tails and smooth scales.

Size/Age

The most common size for rock bass is about 8 ounces, although they have been known to reach 3 pounds. Often, rock bass in a particular lake will weigh around a pound, with a few ﬁsh exceeding 2 pounds. As with most sunﬁsh, however, size is extremely variable, and rock bass living in streams are often stunted. The all-tackle record is a 3-pound Canadian ﬁsh.

Rock bass can reach a length of 12 to 14 inches but are usually less than 8 inches long. Although aquarium ﬁsh have lived for 18 years, those in the wild live 10 to 12 years on average.

Life history/Behavior

Rock bass are able to reproduce once they are 2 years old or 3 to 5 inches long; spawning occurs from midspring to early summer, when water temperatures range from 60° to 70°F. Males move into the shallows 3 to 4 days prior to the females’ arrival, to establish territories. They begin building round nests in gravelly or sandy areas near weedbeds or other protection, such as submerged tree trunks, using their pectoral, anal, and caudal ﬁns to fan the gravel for the nests.

Spawning occurs during the day, usually in the morning. The females spawn at least twice, moving from nest to nest and laying from 3,000 to 11,000 eggs in total. The males guard the nests until the eggs hatch and the young swim away, and many males nest a second or even a third time.

Rock bass are a schooling fish and often cluster with other sunﬁsh and smallmouth bass.

Food and feeding habits

Young rock bass feed on minute aquatic life when young, then on insects and crustaceans as they grow. Adults eat mostly crayﬁsh, as well as minnows, insects, mollusks, and small ﬁsh. This diet varies with season and location. They can consume relatively large specimens because of their large mouths. Rock bass generally feed on the bottom but may occasionally feed near the surface.

Other Names

black perch, goggle-eye, red eye, rock sunﬁsh, goggle-eye perch; French: crapet de roche.

Distribution

Native to the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada, rock bass range from southern Manitoba east to Ontario and Quebec, and southward through the Great Lakes region and the Mississippi Valley to the Gulf of Mexico and as far east as northern Alabama and northern Georgia. They have been introduced into other states, including some in the western United States.

Habitat

Rock bass prefer small to moderate streams with cool and clear water, abundant shelter, and considerable current; they are plentiful in shallow, weedy lakes and the outer edges of larger lakes, as well as in thousands of smaller lakes and ponds. Rock bass almost always hold over rocky bottoms (resulting in the name “rock” bass) where there is no silt. Young rock bass are frequently found in vegetation. Rock bass tend to frequent the same habitats as do smallmouth bass.

Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieui)

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The smallmouth bass is the second largest member of the Centrarchidae family of sunﬁsh and a North American original. To anglers, it is one of the most impressive of all freshwater ﬁsh and is coveted for its ﬁghting ability.

The smallmouth is not actually a bass but a sunﬁsh, and its mouth is only small in comparison to that of some relatives. It is naturally a ﬁsh of both clear rivers and lakes and has been widely introduced to other waters outside its original range.

Smallmouth bass that reside in small to intermediate streams do not grow as large, on average, as those from lakes or reservoirs, although ﬁsh from big rivers, and especially those with tailwater fisheries, can attain large sizes. River smallmouth bass are even spunkier than their lake-dwelling brethren, however, and tend to be more streamlined and to lack drooping bellies.

The smallmouth bass is occasionally confused with the largemouth where they both occur, and also with the spotted bass and the redeye bass. They have been known to hybridize with spotted bass. Two subspecies are often recognized: the northern smallmouth, Micropterus dolomieui dolomieui, and the Neosho smallmouth, M. d. velox.

Identification

The smallmouth bass has a robust, slightly laterally compressed and elongate body; a protruding lower jaw; red eyes; and a broad and slightly forked tail. Its pelvic ﬁns sit forward on the body below the pectoral ﬁns; a single spine is found on each pelvic ﬁn and on the front of the anal ﬁn.

The two dorsal ﬁns are joined or notched; the front one is spiny and the second one has one spine followed by soft rays. Its color varies from brown, golden brown, and olive to green on the back, becoming lighter to golden on the sides and white on the belly. Young ﬁsh have more distinct vertical bars or rows of spots on their sides, and the caudal, or tail, ﬁns are orange at the base, followed by black and then white outer edges.

The smallmouth is easily distinguished from the largemouth by its clearly connected dorsal ﬁns, the scales on the base portion of the soft-rayed second dorsal ﬁn, and the upper jawbone, which extends only to about the middle of the eye. The coloration is also distinctive, being usually more brownish in the smallmouth and more greenish in the largemouth.

Size/Age

The average life span of the smallmouth bass is 5 to 6 years, although it can live for 15 years. Most smallmouth bass encountered by anglers weigh between 1 and 1.5 pounds and are from 9 to 13 inches long; ﬁsh exceeding 3 pounds are considered fairly large but not uncommon. The largest smallmouth known is the Tennessee state record, a ﬁsh that weighed 11 pounds, 15 ounces, when caught from Dale Hollow Lake in 1955.

The Neosho subspecies, which is more slender than the smallmouth, occurs in the Neosho River and tributaries of the Arkansas River in Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, and Oklahoma.

Life history/Behavior

Smallmouth bass spawn in the spring (or the early summer in most northern waters), when the water temperature is between 60° and 65°F. The male builds a nest in water that ranges from 1 to 12 feet deep, depending on the environment. The nest site is often over a gravel or rock bottom but may be over a sandy bottom in lakes, and it is usually near the protection of a log or a boulder.

Older bass prefer rocky, shallow areas of lakes and rivers and retreat to deeper areas when water temperatures are high. They tend to seek cover and avoid the light and generally do not inhabit the same types of dense, weedy, or wooded cover that largemouth bass prefer. They hide in deep water, behind rocks and boulders, and around underwater debris and crevices, preferring water temperatures between 66° and 72°F.

Food

These highly carnivorous and predatory ﬁsh will eat whatever is available, but they have a clear preference for crayﬁsh and small ﬁsh. In lakes, this includes small bass, panfish, perch, and assorted fingerling-size minnows in lakes. In rivers, it includes minnows, crayﬁsh, hellgrammites, nymph larvae, and leeches.

Other Names

black bass, smallmouth, bronzeback, brown bass, brownie, smallie, redeye; French: achigan à petite bouche; German: schwarzbarsch; Japanese: kokuchibasu.

Distribution

The smallmouth bass is endemic only to North America, and its original range was from the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River drainages in Canada south to northern Georgia, west to eastern Oklahoma, and north to Minnesota.

It has since been widely spread within and beyond that range, across southern Canada west to British Columbia and east to the Maritimes, west to the Paciﬁc coast states, and into the south-western United States. It has also been introduced to Hawaii, Asia, Europe, and Africa.

Habitat

Smallmouth bass prefer clear, quiet waters with gravel, rubble, or rocky bottoms. They live in midsize, gentle streams that have deep pools and abundant shade or in fairly deep, clear lakes and reservoirs with rocky shoals. Although they are fairly adaptable, they are seldom found in murky water and avoid swift current.

In the typical river, smallmouth bass predominate in the cool middle section where there are large pools between rifﬂes, whereas trout occupy the swifter and colder upper section. In stillwaters, smallmouth bass may occupy lakes, reservoirs, or ponds if these waters are large and deep enough to have thermal stratiﬁcation, and they are usually located deeper than largemouth bass once the surface layer warms in the spring or early summer.

Spotted Bass (Micropterus punctulatus)

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Often mistaken by anglers for the largemouth bass, the spotted bass is a lesser-known member of the black bass group of the Centrarchidae family than either the largemouth or the smallmouth, but this is a spunky and distinguished-looking species that no angler is unhappy about catching, even if most are encountered by accident.

The general term “spotted bass” really incorporates three recognized subspecies: the northern spotted bass (M. p. punctulatus), the Alabama spotted bass (M. p. henshalli), and the Wichita spotted bass (M. p. wichitae); the last was previously thought to be extinct and is still rarely encountered.

Spotted bass are scrappy ﬁsh whose ﬁght is often compared to that of the smallmouth, although they jump less frequently. Their average and maximum sizes are smaller than those of the largemouth, and they are more likely to utilize and suspend in deep water, even moving about in deep water in loose groups, rather than in schools.

Identification

The spotted bass has a moderately compressed, elongate body, with coloration and markings that are similar to those of the largemouth bass; both have a light green to light brown hue on the backs and the upper sides, white lower sides and bellies, and a broad stripe of diamond-shaped blotches along the midlines of their bodies.

Like all black bass except the largemouth, the spotted bass has scales on the base portion of the second dorsal ﬁn, its ﬁrst and second dorsal ﬁn are clearly connected, and its upper jawbone does not extend back to or beyond the rear edge of the eyes. The spotted bass has a distinct patch of teeth on the tongue, which the largemouth does not, and there is a large spot on the point of the gill cover.

The spotted bass differs from the smallmouth bass in that it lacks the vertical bars that are present on the sides of the body in the smallmouth. It also has small black spots in alternate rows below the lateral line (the rear edges of certain scales are black), unlike either the largemouth or the smallmouth. Reportedly, spotted bass and smallmouth bass have hybridized in nature, which could make identiﬁcation of some specimens where both species are known to occur even more difﬁcult.

The Alabama spotted bass has a dark spot at the base of the tail and on the rear of the gill cover and 68 to 75 scales along the lateral line. The northern spotted bass also has a spot on the tail, but the spot on the gill cover is not as distinct, and there are only 60 to 68 scales along the lateral line.

Size/Age

Spotted bass seldom exceed 4 to 5 pounds and are rarely encountered up to 8 pounds. The all-tackle world record is a 10-pound, 4-ounce ﬁsh taken in California in 2001. Because of the difﬁculty in recognizing the species, it is probable that larger record-size specimens of spotted bass have gone unnoticed. The life span of about 7 years is much shorter than that of the smallmouth or the largemouth, and the growth rate is intermediate between the two.

Life history/Behavior

Spotted bass spawn in the spring at water temperatures of about 63° to 68°F. Males sweepaway silt from a gravel or rock bottom to make the nests, generally near brush, logs, or other heavy cover. The males guard the eggs and then guard the fry after they leave the nests. Fry are extremely active, much more than those of either the largemouth or the smallmouth.

These fish tend to school more than does any other member of the black bass family and are often encountered chasing shad in open water.

Food and feeding habits

Juveniles feed on small crustaceans and midge larvae, whereas adults eat insects, larger crustaceans, minnows, frogs, worms, grubs, and small ﬁsh. Crayﬁsh are usually the most important item in the diet, followed by small ﬁsh and larval and adult insects.

Other Names

Alabama spotted bass, black bass, Kentucky bass, Kentucky spotted bass, lineside, northern spotted bass, redeye, spot, Wichita spotted bass.

Distribution

Spotted bass were once primarily found in the lower to central Mississippi River drainages of North America, but their range has expanded greatly. They are now found throughout the central and lower Mississippi basin, from southern Ohio and West Virginia to southeastern Kansas and south to the Gulf of Mexico (from Texas to the Florida Panhandle), including the Chattahoochee drainage in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, and other nearby states, where they occur naturally or have been introduced.

Spotted bass have been introduced as far west as California, where some of the larger specimens are now found, and outside North America, including South Africa, where the species has become established in several bodies of water.

The infrequently encountered Wichita spotted bass appears to be limited to West Cache Creek, Oklahoma. The Alabama spotted bass is native to Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia.

Habitat

The natural habitats of spotted bass are clear, gravelly, ﬂowing pools and runs of creeks and small to medium rivers, and they also tolerate the slower, warmer, and more turbid sections that are unlikely to host smallmouth bass. They are seldom found in natural lakes but have adapted well to deep impoundments, which were created by damming some of their natural rivers and streams.

In reservoirs they prefer water temperatures in the mid-70s Fahrenheit. The typical habitat is similar to that of the largemouth bass, although the spotted bass prefers rocky areas and is much more likely to inhabit and suspend in open waters; it may hold in great depths (between 60 and more than 100 feet) in some waters. Rocky bluffs, deep rockpiles, and submerged humps are among its haunts.

Suwannee Bass (Micropterus notius)

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The Suwannee bass is similar in bodily appearance to the smallmouth bass and in markings to the redeye bass, except that it is generally brown overall, and the cheeks, breasts, and bellies of large males are bright turquoise.

It, too, has a large mouth, with the upper jaw extending under the eye, and possesses a patch of teeth on the tongue, a spot at the base of the tail, and blotches on the sides. It is further identiﬁed by its 59 to 64 lateral scales, 16 pectoral ﬁn rays, 12 to 13 dorsal ﬁn rays, and 10 to 11 anal ﬁn rays.

Growing to just over 14 inches and weighing generally less than a pound, the Suwannee bass is a small species. The all-tackle world record is a 3-pound, 14-ounce ﬁsh taken in Florida in 1985.

A member of the Centrarchidae family, it has the smallest range of any black bass, occurring in North America, commonly in the Suwannee River drainage in Florida and less commonly in the Ochlockonee River drainage in northern Florida and Georgia. Limited range and small size make this species of minor angling interest, but it is an aggressive species found in rocky rifﬂes, runs, and pools and is typically caught around rocky structures and along steep banks.

White Bass (Morone chrysops)

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A member of the temperate bass family, the white bass is a freshwater ﬁsh known for its spunky ﬁghting ability, as well as its merits as an excellent eating ﬁsh. Because of its small size, it is often considered a panﬁsh. White bass usually travel in schools and can provide a lot of action, making them highly desirable among light-tackle enthusiasts and for ﬁshing with family and youths.

Identification

The white bass has a moderately deep and compressed body that is raised behind the small head and the large mouth, deepest between the two dorsal ﬁns. It also has 11 to 13 rays on the anal ﬁn and one to two patches of teeth at the back of the tongue. The coloration is mostly silvery with a dark grayish green on the back and anywhere from 4 to 10 dark horizontal stripes running along the sides. It also has yellow eyes, clear to dusky dorsal and caudal ﬁns, and clear to white pectoral and pelvic ﬁns.

The white bass is sometimes confused with other members of the temperate bass family. It resembles the striped bass (M. saxatilis) by possessing the same silver sides and black stripes; it is shorter, though, than the striped bass and has a smaller head, a deeper body, a humped back, and dorsal ﬁns that are closer together.

The white bass is also similar in appearance to the yellow bass (M. mississippiensis) but is more silvery in color and has unbroken stripes, as well as a projecting lower jaw (in yellow bass, the jaws are about even); the white bass has separate spiny and soft portions of the dorsal ﬁns, whereas those of the yellow bass are joined at the base.

The white bass also thrives in some waters inhabited by white perch (M. americana), particularly in the Great Lakes and their tributaries. The white bass can be distinguished from the white perch by the lack of distinct stripes on the sides of the body of the white perch, although stripes are occasionally found on the young of that species.

Size/Age

White bass average between 1⁄2 pound and 2 pounds but may weigh as much as 3 to 4 pounds; the all-tackle world record is 6 pounds, 13 ounces. They can grow up to 17.75 inches long, averaging 10 to 12 inches, and can live at least 10 years, but few make it past age 4. Females grow faster and probably live longer than males. Cold water and a lack of shad in the north, and warm water and abundant gizzard and threadﬁn shad populations in the south, account for regional growth differences.

Life history/Behavior

White bass migrate within freshwater rivers to spawn, speciﬁcally 40 miles or less. Two year old sexually mature males reach the spawning grounds about a month before the females do, moving into the same spawning grounds every year; they arrive sometime between February and June, depending on when the water temperature rises above 45°F.

Several white bass males gather around a female in 6 to 7 feet of water and push her to the surface, where she releases eggs that are quickly fertilized. Settling on rocks and vegetation in shallow water, the tiny, adhesive eggs hatch in 45 hours at 60°F. The adult ﬁsh do not protect the eggs or the young, and as a result, very few ﬁsh survive their ﬁrst year. Adults move to deeper water once they have spawned, where they swim in compact schools, often close to the surface.

Food and feeding habits

White bass feed on shad, silversides, crustaceans, yellow perch, sunﬁsh, insects, crayﬁsh, and their own young. Although they stay mostly in deep waters, they usually come to the surface to feed on schools of small shad or other minnows and often make a great commotion; this normally occurs early or late in the day or on overcast days.

Other Names

white lightning, barﬁsh, striped bass, silver bass, striper, stripe, sandbass, and sandy; French: bar blanc.

Distribution

White bass have a wide distribution extending throughout river systems in the Mississippi Valley (including Texas, northwest Florida, and Louisiana), the Ohio Valley, and the Great Lakes. Native in the east from the St. Lawrence River, in the north from Lake Winnipeg, and in the west from the Río Grande, white bass are found from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. They have been stocked within and outside their natural range and transplanted into various states, including California.

Habitat

The white bass is most abundant in clear, cool lakes; reservoirs; ponds; and pools of small to large rivers. White bass prefer lakes exceeding 300 acres and with considerable stretches of water at least 10 feet deep.

Whiterock Bass (Morone saxatilis x Morone chrysops)

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Hybrid striped bass have become one of the most popular introduced ﬁsh in freshwater. Hybrid stripers are the progeny of one pure-strain striped bass parent and one purestrain white bass parent. When the cross is between the female striper and the male white bass, the result is primarily known as a whiterock bass; in some places it is referred to as a wiper and in some simply as a hybrid striped bass. When the cross is between the male striper and the female white bass, it is called a sunshine bass (primarily in Florida) or simply a hybrid striped bass.

These ﬁsh, which usually look like stockier versions of pure-strain stripers, are aggressive and hard-ﬁghting ﬁsh that provide great sport. The fact that they are so strong and grow fairly large rather quickly endears them to anglers, not to mention that they can be a more ambitious lure and bait consumer than pure stripers.

Hybrid stripers do not occur in saltwater; they are strictly a freshwater phenomenon. In freshwater, whiterock or sunshine bass may crossbreed naturally in the wild, although this is not the norm. Most hybrid stripers existing in freshwater lakes and rivers are the result of state ﬁsh-stocking programs.

Like both of its parents, the whiterock or the sunshine bass is good table fare, and its ﬂesh is virtually indistinguishable from that of the parent ﬁsh.

Identification

This ﬁsh looks like a stockier version of the striped bass, usually having a shorter length and greater girth but with very similar coloration. The primary means of distinguishing the whiterock or the sunshine bass is by the less distinct and interrupted or broken lines along its sides.

The lateral lines of the parent ﬁsh are unbroken. Hybrid stripers (and pure-strain stripers) can be distinguished from white bass by the tooth patterns on their tongues. The white bass has a single broad U-pattern, while the striper has two distinctive elongated tooth patches.

The accompanying illustration shows the distinguishing characteristics. It is important to learn the differences between these ﬁsh when angling in waters that may contain all three species, as regulations regarding them may differ.

Size/Age

Whiterock and sunshine bass have an extremely fast growth rate in their early stages. Specimens that have been stocked as inch-long ﬁsh have grown to 4 inches in just 1 month, and 15 inches by their second summer, so they quickly attain sizes of angling interest. When 18 inches long, a hybrid striper will weigh at least 3 pounds and possibly as much as 5 pounds.

Their maximum attainable size is uncertain, although they grow much larger than a white bass and are much smaller than a pure-strain striped bass. The all-tackle world-record hybrid striped bass is a 25-pound, 15-ounce Alabama ﬁsh.

Life history/Behavior

These elements are essentially the same as for the parent species, including spring spawning runs, open-water migrations, schooling, and baitﬁsh-pillaging tendencies. One difference with whiterock and sunshine bass is that when planted in lakes with no other related species with which to interbreed, they can be controlled entirely through stocking programs.

Unlike many hybrid ﬁsh, which are sterile, these specimens are fertile ﬁsh; however, they can reproduce only if they cross with a pure-strain parent. But in lakes where neither pure-strain stripers nor white bass are present (usually in northern states), ﬁsheries managers have stocked hybrid striped bass with the comfort of knowing that the ﬁsh wouldn’t expand beyond the numbers stocked. Thus, if the ﬁsh proved detrimental to baitﬁsh or other game species, they could be eradicated by discontinuing stocking.

Food and feeding habits

The food preferences and the feeding habits of these ﬁsh are similar to those of freshwater striped bass and white bass.

Distribution

Hybrid striped bass distribution is limited to freshwater and to places with a good population of baitﬁsh, principally members of the herring family. Nevertheless, stocking programs have resulted in plantings of these ﬁsh in lakes and reservoirs in more than 30 states, from California to New York and from Nebraska to Florida. The greatest concentration is throughout the southern half of the country, and the most ﬁshing opportunities are in the Southeast.

Habitat

Whiterock and sunshine bass inhabit the same freshwater habitats as their parents, primarily large lakes and reservoirs, but they also thrive in midsize to large rivers and occasionally in small lakes or ponds.

They are largely nomadic in those environments and are found in the same places as their parents, sometimes commingling with them, mostly in open-water environs or in the tailrace below dams. They are seldom found near shore or docks or piers, except when chasing schools of baitﬁsh.

Yellow Bass (Morone mississippiensis)

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A popular light-tackle quarry and usually lumped into the category of panﬁsh, the yellow bass is a scrappy ﬁghter and provides good sport on light tackle. With white, ﬂaky ﬂesh, it is also a good food ﬁsh, on a par with or exceeding white bass and compared by some to the yellow perch.

Many anglers are unfamiliar with this member of the temperate bass family because it is largely restricted to the middle portion of the United States and is smaller than its relatives; a true bass, the yellow is related to the striped bass, the white bass, and the white perch.

Those ﬁshing with larger lures and bait for largemouth bass or stripers are likely to encounter only the occasional, and larger, yellow bass specimen, although they can be caught with great frequency where they are abundant and by anglers using light tackle.

Identification

The body shape of the yellow bass is very similar to that of the white bass: moderately long and stocky, with the deepest part between the dorsal ﬁns, as opposed to round and compressed. It has a small head, a large mouth, and connected dorsal ﬁns.

Its coloration is a brassy, silvery, or bright yellow, sometimes with a grayish olive on the back, and it has clear to blue-gray ﬁns that are particularly blue when the ﬁsh is in water. Five to eight distinctively dark horizontal stripes line the sides, and the lower stripes may be irregularly interrupted and offset above the anal ﬁn; these markings are different on either side of the ﬁsh.

The yellow bass can be distinguished from the white bass by its golden coloring and broken stripes. Also, the second spine of the anal ﬁn is longer and thicker than the third on the yellow bass; in the white bass it is noticeably shorter. The yellow bass has even jaws, whereas the white bass has a projecting lower jaw.

Size/Age

Yellow bass are smaller than the largest bluegills, and the usual size caught by anglers ranges from 4 to 12 ounces. They can grow to 2 pounds and 18 inches, although few are seen over a pound; the all-tackle world record is a 2-pound, 4-ounce Indiana ﬁsh caught in 1977.

These ﬁsh grow slowly after becoming juveniles and rarely achieve the size of white bass, perhaps because they are extremely prolific and often become stunted. In some places, their small size and bait-stealing tendency brand them a nuisance. They have a short life expectancy of about 4 years on average and may live to age 7.

Spawning

Yellow bass spawn in the spring and move into tributary streams when the water temperature reaches the upper 50s. They spawn on shoals and abandon their nesting sites without protecting the young.

Food and feeding habits

Yellow bass feed on insects, minnows, small shad, and small sunﬁsh. Insects and insect larvae constitute a good portion of their diet, especially in smaller sizes. Similar to white bass, they will maraud baitﬁsh in schools, although with less of a tendency to do so on or near the surface. Yellow bass are more active in shallow and nearshore environs early and late in the day and roam deeper open-water expanses during the day.

Other Names

barﬁsh, brassy bass, stripe, striped bass, streaker, yellowjack, jack, streaks, gold bass.

Distribution

Yellow bass inhabit the Lake Michigan and Mississippi River basins from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan south to the Pearl River drainage in Louisiana, the Galveston Bay drainage in Texas, the lower Coosa and Mobile Bay drainages, east to western Indiana and eastern Tennessee, and west to western Iowa and eastern Oklahoma.

Found mostly in the central Mississippi Valley area, they have been stocked only within their native range and transplanted to nearby states and have been generally unsuccessful elsewhere. They are scattered within this range and vary in abundance from lake to lake.

Habitat

Yellow bass thrive in quiet pools, ponds, back-waters of large streams, small to large rivers, large lakes, clear to turbid waters below lakes, and reservoirs; they are somewhat tolerant of weedbeds, more so than are white bass, and are fond of warm water.

Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus)

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At times easily caught by novice and experienced anglers alike, bluegills are among the most popular panﬁsh species in North America. This notoriety is the result of their vast distribution, spunky ﬁght, and excellent taste.

Commonly referred to as “bream,” bluegills are the most widely distributed panﬁsh and are found with, or in similar places as, such companion and related species as redbreast sunﬁsh, green sunfish, pumpkinseeds, shellcrackers, and longear sunﬁsh, all of which are similar in conﬁguration but different in appearance.

Despite their abundance and popularity, bluegills are not heavily targeted in some waters and are thus underutilized. Bluegills are so prolific that their populations can grow beyond the carrying capacity of the water, and as a result many become stunted; these stunted ﬁsh are regarded as pests, and waters containing them must often be drained and restocked. There are three subspecies of bluegills in existence, although stocking has intermingled populations and subspecies.

Identification

The bluegill has a signiﬁcantly compressed oval or roundish body, a small mouth, and a small head, qualities typical of members of the sunﬁsh family. The pectoral ﬁns are pointed.

Its coloring varies greatly from lake to lake, ranging from olive, dark blue, or bluish purple to dappled yellow and green on the sides with an overall blue cast; some ﬁsh, particularly those found in quarry holes, may actually be clear and colorless. Ordinarily, there are six to eight vertical bars on the sides, and these may or may not be prominent.

The gill cover extends to create a wide black ﬂap, faint in color on the young, which is not surrounded by a lighter border as in other sunﬁsh. Dark blue streaks are found on the lower cheeks between the chin and the gill cover, and often there is a dark mark at the bottom of the anal ﬁn. The breeding male is more vividly colored, possessing a blue head and back, a bright orange breast and belly, and black pelvic ﬁns.

Size/Age

These ﬁsh range from 4 to 12 inches in length, averaging 8 inches and reaching a maximum length of 16.25 inches. The largest bluegill ever caught was a 4-pound, 12-ounce specimen taken in 1950. The growth of the bluegill varies so much that estimates of age as it relates to size are at best inexact. Bluegills are estimated to live for 10 years.

Life history/Behavior

The age of sexual maturity varies with environment and locale, although most bluegills reach spawning age when 2 or 3 years old. Spawning occurs between April and September, starting when water temperatures are around 70°F.

The males build shallow, round nests in water up to 6 feet deep over sandy or muddy bottoms. These nests occur in colonies of up to 500 along the shoreline, densely concentrated and easily spotted by anglers. Females may lay between 2,000 and 63,000 eggs, which hatch 30 to 35 hours after fertilization.

It is common for ﬁsh to spawn many times, with a particular ﬁsh laying eggs in several nests and a single nest containing eggs from more than one female. Males guard the eggs throughout the incubation period and stay to protect the hatched young. Having reached lengths of 1⁄4 to 1⁄3 inch, the young leave their nests for deeper waters. Bluegills travel in small schools, typically made up of similar-size individuals.

Food and feeding habits

A variety of small organisms serves as food for bluegills, including insects, crayﬁsh, ﬁsh eggs, small minnows, snails, worms, and sometimes even plant material. The young feed mostly on crustaceans, insects, and worms. Adults will feed at different depths, depending on temperature, so they obtain food on the bottom, as well as on the surface. Active mostly at dusk and dawn, the larger bluegills move inshore in the morning and the evening to feed, staying in deeper water during the day.

Other Names

bream, brim, sun perch, blue perch, blue sunﬁsh, copperbelly, blue bream, copperhead bream, redbreasted bream, bluegill sunﬁsh, roach.

Distribution

Native to approximately the eastern half of the United States, the bluegill’s range extends southward from the St. Lawrence River through the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basin, eastward from New York to Minnesota and draining south from the Cape Fear River in Virginia to the Río Grande in Texas, including states as far east as Florida and as far west as New Mexico. Also found in a small portion of northeastern Mexico, the bluegill has been widely introduced elsewhere in North America, as well as in Europe, South Africa, Asia, South America, and Oceania.

Habitat

Although mainly lake ﬁsh, bluegills inhabit sluggish streams and rivers, vegetated lakes and ponds, swamps, and pools of creeks. They prefer quiet waters and may hold in extremely shallow areas, especially early in the season and during spawning time, although when the surface and shallow water temperature is warm in the summer, they may go as deep as 30 or more feet. They occupy the same habitat as their larger relative the largemouth bass.

Bowfin (Amia calva)

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Described as a living fossil, the bowﬁn is the only existing member of the Amiidae family, a group of ﬁsh that originated in the Cretaceous period more than 100 million years ago. Of little commercial value because of their poor-tasting flesh, bowfin are excellent fighters and are caught by anglers wherever they are abundant, although mostly unintentionally.

When not abundant, they are a rare catch, and many anglers are unfamiliar with them. Although they are sometimes considered pests or nuisances by anglers seeking other quarry, bowﬁn are helpful in constraining otherwise large, stunted populations of smaller ﬁsh.

Identification

An ancient ﬁsh in design and described by some as looking more like a serpent than a ﬁsh, the bowﬁn has a rounded tail and a considerable amount of cartilage in its skeletal system. Underneath its head is a large, bony gular plate, with several other bony plates protecting the skull.

Distinctive qualities include a large flattened head with tubelike nostrils and long, sharp teeth, as well as a long, spineless dorsal ﬁn that extends almost the entire length of the body. Another interesting feature of the bowfin’s anatomy is a modiﬁed, lunglike air bladder, in addition to gills; as in the gar, which possesses a similar organ, the bowﬁn is able to breathe surface air and, consequently, live in water too polluted or stagnant for most ﬁsh.

Its long, thick, cylindrical body is covered with large olive-colored scales, although it occasionally has a brownish or gray cast that fades to white or cream underneath. The male has a dark spot on the upper tail with a yellowish orange rim around it, and the female has a less conspicuous spot without a rim.

Size/Age

The bowfin can grow to up to 43 inches in length but averages 2 feet. The world-record bowfin weighed 21 pounds, 8 ounces, although the average weight is in the 2- to 5-pound range. The male is smaller than the female, and they survive up to 12 years in the wild and 30 years in captivity.

Life history/Behavior

When bowﬁn are 3 to 5 years old, they reach sexual maturity. They spawn between early April and June, when water temperatures are between 60° and 66°F. Males move into the weedy shallows after dark, before the females, and build bowl-shaped nests of plant material among tree roots or under fallen logs. A single male may try to mate with more than one female, and sometimes several pairs of bowﬁn will use the same nest.

The male is left to protect the eggs, which hatch in 8 to 10 days. The newly hatched bowﬁn use adhesive organs on their snouts to attach themselves to the bottom of the nest as they grow to about 1⁄2 inch long.

Once they reach this length, the fry school and follow the male, which guards them for several weeks against potential predators. Adult coloration appears when they are about 1.5 inches long, and the young begin to protect themselves at this stage. They stop schooling entirely when they reach 4 inches in length.

Bowﬁn swim slowly along the bottom, although they can move very quickly if disturbed or when in pursuit of prey.

Food and feeding habits

Bowﬁn can be extremely ravenous and eat a large variety of food, including crayﬁsh, shrimp, adult insects and larvae, small ﬁsh, frogs, and large amounts of vegetation. Scent is as important as sight in obtaining food, and bowﬁn have the habit of gulping water to capture their prey. Although bowﬁn are always ready to feed, they are most active in the evening.

Other Names

dogﬁsh, freshwater dogﬁsh, blackﬁsh, mudﬁsh, western mudﬁsh, mud pike, cabbage pike, shoepike, griddle, grindle, spottail grindle, grinnel, lawyer, scaled ling, speckled cat, cypress trout, cypress bass, cottonﬁsh, John A. Grindle; French: choupiquel, poisson de marais.

Distribution

Bowﬁn occur only in North America, from the St. Lawrence River and Lake Champlain drainage of Quebec and Vermont west across southern Ontario to the Mississippi drainage, from Minnesota south to Texas and Florida.

Habitat

Bowﬁn are generally a big-water ﬁsh and inhabit warm and swampy lakes with vegetation, as well as weedy rivers and streams. With a signiﬁcant tolerance for high temperatures and a modiﬁed air bladder, the bowﬁn is able to live in stagnant areas by taking in surface air.

Bigmouth Buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus)

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A member of the Catostomidae family of suckers, the bigmouth buffalo is so called because of its humped back.

Identification

The robust and deep-bodied bigmouth buffalo has a large head with a big, distinctively oblique, and toothless mouth. This terminal, thin-lipped cavity angles downward when closed, although the edge of the upper lip is practically on a level with the eyes.

The sickle-shaped dorsal ﬁn is characterized by a taller lobe at the middle of the back that tapers off into a shorter lobe; the whole ﬁn extends to the caudal peduncle. It is the only member of the sucker family with its mouth directly in the front of the head.

The color of the bigmouth buffalo may be gray, coppery olive brown, or slate blue on the back, and the sides are yellowish olive, fading to a white belly; all the ﬁns are blackish in tint.

Size/Age

The largest of all the suckers, the bigmouth buffalo is said to grow to 80 pounds, although the all-tackle rod-and-reel record is a 70-pound, 5-ounce ﬁsh. It typically weighs between 3 and 12 pounds, and it has been known to grow as long as 40 inches. Most ﬁsh will live only 6 to 8 years and grow to 20 pounds.

Life history/Behavior

Adults spawn at about 3 years of age, in April or May, when water temperatures reach the 60° to 65°F range. Adults seek weedy areas in 2 to 3 feet of water to lay their eggs, which hatch in 10 to 14 days. They travel in schools throughout their lives and are capable of tolerating temperatures of up to 90°F in waters with little dissolved oxygen.

Food and feeding habits

Roughly 90 percent of the food a bigmouth buffalo eats consists of small crustaceans.

Other Names

buffaloﬁsh, common buffalo, lake buffalo, slough buffalo, blue buffalo, baldpate, bull-nosed buffalo, brown buffalo, stubnose, pug.

Distribution

Found only in North America, bigmouth buffalo occur in the Nelson River drainage of Hudson Bay, the lower Great Lakes, and the drainages of Lake Erie and the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, from Ontario to Saskatchewan and Montana south to Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico. They have also been introduced in Arizona, California, and Cuba with success.

Habitat

Bigmouth buffalo have a preference for pools and backwaters of small to large rivers and are found in lakes and impoundments.

Smallmouth Buffalo (Ictiobus bubalus)

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The smallmouth buffalo is second only to the bigmouth in the sucker family in terms of size and commercial importance, although it has a better reputation as a food ﬁsh than does its larger relative. The smallmouth buffalo, however, is less abundant and subsequently less commercially important.

Identification

A deep-bodied and compressed ﬁsh, the smallmouth buffalo has a small conical head, a high-arched back, and a long dorsal ﬁn. It also has a small, thick-lipped mouth with distinct grooves on the upper lip; the upper jaw is considerably shorter than the snout.

Usually lighter in coloration than other buffalo, it is gray, olive, or bronze on the back; black to olive yellow on the sides; white to yellow on the belly; and it has an olive bronze sheen. The pelvic ﬁns are olive or grayish black, and the other ﬁns are indistinctly dark.

It bears a noticeable resemblance to the bigmouth buffalo, but it can be distinguished by a more compressed body and a more steeply arched back. It also possesses a smaller, subterminal mouth that lies laterally; the bigmouth buffalo’s mouth lies at a slant. Characteristic of all suckers, the mouth extends downward, a noticeable feature when the smallmouth buffalo is feeding.

Size

Growing slower than the bigmouth, a smallmouth buffalo can reach 36 inches in length. The average commercially taken fish are in the 2- to 10-pound range, although some specimens weigh 15 to 20 pounds. The all-tackle world record for a smallmouth buffalo is 82 pounds, 3 ounces.

Life history/Behavior

Spawning and schooling habits are similar or identical to those of the bigmouth buffalo.

Food and feeding habits

Smallmouth buffalo feed on shellﬁsh and algae, grinding them with the bony plates in their throats designed for that purpose; they eat more insects and bottom organisms than bigmouth buffalo do.

Other Names

razorback buffalo, roach-back, thick-lipped buffalo, channel buffalo, hump-backed buffalo, high-back buffalo, river buffalo.

Distribution

Found only in North America, the smallmouth buffalo has a range similar to that of the bigmouth buffalo. It occurs in the Lake Michigan drainage and the Mississippi River basin, from Pennsylvania and Michigan to Montana and south to the Gulf of Mexico, and from Mobile Bay, Alabama, west to the Rio Grande in Texas and New Mexico. It is also found in Mexico and was introduced in Arizona. It is most abundant in the central states.

Habitat

Smallmouth buffalo inhabit pools, backwaters, large streams, and main channels of small to large rivers, as well as warm lakes and reservoirs. They prefer slightly cleaner and deeper waters than do bigmouth buffalo, an explanation for their relatively smaller numbers.

Black Bullhead (Ameiurus melas)

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A smaller member of the catﬁsh family, the black bullhead is very popular due primarily to its ﬁne culinary appeal. It is often stocked in farm ponds and raised commercially.

Identification

Although the name would imply something else, the “black” bullhead may actually be yellowish green, dark green, olive, brown, or black on the back; bronze or green on the sides; and bright yellow or white on the belly. The entire body possesses a lustrous sheen. Only the young and spawning males are truly black.

Distinguishing the black bullhead from the brown or the yellow bullhead can be done by noting the rear edge of the pectoral ﬁn in the latter two, which have a spine that is serrated with numerous sharp, thorny protrusions; those found on the spine of the black bullhead’s pectoral ﬁn are much less prominent and may be absent altogether. The black bullhead has dark chin barbels that may be black-spotted, a chubby body, and a squarish tail.

Size/Age

Black bullhead reportedly grow to 24.5 inches in length, but they are most common at 6 to 7 inches and are seldom larger than 2 pounds. The maximum life span for black bullhead is approximately 10 years, although most live only 5 years. The world record is 7 pounds, 7 ounces.

Spawning behavior

Spawning takes place in May, June, and July, usually at water temperatures between 66° and 70°F. In weedy sections, the female clears away debris and silt to prepare the nest. Spawning up to ﬁve times an hour, the female releases roughly 200 eggs each time, fanning the eggs in-between spawning. Both parents fan the eggs until these hatch, and they guard the fry, which leave the nest in compact schools.

Food and feeding habits

Adults forage primarily at night, feeding on clams, snails, plant material, and ﬁsh.

Other Names

catﬁsh, black catﬁsh, yellow belly bullhead, horned pout; French: barbotte noire.

Distribution

The black bullhead is found from southern Ontario west to Saskatchewan and throughout the Great Lakes, the Hudson Bay, the St. Lawrence, and the Mississippi River basins, extending to New York in the east, the Gulf of Mexico in the south, and Montana in the west. Introduced populations exist in Arizona, California, and other states.

Habitat

Black bullhead inhabit pools, backwaters, and slow-moving sections of creeks and small to large rivers; they also inhabit impoundments, oxbows, and ponds. They have a preference for muddy water and soft mud bottoms and are able to tolerate polluted water better than other catﬁsh do. They prefer water in the 75° to 85°F range and tend to avoid cooler, clearer water.

Brown Bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus)

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With its ﬁrm, pink ﬂesh of excellent quality, the brown bullhead is an exceedingly popular species, sometimes included in the panﬁsh category.

Identification

The head of the brown bullhead is large for its round and slender body, and the skin is smooth and entirely scaleless. The coloring of the brown bullhead is not always brown, but it may actually range from yellowish brown or chocolate brown to gray or olive with brown or black scattered spots; the belly is yellow or white.

The brown bullhead is distinguished from the yellow bullhead by having a mottled coloring and dark brown to nearly black chin barbels. There are sharp, toothlike serrations on the pectoral spine of the pectoral ﬁn, and the tail is squarish or somewhat notched.

Size/Age

The average weight of the brown bullhead is less than a pound, and although ﬁsh in the 2- to 4-pound range are occasionally caught, this species seldom exceeds 3 pounds in weight. A 6-pound, 5-ounce ﬁsh is the largest ever caught on rod and reel. Brown bullhead can grow to 21 inches in length, although they are most commonly 8 to 14 inches long. Their life span is 6 or 7 years.

Spawning behavior

Spawning takes place in April and May. Nests are made by one or both sexes by fanning out dish-shaped hollows in mud or sand. The eggs are guarded by one or both parents, although some ﬁsh have been said to eat them. Young brown bullhead are jet-black and resemble tadpoles, forming large schools that swim in surface waters. The male continues to guard the young until they reach 2 inches in length and are able to protect themselves.

Food and feeding habits

Brown bullhead feed mainly at night on immature insects, worms, minnows, mollusks, crayﬁsh, plankton, and offal.

Other Names

bullpout, horned pout, brown catﬁsh, mudcat, common bullhead, marbled bullhead, squaretail, minister; French: barbotte brune.

Distribution

Brown bullhead range from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to Saskatchewan, from North Dakota to Louisiana in the west, and from Maine to Florida in the east. Native to the eastern United States and southern Canada, they have been widely introduced elsewhere.

Habitat

Brown bullhead inhabit warm and even stagnant waters, as well as sluggish runs over muddy bottoms. They occur in farm ponds, pools, creeks, small to large rivers, lakes, and reservoirs. Unlike other bullhead, they are found in large and deep waters, although they are able to withstand low oxygen concentrations and are known to bury themselves in mud to survive such conditions.

Yellow Bullhead (Ameiurus natalis)

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Although the least commercially important of the catﬁsh, the yellow bullhead can provide decent angling and is a good food ﬁsh.

Identification

A moderately slim ﬁsh, the yellow bullhead has leathery skin without scales. The coloring ranges from yellowish olive to brown or almost black on the back with yellowish olive or brown sides, yellow or white on the belly, and dusky ﬁns. Juveniles are dark brown or jet-black.

The rounded tail helps to distinguish the yellow bullhead from other bullheads, which have squarish or truncated tails. The yellow bullhead has sharp, toothlike serrations on the back edge of the spine at the top of the pectoral ﬁns. The chin barbels are white, yellow, or pale pink.

Size/Age

Yellow bullhead usually weigh less than a pound, although they sometimes reach a weight of 3 pounds. The most common length is between 7 and 11 inches, and they can be as much as 18.3 inches long. The world-record ﬁsh is a 4-pound, 4-ounce specimen. Yellow bullhead can live up to 7 years.

Spawning behavior

In May and June, sexually mature ﬁsh of 3 years and older move into shallow water at temperatures in the upper 60s or low 70s. After ﬁnding a suitable site, one or both of the parents constructs the nest, which consists of either a shallow depression in an open area or a 2-foot-deep burrow in the bank in a protected area. The male guards the eggs and the fry hatch in 5 to 10 days, after which the young continue to be protected by the male in a tight group until they are able to protect themselves.

Food and feeding habits

Yellow bullhead are nocturnal scavengers that feed by smell and taste. They eat crustaceans, immature aquatic insects, snails, small ﬁsh, dragonﬂy nymphs, crayﬁsh, mollusks, and bits of aquatic vegetation.

Other Names

yellow cat, creek cat, white-whiskered bullhead, greaser.

Distribution

Yellow bullhead inhabit most of central and eastern North America, ranging in the east from New York to Florida and in the west from southern Quebec to central North Dakota and south to the Gulf of Mexico. As with other bullhead, this ﬁsh has also been introduced outside its original range.

Habitat

With a preference for clear waters, gravel or rock bottoms, sluggish currents, and heavy vegetation, yellow bullhead are found in pools, ponds, streams, small to large rivers, and small, shallow lakes. They are common in small, weedy, and shallow bodies of water and are more tolerant of polluted water and low oxygen levels than are most other types of bullhead. They are most abundant at water temperatures between 75° and 80°F.

Burbot

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The only freshwater member of the Gadidae family of codﬁsh found in North America, Europe, and Asia, the burbot is often caught accidentally by anglers fishing for other species. Although it is a popular food ﬁsh in Europe, its ugly appearance makes it unappetizing to a fussy majority of Americans. It is mainly sold in salted form for ethnic consumption in North America but is also a source of oil and is processed into ﬁshmeal; the liver is high in vitamins A and D and is sold smoked or canned in Europe.

Identification

The elongate shape of the burbot resembles an eel or a cross between an eel and a catﬁsh. It has been mistaken for a catﬁsh, and in some places it is called an eel, although it is neither. It also looks like a smaller and slimmer version of the saltwater cod.

Other distinctive features include tubular nostrils, a single chin barbel, and a rounded tail. The soft-rayed fins are also noteworthy in appearance: The pectoral ﬁns are large and rounded, the ﬁrst dorsal ﬁn is small and short, and the second dorsal and anal ﬁns start near the middle of the body and continue to the tail. It has a wide head, small eyes, and small, embedded scales that produce a slick skin.

The burbot has a mottled appearance, due to a dark brown or black pattern scattered over a yellow, light brown, or tan background; there may be regional color variations, including light brown, dark brown, dark olive, or even yellow. The anal ﬁns have a dark edge to them.

Size/Age

Full-grown ﬁsh average 15 inches in length and less than a pound in weight. Burbot that are caught by anglers usually weigh several pounds and are occasionally in the 8-pound class, although they can grow much larger. An 18-pound, 11-ounce ﬁsh holds the all-tackle world record, but Alaska has produced larger ﬁsh, at least one of which was reportedly almost 60 pounds. Some are able to live for 20 years.

Spawning behavior

By the time it is 3 years of age, the burbot is sexually mature. It is one of the few species that spawns in mid- or late winter under ice, doing so at night in shallow bays in 1 to 4 feet of water over sand or gravel; occasionally, it will spawn in rivers in 1 to 10 feet of water. A burbot may produce more than a million spherical, amber eggs at one time, although the average amount is half that number. Without a nest or parental protection, the eggs hatch in 4 to 5 weeks.

Food and feeding habitsYoung burbot feed on plankton and insects, graduating to a diet made up almost entirely of ﬁsh, especially perch, cisco, and whiteﬁsh. They will also eat mollusks, ﬁsh eggs, plankton, and crustaceans. Rocks and other indigestible items have been found in their stomachs.

Other Names

eelpout, pout, ling, cusk, lawyer, lingcod, gudgeon, freshwater ling, mud blower, lush (Alaska), maria (Canada); French: lotte, lotte de riviére; Spanish: lota.

Distribution

The burbot is common throughout the circumpolar region above 40° north, especially in Alaska, Canada, the northern United States (including the Missouri and Ohio River drainages), and parts of Europe. It is absent from Scotland, Ireland, the Kamchatka Peninsula, the west coast of Norway, extreme western British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and the Atlantic Islands.

Habitat

Occurring in large, deep, cold rivers and lakes, burbot are found in depths of up to almost 700 feet. They inhabit deep water in summer and move shallower during summer nights.

Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio)

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One of the largest members of the minnow family and a close relative of the goldﬁsh, the common carp was also one of the ﬁrst ﬁsh whose populations were regulated to increase production. Propagated for centuries and distributed widely, common carp are both beloved and despised. In North America, they are abundant but among the least favored targets of freshwater anglers.

Three varieties of common carp exist—the scaleless leather carp, the partially scaled mirror carp, and the fully scaled common carp, which is the most abundant of the three.

Identification

The common carp has a deep body form and a heavy appearance. Distinctive features include a short head, a rounded snout, a single long dorsal ﬁn, a forked tail, and relatively large scales. The mouth is toothless and suckerlike, adapted to bottom feeding, and the upper jaw projects slightly past the lower one. It has a single serrated spine at the front of the dorsal and the anal ﬁns and two pairs of ﬂeshy barbels on either side of its mouth.

The pigmentation of the common carp ranges from gold to olive to brown, with a yellowish coloring on the lower sides and belly and a reddish tint to the lower ﬁns. Each scale on the upper sides of the ﬁsh has a concentrated dark spot at its base and a conspicuous dark rim.

Juveniles and breeding males are usually a darker green or gray, with a dark belly instead of a yellowish one, and females are lighter. Males develop tiny tubercles, which are found in a random pattern on the head and the pectoral fins. The common carp superficially resembles the bigmouth buffalo.

Size/Age

Growing quickly and to moderately large sizes, the common carp is said to reach weights in the 80-pound range, although the average ﬁsh is considerably smaller. The all-tackle rod-and-reel record is 75 pounds, 11 ounces. The maximum life span is disputed but may be a half century; the average carp seldom exceeds 15 years of age.

Life history/Behavior

By their second year, males are able to reproduce, whereas females are able to do so once they are 3 years old. Carp spawn in the spring and the summer, depending on latitude, becoming active once temperatures rise to the 60°F range.

During the day or the night, several males will accompany one or two females to shallow, vegetated waters and splash and thrash as the eggs are released and fertilized. A large female can carry millions of adhesive eggs, but the average amount is 100,000 eggs per pound of body weight.

The eggs go unattended, hatching in 3 to 10 days. Each fry is born with an adhesive organ that it immediately uses to adhere to bottom vegetation; after the ﬁrst day, fry must go to the surface and gulp air to survive.

Common carp fry are quick to grow and may reach about 9 inches in length during the ﬁrst year of their lives, if they escape the hungry jaws of their primary predators. Juvenile carp make good baitﬁsh, but their use is forbidden in some areas where trout are the main species.

Food and feeding habits

Omnivorous feeders, carp favor predominantly vegetarian diets but will feed on aquatic insects, snails, crustaceans, annelids, and mollusks. Aquatic plants and ﬁlamentous algae are the most popular food groups of common carp.

Their feeding habits are noteworthy, because they grub sediment from the bottom with their suckerlike mouths, uprooting and destroying vegetation and muddying the water. They have done severe damage to habitats by causing the loss of large quantities of plant life. This has proved detrimental to native ﬁsh populations and other animals.

Carp primarily spend their lives in small groups and are inclined to roam for food. They can gain several pounds a year in rich fertile environments but may remain smaller in those that are less fertile and where there is overcrowding.

Other Names

European carp, French carp, Italian carp, German carp, Israeli carp, leather carp, mirror carp, king carp, koi, sewer bass, buglemouth; French: carpe, carpe commune; German: karpfen; Japanese: koi; Spanish: carpa.

Distribution

The common carp was one of the ﬁrst species to be introduced into other countries. Its native range was restricted to temperate Asia and the rivers of the Black Sea and the Aegean basins in Europe, speciﬁcally the Danube. At some point, the carp found its way to England, and in the nineteenth century it was brought from Germany to the United States.

Habitat

Common carp are incredibly hardy and ﬂexible in their preferences for living conditions. Primarily bottom-dwelling ﬁsh, carp like quiet, shallow waters with a soft bottom and dense aquatic vegetation. Although they favor large turbid waters, they also thrive in small rivers and lakes. They can live in low-oxygen environments and can tolerate temperature ﬂuctuations and extremes, with the ability to survive in 96°F water for 24 hours. They tend to monopolize some of the bodies of water they inhabit.

Most of the time carp prefer to hold in quiet, shallow places with a muddy or sandy bottom, which they browse over. In some northern waters where the ﬁsh are abundant and such terrain is lacking or offers no food, carp will cruise over shallow, rocky ﬂats and shoals, browsing along the rubble bottom. They are often observed during the day in protected areas, sometimes adjacent to deep water, although they are seldom caught in deep water.

Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)

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A large member of the minnow family and an aquaculture species of worldwide importance, the grass carp is used for weed control because of its aggressive and herbivorous feeding habits. In the United States, where it was introduced in the early 1960s, it has become an extremely controversial species because of the biological damage it inﬂicts in the process of eliminating vegetation. This species is called the grass carp by critics, whereas supporters often refer to it as the white amur to avoid the negative connotations associated in North America with the name “carp.”

Identification

The grass carp has an elongate and fairly compressed body, a wide and blunt head, a very short snout without the barbels found on common carp, a short dorsal ﬁn, and a moderately forked tail. The terminal and nonprotractile mouth has thin lips and sharp pharyngeal (throat) teeth especially suited to its feeding habits.

The grass carp is covered with large scales; the ones on the upper sides of the body have a dark border and a black spot at the base and give the ﬁsh a cross-hatched appearance. It is colored gray or green on the back, shading to white or yellow on the belly, and has clear to dark ﬁns.

Size/Age

The grass carp grows quickly and to large sizes; some have been reported at 100 pounds in native waters. It can add 3 to 5 pounds a year to its weight under favorable conditions. The largest ﬁsh taken by rod and reel was a 68-pound, 12-ounce Arkansas specimen.

Life history/Behavior

Spawning takes place once a year over gravel bottoms in rivers, between April and September, according to temperature; adults will migrate upstream to ﬁnd acceptable spawning sites. The round eggs of the grass carp are semibuoyant and amber colored, hatching in 24 to 30 hours without the protection of the parents.

After they absorb the nutrients in their yolk sacs in the ﬁrst 2 to 4 days of their lives, the larvae feed on microplankton in quiet waters. The young hide in deep holes in riverbeds during the winter.

Food and feeding habits

Primarily vegetarians, grass carp have earned their name by eating aquatic plants and submerged grasses, adding the occasional insect or invertebrate. With the help of teeth on the pharynx, they tear off vegetation with jerking motions. Unlike common carp (see: Carp, Common), grass carp do not muddy the water with their browsing, but their aggressive feeding habits cause other problems. Grass carp tend to break off the upper portions of grasses, leaving the roots to grow, so they are not as useful in eradicating vegetation as they are supposed to be.

Also, grass carp cannot digest all the plant matter they take in, so instead of eliminating a vegetation problem, they make it worse by excreting plant material and distributing it to new areas. In addition, they contribute to increased water turbidity and to eutrophication. Finally, heavy browsing may stimulate faster than normal growth in certain kinds of plants.

Triploid grass carp A technique that consists of exposing fertilized eggs to heat shock was invented by researchers in 1981 to produce sterile grass carp. This method creates nonreproducing fish of both genders. They are called triploid grass carp because they have three sets of chromosomes, instead of the usual two sets (those ﬁsh are called diploid).

They are as hardy as the ordinary variety of grass carp, but they have the beneﬁt of not being able to overpopulate their habitats. They look like large creek chub, flourish in warm water, and may reach weights of 25 pounds or more. Triploid grass carp are useful in controlling unwanted aquatic plants, but the water clarity may deteriorate due to the substantial passing of plant material as fecal matter.

Other Names

white amur, amur, carp; French: carpe amour, carpe herbivore, amour blanc; German: graskarpfen; Japanese: sogyo.

Distribution

Found originally in China and eastern Siberia, speciﬁcally in the Amur River basin from which it gets its name, the grass carp has been widely introduced to more than 20 countries. Only those in certain areas have been able or allowed to reproduce naturally; these places include the Danube River in central Europe, the Mississippi River in North America, and Russia and southern Africa.

In the United States, the grass carp was ﬁrst stocked in Arkansas waters in 1963 and intentionally released in 35 states, although it has subsequently spread to other bodies of water where it was unwanted. In fact, many states have made it illegal to stock grass carp within their borders, unless a permit issued by the appropriate ﬁsheries management agency has been obtained.

Habitat

Occurring in freshwater, grass carp inhabit lakes, ponds, pools, and backwaters of large rivers, with a preference for slow-ﬂowing or standing bodies of water with vegetation. They are able to withstand temperature variation, extreme salinity, and low oxygen concentrations.

Blue Catfish (Ictalurus furcatus)

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This is a popular species within its range and prized for its ﬂesh, as well as for its sporting value. The blue catﬁsh is a strong, stubborn ﬁghter. It can grow quite large, which enhances its appeal. It is considered good table fare and is widely pursued by commercial ﬁshermen for the market. Its flesh is white, delicate, and tender, especially in smaller specimens.

Identification

Blue catﬁsh are generally blue gray or slate blue and possess no spots or other markings, although they may be almost pale blue or silvery; their ﬂanks taper in color to their bellies, which are light gray or white. They have deeply forked tails, and their anal ﬁns have straight margins. They resemble channel catﬁsh and when small are most easily confused with that relative.

A larger blue cat has a distinct humped-backed appearance, with the hump occurring at and in front of the dorsal ﬁn; its head is generally larger than that of a channel cat, and its body is less sleek. It can be distinguished from a channel cat by its longer and straight-edged anal ﬁn, which has 30 to 35 rays. In smaller specimens, a distinguishing characteristic is their lack of black body spots. Internally, the blue catfish has three chambers in the swim bladder, whereas the channel cat has two.

Like the channel catﬁsh and the little-known Yaqui catﬁsh of Mexico, the blue cat has a deeply forked tail, a characteristic that distinguishes these three from the ﬂathead catﬁsh and the bullhead, and to some degree also from the white catﬁsh, which has a moderately forked tail. As with other catﬁsh, channel cats have heavy, sharp pectoral and dorsal spines, as well as long mouth barbels.

Size/Age

Blue cats are capable of growing to gargantuan sizes but are rarely found at the upper limits of their capabilities. Most anglers catch blues in the 5- to 20-pound range. Fish in the 20- to 50-pound class are not uncommon in waters with a good population of ﬁsh, but blue catﬁsh in that range are infrequently caught and specimens exceeding that size are rare. The all-tackle world record for the species is a 116-pound, 12-ounce ﬁsh caught in the Mississippi River in Arkansas in 2001.

A 116-pounder caught on a trotline was reportedly taken at Lake Texoma, Texas, in 1985, and in 1879 a 150-pounder from the Mississippi River near St. Louis was found at a local market and shipped to the U.S. National Museum. Historical accounts describe 100-pounders at the turn of the twentieth century, and individuals between 200 and 400 pounds have been reported but undocumented, perhaps being more lore than likelihood.

There is similar haziness concerning the blue cat’s growth and longevity. Several scientiﬁc reports indicate that these fish grow up to 14 years of age, and they have been reported to live to 21 years, but greater longevity for the biggest specimens is evidently possible.

Spawning behavior

Blue catﬁsh spawn in the spring or early summer, when the water temperature is between 70° and 75°F. Nests are constructed by one or both parents, usually among crevices and holes under logs and trees and in undercut banks. Secluded and dark places are often preferred.

Food and feeding habits

Blue catﬁsh evidently eat most anything they can catch; their diet includes assorted ﬁsh, crayﬁsh, aquatic insects, and clams. Herring and gizzard shad are part of their diet, especially when the catﬁsh are larger and in places where these are abundant. Blue cats primarily feed on or near the bottom, and they are principally nocturnal foragers.

Other Names

catﬁsh, chucklehead cat, white catﬁsh, forktail cat, Mississippi cat, Fulton cat, blue Fulton cat, great blue cat, silver cat, blue channel cat, highﬁn blue cat.

Distribution

Blue cats are native to the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio River basins in the central and eastern United States, extending north into South Dakota and south into Mexico and northern Guatemala. Dams and commercial harvest are among the factors that have affected their population and perhaps their size in some parts of their native range. They have been introduced with good success into some large river systems outside of that range, most notably in the Santee Cooper waters of South Carolina. They are now most abundant in the deep, warm waters of the South.

Habitat

Blue catﬁsh inhabit rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs, and ponds but are primarily a ﬁsh of big rivers and big lakes/reservoirs. They have been introduced into smaller lakes and ponds but seldom attain large sizes in such places. This species prefers the deep areas of large rivers, swift chutes, and pools with swift currents. Like the channel catﬁsh, it prefers locations with good current over bottoms of rock, gravel, or sand.

Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)

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The most widely distributed of all freshwater catﬁsh, the channel cat is a significant component of recreational angling efforts, as well as a mainstay of commercial ﬁshing; its tender, white, and nutritious ﬂesh is highly valued as table fare. It has been stocked widely in lakes and ponds, and provides the backbone of catﬁsh farming activities.

In some states, the sporty channel cat is ranked at or near the top among all species in angling popularity. Channel catﬁsh have the potential to attain large sizes, although less gargantuan than other species, but their general willingness to strike baits, their wide distribution, and their high food esteem primarily account for their popularity.

Identification

Channel catﬁsh are often recognized at a glance, owing to their deeply forked tails and small irregular spots on the sides. The spots may not be present in all specimens but generally are obvious in smaller individuals. These pigmented spots are most noticeable on younger ﬁsh and obscure on older ones.

The blue catfish also has a forked tail but no spots, and the same is true for the Yaqui catﬁsh (Ictalurus pricei; a species in the Yaqui River drainage of Mexico). The channel cat is more slender than other catﬁsh, perhaps owing to its native riverine existence, and it has a relatively small head. It is distinguished from the white and the blue catﬁsh by its 24 to 29 anal ﬁn rays.

The body of a channel catﬁsh is pale blue to pale olive with a bit of silvery tint, but the color variation is subject to location and water conditions. Male channel cats during the spawning season may be entirely black dorsally, and other channel cats may be dark blue, with little or no spotting, or uniformly light blue or silvery, like the blue catﬁsh or the white catﬁsh. Another feature distinguishing a channel catﬁsh from a blue catﬁsh is the anal ﬁn; this is shorter and more rounded on a channel catﬁsh than on a blue catﬁsh.

Like other catﬁsh, channel cats have heavy, sharp pectoral and dorsal spines, as well as long mouth barbels.

Size/Age

The maximum age for these ﬁsh varies by latitude; some ﬁsheries sources report a maximum longevity of 15 to 20 years, although it is believed their age can exceed 20 years. Those commonly caught weigh from 1 to 7 pounds; ﬁsh exceeding 15 pounds are infrequent, and a 20-pounder would be considered extremely large. The all-tackle world-record specimen, a ﬁsh caught in 1964, weighed 58 pounds.

Spawning behavior

Channel catﬁsh spawn in the spring or the early summer, when the water temperature is between 70° and 85°F. Nests are constructed by one or both parents, sometimes over the open bottom but more likely among crevices and holes under logs and trees and in undercut banks. Secluded and dark places are often preferred.

The male guards the eggs and aerates them and has been reported to eat some of the eggs during incubation, although it guards the young until they disperse. Ten-inch females may lay only 2,000 eggs, whereas fish over 30 inches long may lay 20,000 eggs.

Food and feeding habits

Channel catﬁsh are primarily but not exclusively bottom feeders. They are omnivorous and consume insects, crayfish, clams, snails, crabs, fish eggs, and assorted small ﬁsh, including sunﬁsh, darters, shiners, and gizzard shad, plus a variety of plants.

Other Names

catﬁsh, river catﬁsh, ﬁddler, blue channel catﬁsh, Great Lakes catﬁsh, willow catﬁsh, spotted catﬁsh, forked-tail catﬁsh, lady catﬁsh.

Distribution

Channel cats exist in freshwater throughout most of the United States and parts of southern Canada and northeastern Mexico. In the United States, they are most abundant in the central region east to the Appalachian Mountains, and sparser on the West and East Coasts, where they are present mostly through introduction.

Habitat

The channel catﬁsh inhabits rivers, streams, lakes, reservoirs, and ponds. Of all the catﬁsh, the channel cat shows the greatest preference for clear, ﬂowing waters, although it does equally well in lakes and ponds. It prefers clean bottoms of sand, rubble, or gravel in large lakes and rivers. Although it tolerates some amount of current, it is more likely to inhabit warm, quiet, slow-moving areas.

Flathead Catfish (Pylodictus olivaris)

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A common and large-growing species, the ﬂathead is one of the ugliest members of the freshwater catﬁsh clan. Nevertheless, large specimens are commonly caught, and the ﬁsh provides a good struggle on hook and line. It is important for both commercial and recreational use and produces good table fare when taken from clean environments.

Identification

The flathead catfish is distinctive in appearance and not easily confused with any other species. It has a squared, rather than a forked, tail, with a long body and a large ﬂattened head. Medium to large specimens are rather pot-bellied and have wide heads and beady eyes.

With their distinctly ﬂat-looking oval shape, the eyes accentuate the ﬂatness of the head, and the lower jaw further accentuates this trait by protruding beyond the upper jaw. Compared to that of other catﬁsh species, the anal ﬁn of the ﬂathead is short along its base, possessing 14 to 17 ﬁn rays.

Flathead color varies greatly with environment, and sometimes within the same environment, but is generally mottled with varying shades of brown and yellow on the sides, tapering to a lighter or whitish mottling on the belly. As with other catﬁsh, ﬂatheads have heavy, sharp pectoral and dorsal spines, as well as long mouth barbels.

Size/Age

Flathead catfish are a large and fairly quick-growing species, especially in the southern and warmer parts of their range. Most anglers encounter flatheads weighing from several pounds to 10 or 15 pounds; ﬁsh up to 20 pounds are not uncommon, and ﬁsh to 50 pounds are a possibility in better waters.

Many of the state records for ﬂatheads are in the 60- to 80-pound range, and the all-tackle world record, established in Kansas in 1998, is a 123-pounder. Flatheads do grow larger, however; Texas produced a 122-pounder caught on a trotline, and Arkansas has reported ﬂatheads up to 139 pounds.

The upper limits Flatheads have been reported to attain 30 pounds at less than 10 years of age, and presumably the largest specimens are 20 to perhaps 30 years old, although there is scant information on their absolute longevity. A Texas ﬂathead that was tagged at 1.76 pounds was recaptured many years later when it weighed 31 pounds; analysis showed it to be 12 years old.

Spawning behavior

Flathead catﬁsh spawn in the spring or the early summer, when the water temperature is between 70° and 80°F. Nests are constructed by one or both parents, usually among crevices and in holes under logs and trees and in undercut banks. As with other catﬁsh, secluded and dark places are often preferred, and there is often a log, a tree, or another object at the nest site. The male guards the eggs and aerates them and then guards the young until they disperse.

Food and feeding habits

Like its brethren, the ﬂathead is omnivorous and opportunistic and consumes diverse and available foods. Flathead catﬁsh are primarily but not exclusively bottom feeders and consume insects, crayﬁsh, clams, and assorted small ﬁsh, including sunﬁsh, shiners, and shad. Adults consume larger prey, including bullhead, gizzard shad, and carp, and, reportedly, some terrestrial animals that have the misfortune of ﬁnding themselves in the water.

Live ﬁsh are a popular bait for ﬂatheads, more so than for other catﬁsh species, as these ﬁsh are more reluctant to consume old and smelly bait. Although not exclusively nocturnal, ﬂatheads are more active at night and may spend the day inactive in deep water or under cover. At night they may move shallower and feed at different levels.

Flatheads have been reported to attain 30 pounds at less than 10 years of age, and presumably the largest specimens are 20 to perhaps 30 years old, although there is scant information on their absolute longevity. A Texas ﬂathead that was tagged at 1.76 pounds was recaptured many years later when it weighed 31 pounds; analysis showed it to be 12 years old.

Spawning behavior

Food and feeding habits

Other Names

mud cat, muddy, shovel-head, shovelnose, yellow cat, appaloosa, goujon, johnnie cat, pied cat, Morgan cat.

Distribution

Flatheads are native to the lower Great Lakes and the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio River basins from southern North Dakota to western Pennsylvania and south to northern Mexico, reaching as far east as the western tip of the Florida Panhandle. They are widely dispersed within that range and have been transplanted successfully well beyond this.

Habitat

This species is primarily found in large bodies of water, especially reservoirs and their tributaries and big rivers and their tributaries. In rivers, they prefer deep pools where the water is slow, as well as depressions or holes, such as those that exist in eddies and adjacent to bridge pilings.

They are also commonly found in tailraces below dams. Their chosen habitat often has a hard bottom, sometimes mixed with driftwood or timber. In large reservoirs, they are usually found deep, often in old river beds, at the junction of submerged channels, and near the headwater tributary.

White Catfish (Ameiurus catus)

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White catﬁsh are a common and popular ﬁsh with more limited range than other catﬁsh species, and with commercial as well as recreational value. They have been successfully stocked in pay-to-ﬁsh ponds and are also cultivated for commercial bulk harvest. Their ﬂesh is white and ﬁne, and they make excellent eating, especially when caught from clean environments.

Identification

The white catﬁsh looks somewhat like a cross between a channel cat (see: Catﬁsh, Channel) and a bullhead (see), owing to its slightly forked tail, broad head, and squat body. Midsize specimens are often thought to be huge bullhead. The white catﬁsh has a moderately forked tail, which distinguishes it from the ﬂathead catﬁsh and the bullhead, whose tails are not forked.

Its anal ﬁn is rounded along the edge and has 19 to 23 ﬁn rays, fewer than in either the blue catﬁsh (see: Catﬁsh, Blue) or the channel cat. Without close inspection, it could be confused with other catﬁsh, although it doesn’t possess the spots seen on young channel catﬁsh. This ﬁsh is olive gray or slate gray on the head and bluish gray or slate gray on its back and sides, tapering to a white belly. As with other catﬁsh, the white cat has heavy, sharp pectoral and dorsal spines, as well as long mouth barbels; its chin barbels are white.

Size/Age

White catﬁsh are smaller than their blue, channel, and ﬂathead brethren but may grow larger than bull-head. The all-tackle world record for this species is a Connecticut ﬁsh that weighed 21 pounds, 8 ounces, but a 22-pounder has been reported from California. These are the known upper limits for this species, but it may grow larger. Most white catﬁsh are small, averaging 10 to 14 inches, and are often confused with bullhead. They are a relatively slow-growing ﬁsh, reaching sexual maturity at 3 to 4 years. They have been reported to live 14 years but
may get older.

Spawning behavior

This species spawns in the spring and the early summer, depending on latitude, and its spawning behavior is generally similar to that of the bullhead. The parents build a nest on sand or gravel substrate, usually near shore and often in places associated with some form of sheltering cover; spawning occurs when the water reaches approximately 70°F, and both parents guard the eggs and the young.

Food and feeding habits

White catfish have a broad appetite and consume aquatic insects, crayfish, clams, snails, mussels, fish eggs, assorted small fish, and some aquatic plants. Adults primarily feed on ﬁsh and are active at night, although they are less nocturnal than are other catﬁsh.

Other Names

catﬁsh.

Distribution

The native range of the white catﬁsh is freshwater and the slightly brackish water of rivers along the Atlantic coast from southern New York to Florida. It exists along the Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas and has been introduced to some inland waters in the eastern and western parts of the United States, including several New England states, plus Oregon and Nevada; it is well established in California.

Habitat

White catﬁsh inhabit the silty bottom areas of slow-moving streams and rivers, as well as ponds, lakes, and the low-salinity portions of tidal estuaries. They generally avoid the swift water of large rivers and do not thrive in weedy or muddy shallow ponds.

Charr

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The term “charr” (or “char”) is used to describe ﬁve members of the genus Salvelinus. They are members of the Salmonidae family, which also includes trout, salmon, whiteﬁsh, and grayling, all of which are endemic to the temperate and cool regions of the Northern Hemisphere but have been introduced widely outside their native range.

The charr group includes only one species that is actually called a “charr” in the English language, the arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus), which is also referred to in some scientiﬁc texts as the S. alpinus complex, because in modern times it has come to represent many ﬁsh that were previously thought to be separate species or subspecies.

The arctic charr’s four cousins include two of the most prominent species that are referred to as “trout,” the lake trout (S. namaycush) and the brook trout (S. fontinalis), and two less widely known species, the Dolly Varden (S. malma) and the bull trout (S. conﬂuentus).

Charr and other members of the Salmonidae family are primitive ﬁsh; their fossil remains date to more than 100 million years ago. Evidence indicates that many of the more advanced or specialized families of modern-day bony ﬁsh have ancestral stocks closely resembling these primitive ﬁsh.

The most clearly evident primitive feature of the group is the lack of spines in the ﬁns. Most of the soft rays in the ﬁns are branched. The pelvic ﬁns are situated far back on the body—in the “hip” region, where the legs of amphibians articulate with the body. This position differs from the location of the pelvic ﬁns in many other species, including largemouth bass, for example, whose pelvic ﬁns are so far forward, they are almost directly beneath the pectoral ﬁns. Other indications of its primitive nature are an adipose ﬁn and a crude type of air bladder.

Charr, as a group, are among the most distinguished looking and prettiest ﬁsh that appear in freshwater. Some are especially colorful, particularly in spawning mode. All have distinctive body markings, although there are great variations, depending on their environments. The lake trout found deep in one of the Great Lakes, for example, is rather bland compared to the lake trout caught in more sterile waters of the far north.

Most members of the Salmonidae family are in some way associated with cold, often rushing waters and high oxygen demands. Some, including two of the charr, are also tied to the sea, spending a portion of their lives there. All members of the family spawn in freshwater, and most require cold running water. Members of some of the sea-running species, including at least arctic charr, have become accidentally or deliberately landlocked, living and reproducing successfully entirely in freshwater, without ever taking a journey to saltwater.

Some charr species, especially arctic charr and lake trout, are of great historical, cultural, and food signiﬁcance to native peoples of the Arctic or the near-Arctic and to settlers, and they have had—and, to some degree, still have both subsistence and commercial value. All native charr have rich red ﬂesh and are excellent eating, primarily when fresh or smoked.

Some populations of the various charr have declined dramatically, and most are not what they were decades ago, in terms of overall size, as well as in the number of large individuals. In addition, some landlocked forms with limited distribution (blueback trout, Quebec red, and Sunapee trout) have become extinct, their loss in some cases hastened by stocking of nonnative salmonids.

The subject of the proper spelling of this group—charr or char—has generated spirited debate in the scientiﬁc community. The original and historical spelling is reportedly Celtic (from ceara, meaning “blood red”), and became “charre” in seventeenth-century England, then “charr.” The general public, especially the popular media, today predominantly uses “char.” Many Canadian ichthyologists, who arguably have a greater claim to the group because of the abundance of these species and studies of them, use “charr.”

Arctic Charr (Salvelinus alpinus)

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The arctic charr is one of ﬁve species that are actually classiﬁed as charr. It varies so greatly in coloration that many specimens are thought to be species or subspecies, resulting in a great deal of confusion and a tremendous problem for taxonomists.

This confusion extended to anadromous and nonanadromous forms, the latter including three New England charr—the blueback trout, the Sunapee trout, and the Quebec red trout, which were once separately recognized species but which were all reclassified and folded under the highly inclusive umbrella S. alpinus in 1974.

The arctic charr exists in anadromous (migrating annually to the sea) and nonanadromous (landlocked or living entirely in freshwater) forms. Because of plentiful food resources in the ocean, the anadromous version tends to be larger than the landlocked one and of more importance. The landlocked charr is blocked from the sea by some physical barrier. It is found everywhere that the sea-run charr exists but also occurs in smaller numbers much farther to the south.

Identification

Like all members of the Salvelinus genus, the arctic charr has light-colored spots on its body, including below the lateral line, and the leading edges of all ﬁns on the lower part of the body are milk white. It is a long and slender ﬁsh with a small, pointed head; an adipose ﬁn; an axillary process at the base of each pelvic ﬁn; and a slightly forked tail that almost appears squared. It also has very ﬁne scales, so deeply embedded that the skin has a smooth, slippery feel. Unlike the trout, it has teeth only in the central forward part of its mouth.

Coloration is highly variable among seagoing and landlocked forms and can change even within individual stocks. In a general sense, the arctic charr is silvery in nonspawning individuals, with deep green or blue shading on the back and upper sides and a white belly.

Spawning males exhibit brilliant red or reddish-orange coloration on the sides, the underparts, and the lower fins; their backs are muted, sometimes without the blue or green coloration or possibly with orange to olive hues. A spawning male of some populations will develop a kype, and some have humped backs. Spawning females are also colorful, although the red is less intense and present only on their ﬂanks and bellies; their backs remain bluish or greenish.

Size

Arctic charr may live up to 30 years and grow to 3 feet in length. Sea-run charr grow much larger, and the all-tackle world record is a 32-pound, 9-ounce sea-run ﬁsh that was caught in 1981 in the Tree River of Canada’s Northwest Territories. In most places, sea-run arctic charr range up to 10 pounds and average 7 pounds; landlocked ﬁsh normally weigh a few pounds. A sea-run arctic charr weighing more than 15 pounds is a trophy in most waters.

Life history/Behavior

The charr spawns in September or October in colder regions and later if it lives farther south; a water temperature of around 39°F is preferred. The spawning female seeks out a suitable bed of gravel or broken rock. The anadromous charr lives in its birth river for at least 4 years before migrating to the sea for the ﬁrst time. It will return anywhere between mid-August and late September, before the ice begins to form again. The larger ﬁsh return ﬁrst.

Unlike other salmonids, all arctic charr leave the sea and overwinter in rivers and lakes, although not all are spawners; some go back and forth several times before they ﬁrst spawn. Nonanadromous or landlocked charr tend to reach maturity when they are smaller and younger. They have the same lifestyle as their anadromous brethren.

Food

Insects, mollusks, and small ﬁsh constitute the diet of arctic charr. Ninespine sticklebacks are important forage in some places. The charr often does not eat in the winter, when its metabolic rate slows in tune with a cooling environment. Rather, it lives on the fat it has accumulated during the summer, and growth is accordingly limited during the cold months and greatest when at sea.

Other Names

Seagoing ﬁsh
char, red charr; Cree: awanans; Danish: fjeldørred; French: omble chevalier; German: saibling; Greenlandic: eqaluk; Icelandic: bleikja; Inuit: iqalugaq, iqaluk, ilkalupik, ivisaaruq, kisuajuq, majuqtuq, nutiliarjuk, situajuq, situliqtuq, tisuajuq; Japanese: iwana; Norwegian: arktisk roye, royr; Russian: goletz; Swedish: röding.

Landlocked ﬁsh
blueback charr, blueback trout, Sunapee trout, golden trout (Sunapee), Quebec red.

Distribution

The most northerly ranging ﬁsh, the arctic charr is circumpolar in distribution, occurring in pure and cold rivers and lakes around the globe, from the northeastern United States north and west across northern Canada, Alaska, and the Aleutian Islands, and from northern Russia south to Lake Baikal and Kamchatka, as well as in Iceland, Great Britain, Scandinavia, the Alps, and Spitsbergen, among other places.

In North America, they occur from Alaska around the Bering Sea and along the Arctic coast to Bafﬁn Island, along the coastline of Hudson Bay, and from the northern Quebec coast easterly and southerly to Maine and New Hampshire. Except in larger rivers, they seldom range far inland here, although there are a few pockets of landlocked charr.

In the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Territory, where they are especially known, charr distribution includes most coastal rivers, some coastal lakes, the streams of the high-arctic islands, and several islands in Hudson Bay.

Habitat

In their ocean life, arctic charr remain in inshore waters; most do not migrate far. In rivers, they locate in pools and runs. The lakes inhabited by anadromous and landlocked charr are cold year-round, so the ﬁsh remain near the surface or in the upper levels and may gather at the mouths of tributaries when food is plentiful.

Creek Chub (Semotilus atromaculatus)

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The creek chub is one of the largest chub and a member of the minnow, or Cyprinidae, family, making it a distant relative to carp. Occurring in great abundance in North America, it is important forage for sportﬁsh, often competes with those larger predators for food, and, because it is hardy and lively, is also a prominent bait used by anglers.

Identification

The snout of the creek chub is pointed and its mouth large, with a single small barbel in the corner of each jaw, sometimes hidden between the maxillary and the premaxillary. The body is stout, colored olive brown on the back, silvery on the sides with shades of iridescent purple, and whitish on the underside.

A juvenile will have a blackish stripe along its back and a black caudal spot; an adult will also have the stripe on its back, but the black caudal spot will be faint or absent. There is a large black spot at the front of the dorsal ﬁn. A breeding male takes on an orange hue, also gaining 4 to 8 large, thornlike tubercles (thus the name “horned dace”) on its opercles, body scales, and ﬁns.

The creek chub may occasionally appear to be speckled with black sand, but this is the result of being heavily covered with the parasite that causes black spot disease (which is harmless to the ﬁsh and is not transmittable to humans) and not as a result of natural coloring.

Other characteristics include a complete lateral line with 47 to 65 scales, 8 anal ﬁn rays, 8 dorsal ﬁn rays, and a pharyngeal tooth count formula of 2-5-4-2 (2 teeth in minor rows and 4 or 5 teeth in major rows).

The creek chub can be distinguished from the pearl dace (Semotilus margarita, a.k.a. Margariscus margarita) by its larger mouth. The fallﬁsh (Semotilus corporalis) is a strikingly similar ﬁsh to the creek chub, but with larger scales and larger eyes and without a black spot on the dorsal ﬁn.

Size/Age

The creek chub can attain a maximum length of between 6 and 12 inches, depending on its environment; the average is 4 to 6 inches long. Adult males grow faster than females do, and the largest creek chub are usually male. They can live up to 7 years.

Spawning behavior

Creek chub are pit-ridge spawners that build their gravel nests in runs and the downstream sections of pools. Nest building and spawning occur between March and June, in water temperatures ranging from 54° to 68°F. Creek chub have an interesting spawning ritual, which begins in the spring when the male digs a pit in the stream bottom by removing bits of gravel with his mouth.

He carefully guards the pit where the spawning occurs and attracts a female. Adult males are territorial during the breeding season and can be observed swimming in parallel, chasing each other, and ramming their tuberculate heads against each other. Some males attempt to spawn over the nests built by other males.

Spawning occurs when the male wraps his body around the female and eggs are released over the nest. A single female can produce more than 7,000 eggs, but only a portion of these are released during a single spawning event. Females are often observed ﬂoating belly up for a few seconds after spawning. They quickly recover and can spawn again.

Food

Creek chub are omnivores that feed on a variety of foods, including zooplankton, aquatic and terrestrial insects, crayﬁsh, mollusks, frogs, and ﬁsh. Adult creek chub have been shown to primarily consume ﬁsh, including the young of their own species.

Other Names

horned dace, common chub, brook chub, mud chub.

Distribution

Creek chub are found from the Maritime Provinces of Canada west to Montana and south to Texas and northern Georgia. Their distribution extends throughout the eastern half of southern Canada and the central and eastern United States. They occur in the Atlantic, Canadian, Great Lakes, Gulf Coast, Hudson Bay, and Mississippi drainages.

Habitat

These ﬁsh prefer cool, clear water in the gravel-bottomed pools and runs of creeks and streams. In dry weather and during low water, they can survive in isolated pools. They are seldom found in lakes.

Some ichthyologists refer to the creek chub as the “king of the headwaters” because it is often the largest ﬁsh found in very small streams. Deeper pools usually contain the largest individuals. Creek chub are tolerant of some pollution and can be abundant in urban streams.

Hornyhead Chub (Nocomis biguttatus)

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The hornyhead chub is a member of the large Cyprinidae family and a fairly common stream and river resident; smaller specimens are used as bait by anglers.

Identification

The body of a hornyhead chub is slender with a rounded snout. The mouth is large, almost terminal, with a small barbel above the jaws, and it has pharyngeal (throat) teeth. The hornyhead chub has dark-edged scales, a complete lateral line, and seven anal rays. Its coloring is bluish olive on the back, yellowish with iridescent green on the sides, and whitish on the underside.

On the adult male, there is a bright red dot behind each eye; on the female, the dot is brassy colored. Yellow iridescent stripes run along the back and the sides. There is a dark caudal spot, which is darkest on juveniles, around the snout. Breeding males are colored pink with pinkish-orange ﬁns and have many tubercles on their heads.

The hornyhead chub can be distinguished from a bull chub (Nocomis raneyi) by its shorter snout, larger eyes, and a red dot behind each eye. The bluehead chub (Nocomis leptocephalus), although strikingly similar, has no red dot behind each eye, and it has a large loop on the right side of its intestine, distinguishing it from the hornyhead.

Size

The average size for a hornyhead chub is 8 inches, although some can grow to up to 10 inches.

Spawning behavior

The spawning season for hornyhead chub is from late May through June, when the male develops tubercles on the head. The male builds a nest from pebbles. Other kinds of ﬁsh use this nest for spawning, but the male hornyhead will ward off other ﬁsh of the same species.

Food

The hornyhead chub is omnivorous, feeding primarily on insect larvae but also consuming small crustaceans, earthworms, and algae.

Other Names

redtail chub.

Distribution

The hornyhead chub is found from New York west to Wyoming and Colorado and south to northern Arkansas; in its easternmost range in New York, it can be found in the Niagara River and several streams in the Mohawk River system, but it does inhabit the Susquehanna, Delaware, and Hudson Rivers.

Habitat

This species lives in small to medium-size rivers and streams. It prefers warm, clear waters with a moderate to sluggish current, especially with a sandy, gravelly bottom and aquatic vegetation.

Chubsucker

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Chubsuckers are members of the sucker family, Catostomidae. They are divided into three separate species: the creek chubsucker (Erimyzon sucetta), the lake chubsucker (Erimyzon oblongus), and the sharpﬁn chubsucker (Erimyzon tenuis). All species are extremely similar and are interchangeably referred to as “suckers” or “mullet” in different locales.

Chubsuckers are of little importance commercially and are predominant ignored for sportﬁshing. When taken from cold water, however, chubsuckers have good-ﬂavored, ﬁrm ﬂesh. Because of their abundance and their large size, chubsuckers often account for the greatest biomass in streams and lakes, making them important forage for predator species.

Identification

Chubsuckers are characteristically deﬁned by their small, protruding, suckerlike mouths and thick ﬂeshy lips. Creek, lake, and sharpﬁn chubsuckers are similarly colored a greenish bronze, without a lateral line. There are usually 10 to 12 dorsal rays and 7 anal rays.

The scales are dark-edged and, on the creek chubsucker, accompanied by dark blotches. A young chubsucker has a concentrated black band from the tip of the snout to the tail, on top of which is a yellow band. A breeding male is dark with a pink-orange tint and several tubercles on each side of the snout. The creek chubsucker has a chubby body, whereas the lake and sharpﬁn chubsuckers are slightly more elongated.

All suckers excepting the chubsucker have a fully developed lateral line.

Size/Age

Chubsuckers can grow to 13 to 15 inches, but they rarely exceed 10 inches in length. The average age for a chubsucker is 5, although one can live up to 8 years. Life history/Behavior. Spawning occurs in the early spring in small tributary waters. Sometimes the male builds a nest, but the eggs are usually scattered randomly over sand, gravel, or vegetation bottoms and left to hatch unattended.

Food and feeding habits

Chubsuckers are bottom feeders, consuming insect larvae, aquatic plants, and small crustaceans.

Distribution

Creek chubsuckers inhabit waters from the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River drainages south to Georgia and Gulf slope waters. Lake and sharpﬁn chubsuckers inhabit waters similar to those favored by creek chubsuckers, including waters as far west as Oregon and as far south as Florida.

Habitat

Lukewarm, clear waters of creeks, small rivers, lakes, ponds, and swamps or other waters without turbidity are favored environments. Chubsuckers are seldom found in streams, favoring the depths of still, calm waters. As bottom dwellers, chubsuckers prefer sand, gravel, or silt bottoms with abundant vegetation.

Cisco (Coregonus spp)

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There are a number of similar species under the Coregonus genus, which is classiﬁed as a member of the Salmonidae family and generally acknowledged as a subfamily of whiteﬁsh. Whiteﬁsh and cisco inhabit many of the same waters and may be confused, although cisco are generally smaller.

One of the most common of these is Coregonus artedii, simply referred to as cisco. This species is often portrayed as the only cisco because the differences between species are only minor variations in body or snout shape, depth preference, or number of eggs. However, there are, or were, perhaps as many as 11 species of cisco, some of which were primarily very deep-dwelling ﬁsh.

In the Great Lakes, cisco have evidently suffered from competition with more aggressive plankton feeders (like alewives and smelt) and from predation by salmon and sea lampreys, all of which were nonnative species. The bloater (C. hoyi) has suffered the least of the Great Lakes species. Bloaters do not support any sportfishing effort, as they dwell far from shore and have mouths too small for ordinary lures. They are efﬁcient feeders, however, and grow more on less food than do alewives.

Bloaters, as well as other Great Lakes cisco, are commonly called “chub.” The bloater, in fact, is also known as a bloater chub. These small, soft-ﬂeshed, and oily ﬁsh are tasty table fare and are popular for commercial smoking, usually bearing the name “smoked chub.”

Cisco provide some sportﬁshing opportunity, especially for ice fishing, and are important forage fish for other species, particularly northern pike, walleye, perch, and rainbow trout. They are especially signiﬁcant to lake trout.

Identification

Characterized by an adipose dorsal ﬁn and a forked tail, the cisco has a terminal mouth (a lower jaw projecting slightly beyond the upper jaw). The body is elongate and slender, with less than 100 scales in the lateral line. The pelvic axillary process, or daggerlike progression, is well developed. Its coloring is dusky gray to bluish on the back, silvery on the sides, and white on the underside. All ﬁns are relatively clear, although the anal and the pelvic ﬁns may be milky on adults.

As a group, cisco (and whiteﬁsh) are quickly differentiated from other species by the presence of an adipose ﬁn. Cisco can be differentiated from lake whiteﬁsh (Coregonus clupeaformis), which inhabit the same deeper waters, by their pointed snouts, terminal mouths, and lack of teeth; the cisco’s mouth is at the end of the head, whereas the whiteﬁsh’s mouth is behind and under the snout. Cisco are differentiated from lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), by having larger scales, bigger mouths, and lack of teeth.

Size

Cisco can vary in length from 6 to 25 inches, the average size being between 10 and 14 inches and 0.5 pound; the all-tackle world record is a Manitoba fish (C. artedii) that weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces. The average life span is 8 years. In some lakes, the cisco population may be stunted, and most ﬁsh are small.

Life history/Behavior

Cisco are schooling fish that spawn in large congregations in the late fall after moving into shallow water roughly 3 to 10 feet deep, often on reefs, and when the water temperature is about 39° to 41°F. Females can lay up to 30,000 eggs on the lake bottom, usually over gravel or stones.

The eggs are given no parental care and hatch within 4 months. Nearly all cisco reach maturity by their fourth season. Some, such as the least cisco (C. sardinella), are anadromous but do not stray far from river mouths during migration.

Food and feeding habits

Plankton is the main food source of cisco. During the early spring, which is their most active (and shallow) feeding season, they may also consume minnows, crustaceans, and mayﬂies.

Other Names

gray back, tullibee, lake herring, whiteﬁsh.

Distribution

Cisco are primarily inhabitants of Canada, where they range from roughly east of the Mackenzie River through Ontario and north throughout the Northwest Territories, as well as throughout much of Quebec.

They inhabit the Great Lakes and its tributaries (including the St. Lawrence River). They are found in some lakes of states bordering the Great Lakes, including the Finger Lakes in New York, and in upper Mississippi River drainages.

Habitat

Coldwater lakes are the favored dwelling places of cisco. They may be near the surface when the water is cold or at depths of several hundred feet, but they generally remain below the thermocline in lakes where this stratiﬁcation occurs.

They tend to school in midwater and move into shallower areas when the water cools in the fall. Water temperatures ranging above 60°F are lethal to cisco, and as the surface waters warm, these ﬁsh move deeper. Many swim close to the surface during the winter, providing opportunities for ice ﬁshing.

Black Crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus)

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Crappie are like that Chinese dog called a Shih Tzu. Most people don’t say the name of that dog in a way that sounds ﬂattering. Ditto for the poor crappie. If its name were pronounced by more folks as if it contained the letter o instead of a, as in crop, we would all be better off.

No matter how you pronounce the name, both the black crappie and the white crappie are the most distinctive and largest members of the Centrarchidae family, which includes sunfish and black bass. Both species are considered excellent food ﬁsh and sportﬁsh and have white, ﬂaky meat that makes for sweet ﬁllets. In many places crappie are plentiful, and creel limits are liberal, so it does no harm to keep a batch of these ﬁsh for the table.

Identification

The black crappie and the white crappie are similar in color—a silvery olive to bronze with dark spots, although on the black crappie the spots are irregularly arranged instead of appearing in seven or eight vertical bands, as they do on the white crappie. Both species are laterally compressed and deep-bodied, although the black crappie is somewhat deeper in body, and it has a large mouth that resembles the mouth of a largemouth bass.

It also has distinct depressions in its forehead and large dorsal and anal ﬁns of almost identical size. The gill cover comes to a sharp point, instead of ending in an earlike ﬂap. The best way to differentiate the two species of crappie is by counting the dorsal ﬁn spines, as the black crappie usually has seven or eight, the white crappie six.

The breeding male does not change color noticeably, as happens in the white crappie species. Size/Age. With lengths of up to 13 inches, the black crappie can weigh up to 5 pounds but usually weighs less than 2 pounds and is commonly caught at a pound or less. It is thought to live to 10 years of age. The all-tackle world record is a 4-pound, 8-ounce ﬁsh taken in Virginia in 1981.

Life history/Behavior

Spawning occurs in the early spring and the summer in water temperatures between 62° and 68°F. These ﬁsh spawn over gravel areas or other soft material and nest in colonies. The males excavate the nests, and the females lay the eggs, sometimes in several of these. The eggs incubate for 3 to 5 days, and the young mature sometime between their second and fourth years.

Food and feeding habits

Black crappie tend to feed early in the morning on zooplankton, crustaceans, insects, ﬁsh, insect larvae, young shad, minnows, and small sunfish. Small minnows form a large part of the diet of adults; in southern reservoirs, gizzard or threadﬁn shad are the major forage, and in northern states, insects are dominant. Crappie also consume the fry of many species of gameﬁsh. They continue to feed during the winter and are very active under the ice.

Other Names

speckled perch, calico bass, grass bass, speckled bass, strawberry bass, oswego bass, sacalait, barﬁsh, crawpie, bachelor perch, papermouth, shiner, moonﬁsh; French: marigane noire.

Distribution

Black crappie have been so widely introduced in North America that the native range is uncertain, although it appears to start at the Atlantic slope from Virginia to Florida, the Gulf slope west to Texas, and the St. Lawrence-Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins from Quebec to Manitoba, Canada, south to the Gulf of Mexico.

Habitat

Black crappie prefer cooler, deeper, clearer waters with more abundant aquatic vegetation than do white crappie. This includes still backwater lakes, sloughs, creeks, streams, lakes, and ponds. Because crappie form schools, an angler who comes across one ﬁsh is likely to ﬁnd others nearby.

They are especially active in the evening and the early morning and remain active throughout the winter. An abundant species, black crappie occur in smaller concentrations than do white crappie.

White Crappie (Pomoxis annularus)

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Members of the Centrarchidae family, which includes sunﬁsh and black bass, white crappie are usually thought of in the same breath as black crappie. Both species are considered excellent food ﬁsh and sportﬁsh and have white, ﬂaky meat that makes for sweet ﬁllets. In many places, crappie are plentiful, and creel limits are liberal, so it does no harm to keep a batch of these ﬁsh for the table.

Identification

The white crappie and the black crappie are essentially the same color, a silvery olive to bronze with dark spots, although the white crappie is somewhat paler; in the white crappie the spots are arranged in seven or eight vertical bands on its sides, whereas in the black crappie the spots are scattered.

Deep-bodied and laterally compressed, the white crappie has a large mouth, an upper jaw that extends under the eye, and a lower jaw that seems to protrude. It also has distinct depressions in its forehead and large dorsal and anal ﬁns of almost identical size.

The best way to differentiate these fish is by counting dorsal fin spines, as the white crappie has six, and the black crappie usually has seven or eight. The white crappie is also the only sunﬁsh with the same number of spines in both the dorsal and the anal ﬁns. The breeding male grows darker in color and is often mistaken for the black crappie.

Size/Age

The white crappie can reach a weight of 5 pounds but usually weighs less than 2 pounds and is commonly caught at a pound or less. The all-tackle world record is a 5-pound, 3-ounce ﬁsh taken in Mississippi in 1957. White crappie live for a maximum of 10 years.

Spawning behavior

Spawning occurs in the early spring and the summer in water temperatures between 62° and 68°F, and during that time the male grows dark on the sides of its head, lower jaw, and breast. Spawning takes place in sandy, muddy, and weedy areas, and the ﬁsh nest in colonies. In moderately deep water, the male brushes away sediment to form a shallow nest and guards the 27,000 to more than 68,000 eggs. The eggs incubate for 2 to 4 days, and the young white crappie mature in 2 to 4 years.

Food and feeding habits

White crappie feed on small crustaceans, zooplankton, insects and insect larvae, minnows, young shad, small sunﬁsh, and other small ﬁsh. Small minnows of many species are probably the most common food item for adults.

Other Names

crappie, speckled perch, speckled bass, calico bass, sacalait, papermouth, bachelor perch; French: crapet calicot.

Distribution

Widespread in North America, white crappie are found in the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, the Mississippi River basins from New York and Ontario west to Minnesota and South Dakota and south to the Gulf of Mexico; they also inhabit the Gulf of Mexico drainages from Mobile Bay in Georgia and Alabama to the Nueces River in Texas. They have been introduced widely elsewhere.

Habitat

White crappie occur in creek backwaters, slow-ﬂowing streams, sand and mud-bottomed pools, small to large rivers, and lakes and ponds. They prefer shallower water than do the black crappie and can tolerate warmer, more turbid, and slightly alkaline waters.

They are usually found near dropoffs, standing timber, brushy cover, or other artiﬁcial cover. Because white crappie school in loose groups, when an angler catches one, others are likely to be around. They are especially active in the evening and the early morning and remain active throughout the winter.

Blacknose Dace (Rhinichthys atratulus)

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A member of the Cyprinidae family of minnows and carp, the blacknose dace makes excellent bait due to its small size and hardiness and, like many small minnows, provides excellent forage for predator ﬁsh, especially bass and trout. It is not sought by anglers but may be netted for use as bait.

Identification

The blacknose dace has a long slim body with a slightly protruding snout. The barbels, which are characteristic of most minnows, corner both sides of the mouth. The coloring is silvery, with dark olive gray fading to white on the belly. A dark lateral line runs along either side onto the head. It can be distinguished from the longnose dace (Rhinichthys cataractae) by its shorter snout.

Size/Age

Blacknose dace generally live 2 to 3 years and have an average size of 2 to 3 inches.

Spawning behavior

Blacknose dace spawn in the spring, starting in late May or early June. They build no nests; the fertilized eggs are dropped over the gravel bottom. The male, however, is known to defend spawning territories. The female releases approximately 750 eggs, and little or no parental care is given to them.

Food and feeding habits

Blacknose dace feed on insect larvae, small crustaceans, small worms, and plant material.

Other Names

eastern blacknose dace, brook minnow, potbelly, redﬁn dace, chub.

Distribution

The range of the blacknose dace spans from North Dakota to the St. Lawrence drainage and south to Nebraska and North Carolina.

Habitat

These ﬁsh are commonly found in rapid, clear streams and the rocky runs and pools of small rivers; they can survive in stagnant summer waters and tolerate crowded conditions.

Longnose Dace (Rhinichthys cataractae)

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A member of the Cyprinidae family of minnows and carp, the longnose dace has many valuable functions. Easily obtainable, small, and extremely hardy, it is prized as exceptional bait and is especially signiﬁcant for bass ﬁshing. Primarily feeding on blackﬂy larvae, it is also valued for its control of the blackﬂy population. And, like many small minnows, it provides excellent forage for predator fish, especially bass and trout. It is not sought by anglers but may be netted for use as bait.

Identification

The longnose dace is a distinctive minnow with a long ﬂeshy snout, a subterminal mouth, and a deep caudal peduncle. The head and the nape slope downward from its cylindrical body, giving this minnow a streamlined appearance. Pigmentation is widely variable; the dorsum can be greenish, brown, or reddish purple, and the lower sides and the venter may be silvery, white, or yellow.

The sides are sometimes marked by darkened scales, a lateral stripe, and a blotch near the tail. The longnose dace can quickly be distinguished from most other minnows by the presence of a frenum, a small ﬂeshy bridge between the snout and the upper jaw. It can be distinguished from other species of Rhinichthys by its long snout.

Other characteristics of the longnose dace are small barbels in the corner of the mouth, small scales, a complete lateral line with 48 to 76 scales, and eyes that are situated near the top of the head. A breeding male has red coloration on the head and the ﬁns and develops small tubercles on the head, the body, and the ventral ﬁns.

Size/Age

Adults can reach lengths exceeding 6 inches, but most are less than 4 inches long. They have been known to live up to 5 years.

Spawning behavior

Longnose dace mature within 2 years but may live up to 5 years. Females often grow larger and live longer than do males. Reproduction occurs between the late spring and the early summer. Interestingly, an eastern subspecies spawns during the day, whereas a western subspecies spawns at night.

Longnose dace are categorized as broadcast spawners, scattering their eggs in shallow, fast-flowing areas and over chub nests. Males aggressively defend spawning areas, but more than one male may line up next to the female during spawning. Spawning occurs on the stream bottom and may result in the burial of eggs within the substrate. The female deposits between 200 and 1,200 eggs during spawning.

Food and feeding habits

Longnose dace feed on aquatic insects (especially midges and blackﬂy larvae), worms, small crustaceans, mites, algae, and plants. They have taste buds on their ventral ﬁns, lower heads, lips, and snouts, which may enable them to ﬁnd food along the stream bottom.

Other Names

dace; French: naseux de rapide.

Distribution

The longnose dace has the widest distribution of any minnow in North America and is an important forage species where it is abundant. Several subspecies are recognized, but further study may reveal the occurrence of unique populations or additional subspecies.

The distribution of the longnose dace spans the entire continent, ranging throughout the southern half of Canada and the northern United States. It extends southward to Georgia within the southern Appalachian Mountains and into northern Mexico through the Rocky Mountains. Its northern limit is the Mackenzie River drainage, Canada, which lies within the Arctic Circle.

Habitat

Longnose dace occur in a wide variety of habitats. They are found in the rifﬂes, runs, and pools of creeks, streams, and rivers. Within lakes, they usually prefer areas around rocky shorelines. These streamlined ﬁsh are well adapted to fast-moving waters.

Darters

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Darters are an incredibly diverse and colorful group of freshwater ﬁsh, which rival saltwater ﬁsh in brilliance. They are actually small representatives of the perch family (Percidae) and are closely related to yellow perch and walleye. The darter group consists of approximately 160 species, all of which are restricted to North America. As such, they represent 20 percent of all ﬁsh in the United States.

Identification

Three genera of darters are recognized: Percina, which includes roughly 40 species; Etheostoma, which includes roughly 112 species; and Ammocrypta, with 7 species. The genus Percina contains the largest darters. Most are rather drab and cryptic in coloration, although the males of some species exhibit impressive spawning coloration.

The genus Etheostoma is diverse in the shape and the coloration of its representatives. The bodies and ﬁns of many of these darters are painted with shades of red, blue, yellow, green, and orange interspersed with black blotches. Members of the genus Ammocrypta are dull and sandcolored. This camouﬂages them from predators in the large, sand-bottomed rivers they inhabit.

Darters can reach a length of 12 inches (Percina lenticula, the freckled darter), although most are only a few inches long, even as adults. The smallest is the fountain darter (Etheostoma fonticola), which reaches an adult size of only 1.5 inches. The darter has two dorsal ﬁns, the front with hard spines and the rear with soft rays. The caudal ﬁn is usually rounded or emarginate.

Many darters are sexually dimorphic, and the males are usually larger and brightly colored. Males also develop thickened body tissues, ﬂeshy knobs on the dorsal ﬁn rays and spines, and breeding tubercles during spawning. The showy appearance of courting males is thought to attract females during spawning and accounts for the large amount of angling interest in this group.

Life history/Behavior

As a group, darters are well adapted to life in fast water and on the stream bottom. Their rounded bodies and slightly ﬂattened head regions are especially hydrodynamic. In addition, most members of the group have completely absent, or poorly developed, swim bladders.

They use their enlarged pectoral fins to perch on rocks, allowing them to remain on the stream bottom, out of the current. Their body style is suited to the unique swimming manner for which this group as a whole is named. Darters do not swim in the same way that most ﬁsh do; instead, they leap from one spot to another with short jumps or “darts.”

Darters display much variability in reproductive strategies. Most produce few, relatively large eggs and provide some degree of parental care. Most members of the genus Etheostoma are cavity spawners and lay adhesive eggs on the undersides of medium-size rocks, usually in fast water. Males of this genus are often brightly colored to attract females to nest sites that they have prepared for egg laying.

Members of the genera Percina and Ammocrypta spawn in a simpler manner. Two or more individuals group together in fast-water areas over sand between larger rocks. Males and females align their bodies next to each other, then simultaneously release sperm and eggs into the substrate and bury them. This protects the eggs from predation and ﬂoods.

Most darters spawn in the spring to early summer. Several species are believed to spawn multiple times per year. Darters are not a long-lived group. Most species live less than 5 years. Sexual maturity is usually attained at between 1 and 3 years.

Food and feeding habits

Darters primarily feed on bottom-dwelling organisms, mostly small insects, worms, and snails. However, as a group they exhibit a diversity of feeding strategies that corresponds to morphological differences. Large darters feed on insects on top of rocks or pick them out of sand and gravel.

Shorter, more ﬂexible darters often feed on clinging insects between and underneath rocks. As a result of these different feeding strategies, several darter species can coexist in the same area of a stream.

Distribution

Darters range from northern Mexico into Canada and from the eastern coastal plains west to the Continental Divide. Only one species, the Mexican darter (Etheostoma pottsi), occurs west of the Continental Divide, in northern Mexico.

Darters are most diverse in the southern Appalachian Mountains of Tennessee and Virginia and in the Ozark plateau of northern Arkansas. The johnny darter (Etheostoma nigrum) is the most widely distributed, followed by the orange-throat darter (Etheostoma spectabile) and perhaps the logperch darter (Percina caprodes).

Habitat

Darters are found in all types of freshwater habitats. They may inhabit small streams, large rivers, spring seeps, ponds, lakes, or reservoirs. They are most frequently found in fast-moving water, however.

Freshwater Drum (Aplodinotus grunniens)

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The freshwater drum is the only North American freshwater representative of the Sciaenidae family, which includes the croaker, the drum, the corbina, and the seatrout, among others. It also has the greatest range of any North American freshwater ﬁsh, is highly adaptable, and is an excellent battler on light tackle, although it is extremely underrated and underutilized as a sportﬁsh.

A unique feature of the freshwater drum is its oversize otolith—a ﬂat, egg-shaped “ear bone” used for hearing and balance. It is surrounded by ﬂuid and has a white, enameled surface with alternating light and dark bands that can be used to determine the age of the ﬁsh. These are often kept as good luck charms or made into jewelry. Excavated from Indian village sites, huge otoliths from freshwater drum indicate that at one time the ﬁsh grew as large as 200 pounds.

Although a strong ﬁghter with some commercial value, the freshwater drum is not generally highly sought as either a sport or a food ﬁsh. It is deliberately sought by some anglers in the southern and midwestern regions of the United States, although it is mostly caught accidentally by anglers.

The freshwater drum is often confused with a carp in both appearance and taste, although on close examination it does not look like a carp. The drum’s ﬂesh is white with large, coarse ﬂakes. It has been described by some as being of low quality, but this determination is inaccurate.

Often found in clear waters, it is a relative of the saltwater drum and the croaker, which are highly valued as food. The freshwater drum, too, is ﬁne table fare. Perhaps 5 to 10 million pounds are taken annually for commercial purposes, mostly from Lake Erie, and mostly for animal feed.

Identification

The body is deep with a humped back, a blunt snout, and a subterminal mouth adapted for bottom feeding. A set of powerful teeth is in the pharynx. It has two dorsal ﬁns, the ﬁrst having eight to nine spines. The anal ﬁn has two spines, the second of which is long and extremely stout. The caudal ﬁn is bluntly pointed. Its coloring is green to gray on its back, with silvery overtones and a white belly. The large, silvery scales are rough to the touch.

The freshwater drum’s two dorsal ﬁns and rounded tail distinguish it from the carp and the buffalo. Also, the ﬁrst dorsal ﬁn of the freshwater drum is composed of eight to nine spines, whereas the carp has only one spine at the beginning of its single soft-rayed dorsal ﬁn, and the buffalo has no spines at all. The freshwater drum can be distinguished from all other freshwater ﬁsh by the lateral line, which extends to the tip of the tail and is characteristic of sciaenids.

Size/Age

The average size of a freshwater drum is 15 inches and 3 pounds, although they can grow to 50 pounds. The average commercial catch usually weighs 1 to 5 pounds. The all-tackle record is 54 pounds, 8 ounces. Freshwater drum can live up to 20 years.

Spawning

The freshwater drum spawns in the spring when the water temperature reaches 65° to 70°F. The eggs are released over shallow gravel and sandy stretches near shore. They stick to pebbles or stones on the bottom and hatch within 2 weeks. Neither the eggs nor the young receive parental care.

Food and feeding habits

Young drum feed on minute crustaceans. Adults consume mollusks, insects, and fish. Using their snouts, they slowly move small rocks and other bottom materials to ﬁnd food. Their pharyngeal teeth crush snail or clam shells, and they spit out the shells and swallow the soft bodies.

Other Names

sheepshead, croaker, grunt, drum, silver bass, thunder pumper; French: malachigan.

Distribution

The freshwater drum occurs over much of the United States, between the Rockies and the Appalachians southward throughout eastern Mexico to Guatemala’s Río Usumacinta system and northward through Manitoba, Canada, all the way to Hudson Bay. It also occurs in some areas of Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan.

Habitat

Although it prefers clear waters, the freshwater drum is adaptable and can withstand turbid water better than can many other species. It is commonly found in large lakes and in the deep pools of rivers. It favors deep water, staying at the bottom but moving shoreward at dusk. The drum is rarely found in small streams or small lakes.

American Eel

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American eels are members of the Anguillidae family of freshwater eels and are preyed upon by many species at different stages of their existence. They are important forage for such large offshore predators as sharks, haddock, and swordﬁsh; for inshore species like striped bass; and for many species of birds, including bald eagles and various gulls. Larger individuals (10 to 16 inches or so) are used as bait by anglers, especially those seeking big striped bass, and they may be sold as bait in coastal shops.

Identification

he body is elongate and snakelike, with a pointed head and many teeth. It is covered with thick mucus, hence the phrase “slippery as an eel.” The large mouth extends as far back as the midpoint of the eye or past it. There is a single gill opening just in front of the pectoral ﬁns. There are no pelvic ﬁns, and the soft-rayed dorsal, anal, and caudal ﬁns form one continuous ﬁn. There are no visible scales. Coloring changes with maturity, as described later in this text.

Size/Age

American eels grow to 50 inches and 16 pounds. The average size for adult females is about 3 feet, whereas adult males are considerably smaller, rarely growing more than a foot long. They can live longer than 9 years in rivers, streams, and lakes.

Life history/Behavior

When it comes time to spawn, the males and the females stop feeding, change in color from olive to black, and move out to sea. Eels spawn in the same area of the Atlantic Ocean, in deep water at the north edge of the Sargasso Sea. There each female lays as many as 10 to 20 million eggs, and both sexes die after spawning.

The eggs ﬂoat to the surface and soon hatch into slim, transparent larvae (glass eels). The sex an eel becomes is thought to be partly determined by environmental conditions, such as crowding and food abundance, but it is not determined until they are about 8 to 10 inches long and living in their freshwater habitat.

The larvae drift and swim for 1 year with ocean currents toward river mouths. Males stay near the mouths of rivers, whereas females travel upstream, mostly at night. Eels can absorb oxygen through their skin, as well as through their gills, and are known to travel overland, particularly in damp, rainy weather. Balls of intertwined eels have been seen rolling up beaches in search of freshwater for overwintering.

Food

The diet of the nocturnal feeding American eels includes insect larvae, small ﬁsh, crabs, worms, clams, and frogs. They also feed on dead animals or on the eggs of ﬁsh and are able to tear smaller pieces of food that are too large to be swallowed whole.

Their feeding habits are rather unusual with respect to large quarry. These eels have relatively weak jaws that are mainly suited to grasping, yet they possess many small, round, and rather blunt teeth. Because they are palindromic—that is, they can move equally well forward or backward forcefully—they are able to pull, twist, and spin when tearing apart prey that is too large to be consumed whole.

Other Names

silver eel, Atlantic eel, common eel, yellow-bellied eel, freshwater eel, bronze eel, water snake, whip; Dutch: amerikaanse aal; Finnish: amerikanan kerias; French: anguille d’Amerique; Italian: anguilla americana; Japanese: unagi; Portuguese: enguia-americana; Spanish: anguila, anguila americana; Swedish: amerikansk ål.

Distribution

The American eel occurs from southwest Greenland to Labrador, south along the North American coast to Bermuda, the Gulf of Mexico, Panama, and the Caribbean islands. Within this region, inland it occurs from the Mississippi River drainage east, and northeast to the Great Lakes and to the Atlantic Ocean.

Habitat

American eels are catadromous, spending most of their lives in freshwater and returning to saltwater to spawn. They prefer to dwell in heavy vegetation or to burrow in the sandy bottom. Their physical structure is such that they can easily swim backward and dig tail ﬁrst into soft bottom sediments.

Fallfish (Semotilus corporalis)

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The fallﬁsh is a member of the Cyprinidae family, the largest family of freshwater ﬁsh, which also includes minnows and carp. Often confused with the creek chub, the fallﬁsh is the largest in its minnow clan.

Identification

The body of the fallﬁsh is slender, with a bluntly pointed head. There is a single, long dorsal ﬁn. On an adult, the scales are arranged in a pattern of dark, triangular black bars. The mouth is terminal and has barbels—which are characteristic of cyprinids—that are sometimes hidden.

Its coloring is olive on the back, silvery on the sides, and white on the belly. A breeding male has tubercles on the snout and a pinkish coloring. A juvenile has a dark black line along the sides. The fallﬁsh can be distinguished from the creek chub by the absence of a black spot at the base of the dorsal ﬁn.

Size/Age

Fallfish may grow to 16 inches or more in length. In smaller streams, they are more likely to be smaller, averaging 10 to 15 inches. A common weight is 1 to 2 pounds. Fallﬁsh have been known to live as long as 10 years.

Spawning behavior

The spawning season is from spring through summer, beginning in early May when the water warms. The male builds a pit-ridge nest out of small stones and pebbles in shallow areas or quiet pools over a clean gravel bottom.

The nest can reach 6 feet in length and 3 feet in height. It can weigh up to 200 pounds, due to the volume of pebbles, and is the largest stone mound nest built by any ﬁsh. The male repeatedly spawns over one nest with several different females.

Food

Adult fallﬁsh consume aquatic and terrestrial insects (such as mayflies, beetles, wasps, and ants), small crustaceans, small ﬁsh, and algae. Juveniles feed on zooplankton and phytoplankton.

Other Names

windﬁsh, silver chub.

Distribution

These ﬁsh are commonly found from eastern Canada into the James Bay drainage, and south on the east side of the Appalachian Mountains to Virginia.

Habitat

Fallﬁsh inhabit the gravel- and rocky-bottomed areas of cold, clear streams, as well as the edges of lakes and ponds. In rivers and streams, adults prefer deeper, quieter waters, whereas juveniles often frequent swifter, shallower water.

Alligator Gar (Lepisosteus spatula)

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The alligator gar is the largest member of the gar family, Lepisosteidae, and one of North America’s largest inland ﬁsh. It is a primitive species, dating from the Mesozoic era, 65 to 230 million years ago. Fossil remains of gar are often found in limestone quarries throughout the southern United States. The tough, armorlike scales of this species were once used by Indians as arrowheads, and pioneer farmers covered their wooden plowshares with gar hides.

The gar is a resilient ﬁsh with an adaptable specialized air bladder that enables it to take in air at the surface, allowing it to survive in the poorest water conditions. Holding a strong resemblance to its namesake, the alligator gar is strong and voracious, and a tough ﬁghter when hooked. It is capable of jumping spectacularly.

The alligator gar has been under siege for most of the twentieth century, eagerly sought and killed. Efforts to eradicate them existed in many of their natural habitats under the ill-advised notion of ridding the waters of gameﬁsh-killing monsters. Many huge ﬁsh, including specimens from 100 pounds to more than 300 pounds, were removed by commercial netters, anglers using big-game tackle, and others using steel-tipped arrows while bowfishing.

Although their numbers are drastically reduced today, alligator gar are not classiﬁed as gameﬁsh by most state ﬁsheries agencies and are not regulated as to size or manner of ﬁshing. There is virtually no concerted sportﬁshing for this species today.

Identification

The alligator gar’s body is long and cylindrical, covered with heavy, ganoid (diamond-shaped) scales. The snout is short and broad like an alligator’s, and there are two rows of teeth on either side of the upper jaw (other gar have only one).

It has a single dorsal ﬁn that is far back on the body above the anal ﬁn and just before the tail. The tail is rounded, and the pectoral, ventral, and anal ﬁns are evenly spaced on the lower half of the body. Its coloring is olive or greenish brown above and lighter below. The sides are mottled with large black spots.

These and other gar are often mistaken for ﬂoating logs. The alligator gar can be distinguished from all other gar by the two rows of teeth in the upper jaw, its broader snout, and its large size when fully grown. The alligator gar most closely resembles members of the pike family in body shape and ﬁn placement, although the tail of this ﬁsh is forked, not rounded.

Size

The alligator gar is the giant of the gar family. It still attains weights in excess of 100 pounds, although such ﬁsh are not common; larger ﬁsh are occasionally captured in commercial ﬁshing nets. The maximum size of alligator gar is not certain, although the ﬁgure evidently exceeds 300 pounds, and they can reach more than 10 feet in length. The all-tackle rod-and-reel record is a 279-pound ﬁsh captured in the Rio Grande River in Texas in 1951. There are reports, however, of larger ﬁsh. A 190-pounder caught in a net in Arkansas in 1997 was 7 feet, 11 inches long.

Spawning behavior

Spawning occurs in the spring and the early summer in shallow bays and sloughs. The female lays dark green eggs that stick to vegetation and rocks until they hatch in 6 to 8 days. The female is capable of producing as many as 77,000 eggs at once. The young are solitary and ﬂoat at the surface like sticks.

Food

Although the alligator gar is infamous for eating almost anything, from dead animals to ducks and popular gameﬁsh, studies have revealed that most of its diet consists of gizzard shad, threadﬁn shad, golden shiners, and rough or coarse ﬁsh species.

Other Names

garpike; French: garpique alligator; Spanish: gaspar baba.

Distribution

The range of the alligator gar extends from the Mississippi River basin of southwestern Ohio and southern Illinois south to the Gulf of Mexico, and from the Enconﬁna River of the western Florida Panhandle west to Veracruz, Mexico. It has reportedly been taken from Lake Nicaragua, but this catch could have been confused with a large relative, L. tristoechius, taken from Cuban, Central American, and Mexican waters—a ﬁsh that rivals the alligator gar in size.

Habitat

Large lakes, bays, backwaters, bayous, and coastal delta waters along large southern rivers are the preferred habitat of the alligator gar, although this ﬁsh is seldom found in brackish or marine waters. It favors shallow, weedy environs and the sluggish pools and backwaters of large rivers and can survive in hot and stagnant waters. Alligator gar are often seen ﬂoating at the surface. They occasionally come to the surface layer to expel gases and to take air into their swim bladders.

Florida Gar (Lepisosteus platyrhincus)

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The Florida gar is a member of the Lepisosteidae family, an ancient group of predaceous ﬁsh once in abundance and widely distributed. Its specialized air bladder enables the gar to take in air at the surface, allowing it to survive in the poorest waters. Although edible, Florida gar are unpopular as food. They are caught by anglers, although not extensively pursued. The roe is highly toxic to humans, animals, and birds.

Identification

The body of the Florida gar is cigar-shaped, and it has a broad, tooth-ﬁlled snout. The single dorsal ﬁn is located directly above the anal ﬁn. Its tough scales form a bricklike pattern. Like the spotted gar, it has spots on top of the head, as well as over the entire body and on all the ﬁns. These spots sometimes run together to form stripes.

The Florida and the spotted gar can be distinguished from each other mainly by the distance from the front of the eye to the back of the gill cover. In the Florida gar, it is less than two-thirds the length of the snout; in the spotted gar, it is more than two-thirds the length of the snout. The Florida gar can be distinguished from the longnose gar—the only other gar occurring in the Florida’s range—by the absence of spots on its head and by the elongated beak of the longnose.

Size

The average size rarely exceeds 2 feet. The all-tackle record is 10 pounds.

Spawning behavior

The spawning season is from May through July in backwaters and sloughs. A female can lay up to 6,000 eggs at once. Florida gar often travel in groups of 2 to 10 or more.

Food

Forage and coarse ﬁsh make up much of the adult gar’s diet, although it also consumes shrimp, insects, crayﬁsh, and scuds.

Distribution

The Florida gar ranges throughout peninsular Florida and into the Panhandle as far as the Apalachicola River drainage, where there is evidence that it hybridizes with the spotted gar. The Florida gar also occurs throughout part of southern Georgia to the Savannah River drainage.

Habitat

The Florida gar is common in medium to large lowland streams and lakes with mud or sand bottoms and an abundance of underwater vegetation. It is also abundant in canals. Gar can be found resting both on the bottom or at the surface. They live in freshwater but can survive in stagnant water that is intolerable to most other ﬁsh.

Longnose Gar (Lepisosteus osseus)

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The longnose gar is the most common and widely distributed member of the gar family, Lepisosteidae, one of the few remaining ancient groups of predaceous ﬁsh once in abundance. Its long endurance is due to a specialized air bladder that enables the gar to take in air at the surface, allowing it to survive in the poorest waters.

Identification

The body of the longnose gar is long and slender. It has an extended narrow beak (18 to 20 times as long as it is wide at its narrowest point). The skeleton is part cartilage and part bone. Both upper and lower jaws are lined with strong, sharp teeth. The nostrils are located in a small, bulbous, ﬂeshy growth at the very tip of the beak.

The body is covered with bony, ganoid (diamond shaped) scales. The dorsal and the anal ﬁns are set far back. Its coloring is olive brown or deep green along the back and the upper sides, with a silver white belly. There are numerous black spots on the body, although not on the head or the jaws. The longnose gar can be distinguished from other gar by its elongated snout.

Size

The average ﬁsh is 2 to 3 feet in length but occasionally reaches 5 feet. The all-tackle record is 50 pounds, 5 ounces.

Life history/Behavior

Groups of adult gar often lie motionless at the surface, strongly resembling floating sticks. In the summer, they will roll over and break the surface to gulp air (usually in extremely murky water) and release gases from their air bladders. Males mature when they are 3 or 4 years old, females at 6 years old. The spawning season is in the spring in shallow water.

Food and feeding habits

Longnose gar feed on shiners, sunﬁsh, gizzard shad, catﬁsh, and bullhead. They sometimes slowly stalk their prey but are generally known to lie in wait for it to come close.

Other Names

French: garpique longnez; Spanish: gaspar picudo.

Distribution

The longnose gar is the most common and widely distributed of all gar. It is primarily found throughout the eastern half of North America, within the Mississippi River system and other drainages.

Its range generally encompasses an area from Minnesota and the Great Lakes to Quebec, southward to southern Florida and the Gulf states, and westward to the Rio Grande bordering Texas and Mexico. It may reach as far as Montana in the north and the Pecos River in New Mexico to the south. Large concentrations exist along the Atlantic coast.

Habitat

Longnose gar inhabit warm, quiet water, frequenting shallow weedy areas and the sluggish pools, backwaters, and oxbows of large and medium rivers and lakes. They occasionally enter brackish water and can tolerate murky and stagnant environments.

Shortnose Gar (Lepisosteus platostomus)

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The shortnose gar is the smallest member of an ancient family, Lepisosteidae, of predaceous ﬁsh. It is the most tolerant of all the gar, as it is capable of withstanding murky and brackish water with the help of its specialized air bladder. The bladder allows the gar to gulp in supplementary air and to release gases.

Because large numbers of coarse ﬁsh and panﬁsh exist in many waters inhabited by gar, the shortnose gar (as well as other gar) can be useful in controlling these populations. In some areas, however, it is considered a nuisance by anglers and sometimes even a problem because of its abundance.

The shortnose gar has good sporting virtues but is not widely pursued. It is often caught incidentally by anglers pursuing other ﬁsh. It is not considered a good food ﬁsh, and its roe is toxic.

Identification

The body is long and cylindrical, covered with ganoid (diamond-shaped) scales. There is a single row of teeth in the upper jaw, compared with the alligator gar’s two rows. It has a short, broad snout. Unlike its relatives the Florida gar and the spotted gar, it has no spots on its head, but it does have spots on its dorsal, anal, and caudal ﬁns. Size. The shortnose gar rarely exceeds 2.5 feet in length. The all-tackle world record is a 5-pound, 12-ounce fish caught in 1995 in Illinois.

Spawning behavior

Spawning occurs in the spring in shallow bays and sloughs. The eggs attach to weeds or other objects.

Food

The diet of the shortnose gar is similar to that of other gar; forage and rough ﬁsh comprise the bulk of its food.

Distribution

The shortnose gar occurs from the Great Lakes south to the Gulf of Mexico but is essentially limited to the low-gradient portions of the Mississippi River basin. In the United States, it is found from northern Alabama to Oklahoma and down through Louisiana to the Gulf of Mexico. In the north, it has a broad range in the river systems that feed the Mississippi, from southern Ohio to Montana.

Habitat

This species is common in quiet water, including the pools and backwater areas of creeks and small to large rivers, and in swamps, lakes, and oxbows, often near vegetation. The shortnose gar is even more tolerant of muddy water than are other gar, and it prefers warm water.

Spotted Gar (Lepisosteus oculatus)

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The spotted gar is a member of an ancient family, Lepisosteidae, of predaceous ﬁsh. It is often confused with its close relative, the Florida gar. The spotted gar has good sporting virtues but is not widely pursued, and it is often caught incidental to other ﬁshing activities. It is not considered a good food ﬁsh, and its roe is toxic to humans but not to other ﬁsh.

Identification

The body of the spotted gar is long and cylindrical, covered with hard, ganoid (diamond-shaped) scales. It has a single row of teeth in each jaw. The spotted and the Florida gar are the only two gar that have spots on the top of the head, as well as over the entire body and on the ﬁns.

The spots on other gar are limited to the ﬁns and the posterior portions of the body, usually after the pelvic (ventral) ﬁns. The two are generally distinguished by the distance between the front of the eye and the rear edge of the gill cover. If the distance is less than two-thirds the length of the snout, it is a Florida gar; if it is more than two-thirds the length of the snout, it is a spotted gar.

Size

The spotted gar rarely exceeds 3 feet and averages 2.5 feet. The all-tackle world record is a 9-pound, 12-ounce ﬁsh caught in Texas in 1994.

Life history/Behavior

Like other gar, this species is often observed basking on the surface on warm days, resembling a ﬂoating log. It occasionally breaks the surface and gulps air from its specialized bladder. Spawning occurs in the spring in grassy sloughs.

Other Names

French: garpique tachetée; Spanish: gaspar pintado.

Distribution

The spotted gar ranges from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and down through the Mississippi River drainage system. It occurs all along the Gulf Coast from central Texas to the western portion of the Florida Panhandle. In the north of its range, it occurs eastward to the north and south shores of Lake Erie in northern Ohio, Michigan, and Ontario, but it seldom occurs much west of Illinois.

Habitat

The spotted gar is common in the pools and backwaters of creeks and small to large rivers and in swamps, lakes, and oxbows, often near vegetation. It occasionally enters brackish water and is highly tolerant of warm, stagnant water.

Goldeye (Hiodon alosoides)

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A member of the Hiodontidae family of mooneye, the goldeye is one of Canada’s most celebrated freshwater ﬁsh, from an epicurean viewpoint. Although often called a herring or a shad, it is neither. The goldeye provides good sport for light-tackle anglers, but it is not pursued in many parts of its range.

Identification

The goldeye is a small ﬁsh whose compressed body is deep in proportion to its length and is covered with large, loose scales. Dark blue to blue green over the back, it is silvery on the sides, tapering to white on the belly. It has a small head and a short, bluntly rounded snout with a small terminal mouth containing many sharp teeth on the jaws and the tongue.

The color of its eyes and the position of its anal ﬁn distinguish it from the mooneye. The irises of the large eyes are gold and reﬂect light. The goldeye’s dorsal ﬁn begins opposite or behind its anal ﬁn (the mooneye’s begins before the anal ﬁn). The goldeye can be distinguished from the gizzard shad by the absence of a dorsal ﬁn ray projection.

Size/Age

Adults average from 10 ounces to slightly more than a pound in weight and seldom exceed 2 pounds in most waters. They can grow to 5 pounds. The Manitoba record is a 5.06-pound ﬁsh from the Nelson River. They reportedly can live for 14 years.

Spawning behavior

In the spring, mature goldeye move into pools in rivers or backwater lakes of rivers, to spawn when the water temperature is between 50° and 56°F.

Food and feeding habits

Goldeye feed on a variety of organisms, from microscopic plankton to insects and ﬁsh. They do most of their foraging on or near the surface and predominantly on insects, although they will eat minnows and small frogs.

Other Names

Winnipeg goldeye, western goldeye, shad mooneye, toothed herring, yellow herring; French: la queche, laquaiche aux yeux d’or.

Distribution

Endemic to North America, goldeye are found in both Canadian and American waters. They occur from western Ontario to the Mackenzie River at Aklavik in the north, from below the Great Lakes south throughout the Ohio and Mississippi River drainages on the east, and from western Alberta throughout eastern Montana and Wyoming to Oklahoma on the west. Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba has historically been the largest commercial producer of these ﬁsh.

Habitat

Throughout their geographical range, goldeye are most often found in warm, silty sections of large rivers and in the backwaters of shallow lakes connected to them.

Arctic Grayling (Thymallus arcticus)

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Grayling belong to the Salmonidae family and are related to trout and whiteﬁsh. They are distinctive-looking ﬁsh, with a sail-like dorsal ﬁn, and are a superb sportﬁsh known primarily in the cool- and coldwater northern regions of North America. Their ﬁrm, white ﬂesh is good table fare, although it is not on a par with that of the wild trout and the charr that inhabit similar ranges. Grayling are excellent when smoked, however.

Identification

With its graceful lines, large ﬁn, and dramatic coloration, the grayling is a striking ﬁsh. Most striking is its large purple to black dorsal ﬁn, which extends backward and fans out into a trailing lobe, speckled with rows of spots. This ﬁn may look bluish when the ﬁsh is in the water. Grayish silver overall, grayling usually have shades or highlights of gold, lavender, or both, as well as many dark spots that may be shaped like an X or a V on some ﬁsh.

Young arctic grayling can be distinguished from similar-looking young whitefish by narrow vertical parr marks (whiteﬁsh have round parr marks, if any). When the arctic grayling is taken from the water, a resemblance to the whiteﬁsh is especially apparent, as the beautiful colors fade to a dull gray. It has a small, narrow mouth with numerous small teeth in both jaws. The arctic grayling also has a forked caudal ﬁn and relatively large, stiff scales.

Size

A small ﬁsh, with maximum lengths to 30 inches, the grayling can reach a maximum weight of about 6 pounds. The all-tackle world record for arctic grayling is a 5-pound, 15-ounce ﬁsh from the Northwest Territories in Canada, but any arctic grayling exceeding 3 pounds is considered large, and a 4-pounder is a trophy.

Life history/Behavior

Adult grayling spawn from April through June in rocky creeks; ﬁsh from lakes enter tributaries to spawn. Instead of making nests, they scatter their eggs over gravel and rely on the action of the water to cover the eggs with a protective coating. The eggs hatch in 13 to 18 days. Grayling are gregarious and flourish in schools of moderate numbers of their own kind. Arctic grayling of northern Canada may be especially abundant in selected areas of rivers.

Food and feeding habits

Young grayling initially feed on zooplankton and become mainly insectivorous as adults, although they also eat small ﬁsh, ﬁsh eggs, and, less often, lemmings and planktonic crustaceans.

Other Names

American grayling, arctic trout, Back’s grayling, blueﬁsh, grayling, sailﬁn arctic grayling; French: ombre artique, poisson bleu

Distribution

Arctic grayling are widespread in arctic drainages from Hudson Bay to Alaska and throughout central Alberta and British Columbia, as well as in the upper Missour River drainage in Montana. Previously known to inhabit some of the rivers feeding Lakes Huron, Michigan, and Superior in northern Michigan, arctic grayling have been considered extinct there since 1936. They have been widely introduced elsewhere, especially in the western United States.

Habitat

Grayling prefer the clear, cold, well-oxygenated waters of medium to large rivers and lakes. They are most commonly found in rivers, especially in eddies, and the heads of runs and pools; in lakes, they prefer river mouths and rocky

Northern Hogsucker

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This is a widespread and distinctive-looking member of the sucker family.

Identification

The northern hogsucker gets its name from its piglike appearance, particularly its head. It has a very steep forehead and long, protruding lips, bearing a strong likeness to a pig’s snout. Its head also has a concave depression between the eyes, a trait distinctive among suckers. The body is conical, with the head region much thicker than the caudal peduncle. The body is marked with four lateral bars that come together on the ﬁsh’s back to form saddles. The northern hogsucker is generally darkly pigmented on the back and lightly pigmented on the belly.

Food

Like most suckers, the northern hogsucker preys upon many varieties of benthic organisms, the most common of which are insect larvae, small crustaceans, detritus, and algae. It feeds by disturbing the stream bottom with its large snout and sucking up organisms that it dislodges. It can often be seen with its body angled upward, tail high, nearly perpendicular to the stream bottom as it forages around larger rocks. Its small air bladder and large pectoral ﬁns help support it in the current while feeding.

Size/Age

The northern hogsucker is a medium-size sucker, reaching up to 12 to 14 inches in length. Sexual maturity is reached between 2 and 3 years old, although most ﬁsh do not spawn until age 4. The northern hogsucker may live for 8 years.

Spawning behavior

Northern hogsuckers spawn in mid to late spring as the water begins to warm. They do not make long upstream migrations, as many suckers do, but spawn in pool tails, rifﬂes, and stream margins near where they reside. Like most suckers, northern hogsuckers require clean gravel substrate for successful reproduction.

Other Names

sucker, hog sucker.

Range

The northern hogsucker is widely distributed across central and eastern North America, occurring in the Great Lakes, Mississippi, Ohio, and some Atlantic drainages.

Habitat

The northern hogsucker inhabits primarily large streams and small rivers. It is usually found in areas with high water quality and clean substrate, free of heavy siltation. It is well suited to a benthic lifestyle, remaining close to the bottom in areas of various depths and ﬂow velocities. Adults may inhabit deep pools and runs, as they are too large to be preyed upon by bass and other predators. The young and the subadults live in faster water and in the stream margins.

Inconnu (Stenodus leucichthys)

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A member of the Salmonidae family and a relative of whiteﬁsh and cisco, the inconnu is a species with limited northern range. The only predatory member of the whiteﬁsh group in North America, it is highly favored by anglers as an exciting and large sportﬁsh, but it is perhaps the least caught of North American gameﬁsh. Its silvery coloring and tendency to leap high out of the water when hooked have earned it the nickname “Eskimo tarpon.”

Identification

The general body shape of the inconnu is very similar to that of a charr or a whiteﬁsh, but the head is relatively long, pointed, and depressed on the top. Its mouth is large, and the lower jaw clearly projects outward beyond the upper jaw. The maxillary, or upper jaw bone, extends back at least as far as the middle of the eye.

Small, ﬁne teeth are found on the anterior part of the lower jaw, and on the tongue, the premaxillaries, the head of the maxillaries, the vomer, and the palatines (bones of the roof of the mouth). The tail is distinctly forked. Sheeﬁsh have large scales, a dark lateral line, and, like all salmonids, an adipose ﬁn.

Size/Age

Inconnu are said to grow to 60 pounds. The all-tackle world record is a 53-pounder from Alaska. The largest ﬁsh may be between 25 and 35 years old.

Life history/Behavior

Spawning takes place in the late summer and the early fall, when inconnu ascend freshwater tributaries. Inland inconnu leave lakes and run up tributaries as well. In coastal regions, inconnu migrate from estuaries to river mouths after ice out, then ascend freshwater tributaries; this migration may last a few weeks in shortlength rivers or months in longer ones. After spawning, they do not die but quickly migrate downstream.

Food and feeding habits

This species feeds mostly on small ﬁsh. Salmon smolts, cisco, smelt, and whiteﬁsh are among the common forage, and in coastal areas large schools of inconnu will fatten on baitfish prior to their spawning migration.

Other Names

sheeﬁsh, connie, Eskimo
tarpon; Russian: beloribitsa.

Distribution

In North America, inconnu are found in Alaska, from the Kuskokwim River (Bering Sea drainage) north, throughout the Yukon River in Canada, in the Mackenzie River, in Great Bear and Great Slave Lakes in Canada’s Northwest Territories as far as the Anderson River near Cape Bathurst, and in isolated areas of extreme northern British Columbia.

The largest North American ﬁsh occur in the vicinity of Selawik to Kotzebue, where tributaries enter into Hotham Inlet and Kotzebue Sound. In Asia, inconnu occur westward as far as the White Sea, and an isolated population inhabits the Caspian Sea and its drainage.

Habitat

Although generally viewed as a freshwater species, the inconnu occurs in strictly freshwater lakes and rivers and also in anadromous sea-run forms that winter in brackish deltas, bays, and tidewater areas and ascend coastal tributaries to spawn. It evidently evolved from purely freshwater ﬁsh to estuarine-anadromous ﬁsh.

Lamprey

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Lampreys are one of two groups of jawless ﬁsh (the other being hagﬁsh), which are the most primitive true vertebrates. They are members of the Petromyzontidae family. Jawless fish are fishlike vertebrates that resemble eels in form, with a cartilaginous or ﬁbrous skeleton that has no bones. They have no paired limbs and no developed jaws or bony teeth. Their extremely slimy skin lacks scales. Fossils of lampreys have been dated back 280 million years.

The jawless, eel-like lampreys are just as ugly as their hagﬁsh cousins in form and feeding habits; they differ in other respects, however. Hagﬁsh are strictly marine, whereas lampreys are either totally freshwater inhabitants or, if they live in the sea, they return to freshwater rivers to spawn.

Lampreys have a large sucking disk for a mouth and a well-developed olfactory system. The mouth is ﬁlled with horny, sharp teeth that surround a ﬁlelike tongue. A lamprey’s body has smooth, scaleless skin; two dorsal ﬁns; no lateral line; no vertebrae; no swim bladder; and no paired ﬁns. The lamprey has no prominent barbels on its snout; its eyes are well developed in the adult and visible externally; there are seven external gill openings on each side; and the nasal opening is on the upper part of the head.

Lampreys are usually parasitic. The lamprey attaches itself to the side of a live ﬁsh by using its suctorial mouth; then, by means of its horny teeth, it rasps through the victim’s skin and scales and sucks the blood and body juices.

Lampreys spawn in the spring. They ascend streams where the bottom is stony or pebbly and build shallow depressions by moving stones with the aid of their suctorial mouths. Usually, the male and the female cooperate in constructing the nest. When ready to spawn, the pair stirs up the sand with vigorous body movements as the milt and the eggs are deposited at the same time.

The eggs stick to particles of sand and sink to the bottom of the nest. The pair then separates and begins another nest directly above the ﬁrst, thereby loosening more sand and pebbles, which flow down with the current and cover the eggs. The procedure is repeated at short intervals until spawning is completed. Adults die after spawning.

After several days the young appear and drift downstream until they are deposited in a quiet stretch of water, where they settle down and burrow into the bottom to spend several years as larvae (called ammocetes). When they reach a few inches in length (this varies with the species), the ammocetes transform during the late summer or the fall into adultlike lampreys, complete with sucking disks and circular rows of horny teeth.

The sea lamprey is most notorious as a despoiler of valued sport and commercial ﬁsh. It ranges the western Atlantic from southern Greenland, Labrador, and the Gulf of St. Lawrence south to the Gulf of Mexico in Florida. It is landlocked in the Great Lakes, the Finger Lakes, Oneida Lake, and Lake Champlain. It breeds exclusively in freshwater.

Young lampreys, when in saltwater or en route to saltwater, are white underneath and blackish blue, silvery, or lead-colored above. Large specimens approaching maturity are usually mottled brown or dressed in different shades of yellow brown and various hues of green, red, or blue. Sometimes they appear black when the dark patches blend with each other. The ventral surface may be white, grayish, or a lighter shade of the ground color of the dorsal surface. Colors intensify during the breeding season.

Mature sea lampreys are from 2 to 2.5 feet long. The maximum recorded length is nearly 4 feet, and the maximum weight 5.4 pounds.

Commonly, but erroneously, lampreys are known or referred to as “lamprey eels.” They are not true eels (see Eel, American) of the family Anguillidae. For easy differentiation, eels possess jaws and pectoral ﬁns; these are lacking in the lamprey.

Madtoms

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Madtoms are members of the catﬁsh (see) family, Ictaluridae, often referred to as bullhead catfish. Although the larger members of the catﬁsh family have gained notoriety as sportﬁsh, commercial ﬁsh, or food ﬁsh, the secretive and diminutive madtom escapes public attention.

These are little-known ﬁsh with interesting lifestyles. Madtoms are important links in the food webs of many streams, making it possible for large predators such as bass, wading birds, and water snakes to beneﬁt from the stream’s vast energy, represented by larval insect production.

They are also a unique natural resource to North America’s small streams and are endemic to the continent north of Mexico. The 40 species belonging to the family Ictaluridae occur naturally in the United States and Canada, and 27 are madtoms.

Like other members of the Ictaluridae family, madtoms possess stinging venom in their dorsal and pectoral spines. The venom originates from cells of the skin sheath over the pectoral ﬁn. The toxicity of the venom varies but approximates that of a bee sting, although every person reacts differently to being stung.

Identification/Size

The madtom is recognized by its unique adipose ﬁn. A non-madtom catﬁsh has a ﬂeshy ﬁn protruding from its back, just ahead of the caudal ﬁn. The adipose ﬁn of a madtom is continuous with the caudal ﬁn.

Madtoms belong to the genus Noturus, which is divided into three subgenera, Noturus, Schilbeodes, and Rabida, each with its own distinct appearance. The Schilbeodes are dull colored, generally brown or yellow brown. Those in Rabida have colorful markings with many bands and saddlelike pigmentation. There is only one species in the subgenus Noturus, the stonecat (Noturus flavus). The stonecat possesses the plain appearance of the Schilbeodes; however, no other madtoms match this species in size.

Stonecats exceed 7 inches as adults and may reach 12 inches in some locations. Madtoms range from 21⁄2 inches to 6.5 inches.

Reproduction

Madtoms start spawning about mid-April and ﬁnish spawning in mid-July. As with most ﬁsh, the commencement of spawning and the length of the spawning season depend heavily on water temperature. Madtoms usually begin spawning after the water temperature has reached 64°F and stop spawning after the water temperature exceeds 81°F. During the spawning season, adults are sexually dimorphic, which means males look different from females.

Madtoms construct nests to rear their young and provide post-spawning protection. A nest consists of an area with a pebble or gravel substrate that has been cleared of silt and debris.

Most madtoms prefer to nest under rocks; however, the speckled madtom and others have been known to nest in discarded beverage cans or bottles.

Although madtoms are small ﬁsh, they have relatively fewer and larger eggs compared to species that do not exhibit parental care. Madtom eggs may be up to 0.2 inches in diameter; they are adhesive and stick to the substrate and each other.

Generally, a short time after laying the eggs, the female leaves the nest and the parental duties to the male. Eggs hatch in 8 to 10 days, depending on water temperature. After approximately 21 days of parental care, the male parent will leave the young madtoms on their own.

Food

Madtoms are crepuscular feeders, which means they feed mostly at dusk and dawn. As insectivores, they primarily feed on a diet of midge larvae, mayﬂy larvae, caddisﬂy larvae, and crayﬁsh. Most madtoms are not as picky about their food as about their housing and will eagerly devour any available prey.

Madtoms generally consume smaller amounts of stoneﬂy, beetle, black ﬂy, dragonﬂy, alder ﬂy, and ﬁsh ﬂy larvae. An occasional small ﬁsh (such as lamprey larvae), a spider, or zooplankton have also been found in their stomachs. When placed together, large adult madtoms have consumed small juvenile madtoms of the same species.

Brown Madtom

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The brown madtom is a widely distributed and relatively common member of the madtoms. This diminutive catﬁsh may be used in bait ﬁshing for bass and is prominent in moderate- to fast-ﬂowing water.

Identification

The brown madtom is dull colored. The upper body possesses a chocolate brown or yellowish-brown tint. The ventral side is pale. Juvenile brown madtoms, especially those collected in complex leaf debris or vegetation, may be black. These ﬁsh will adjust the intensity of their body color to simulate shades of their surroundings. The upper lip of the brown madtom protrudes beyond that of the lower lip, and the rear of the pectoral spine has six sawlike teeth.

Size/Age

Male and female brown madtoms grow at the same rate, but males reach a larger overall length because they live longer. The largest individual collected to date was a male that measured 6 inches in total length. Females live at least 3 years, while males may live 4 or 5 years. The total length of a 3-year-old ﬁsh ranges from 3.9 to 5.1 inches. Reproduction. Spawning, as determined in northern Mississippi research, takes place from May through July.

Food

Brown madtoms exhibit crepuscular feeding, with peak feeding activity following sunset and just before sunrise. The diet, similar to other madtoms, is primarily composed of midge larvae, caddisﬂy larvae, and crayﬁsh.

Distribution

The brown madtom has a fairly wide distribution covering the following areas: Mississippi River tributaries in Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama; Tennessee River tributaries in Tennessee and Alabama; the Gulf Slope in the Sabine River drainage of Louisiana; and Bayou Teche drainage in Louisiana. It has also been reported in the Ouachita River drainage in Arkansas, probably introduced with other baitﬁsh. In areas where brown madtoms are collected, they are usually abundant.

Habitat

This species is usually abundant in springs and small streams where areas of vegetation exist, in accumulations of debris, and underneath undercut banks. Madtoms in one stream in northern Mississippi preferred undercut banks to all other types of cover. Brown madtoms can be found in moderate- to fast-ﬂowing water over small gravel or coarse sand.

Fathead Minnow (Pimephales promelas)

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The fathead minnow is a small, hardy, and widely cultivated member of the Cyprinidae family of minnows that is commonly used as bait, and it is an important forage species for gameﬁsh. It is also commonly used in toxicity studies.

Identification

The fathead minnow has a stubby, deep, compressed body with a short head that is ﬂat on top. The snout is blunt. The mouth is small and slanted and possesses pharyngeal teeth. The body is generally dull in color, being dark olive or gray above and fading to muted yellow to white below. The scales become larger toward the tail and smaller toward the head, and the lateral line curves downward and is incomplete.

There is a dark spot at the middle of the anterior dorsal rays, the caudal rays have dark outlines, and the leading edge of the pectoral ﬁns is black. There is also a stout half-ray at the front of the dorsal ﬁn. There are no barbels, but breeding males develop tubercles on their snouts and become darker.

Size/Age

Fathead minnows average 1.5 to 3 inches long and grow to only 4 inches. Most die in their third year.

Spawning behavior

Fathead minnows have an extended spawning period, from late spring into summer. It commences when the water temperature exceeds 60°F. They are nest spawners, often creating nest sites under ﬂoating or suspended objects or beneath logs or stones, generally in 1 to 3 feet of water. Males create the nests, herd the females into them, and guard the nests until the eggs hatch; several females may deposit eggs in one nest site, and the adhesive eggs hatch in 6 to 9 days.

Food

The diet of fathead minnows is mostly algae, as well as bottom detritus, zooplankton, and insect larvae.

Other Names

minnow; French: tête de boule.

Distribution

This species ranges widely (in part through introductions) across North America, from Quebec to the Northwest Territories and south to Alabama, Texas, and New Mexico, as well as in Mexico. It is most common in the Great Plains and scarce in mountainous regions.

Habitat

Fathead minnows prefer ponds and pools or slow-moving water in streams, creeks, and small rivers. They can tolerate muddy water and are occasionally found in roadside ditches.

Mooneye

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A member of the Hiodontidae family, the mooneye is a close relative and very similar in appearance to the better known goldeye (see). It is most important as forage for assorted predator species. Its ﬂesh is soft and bony and of no human food value, and it is not a target of anglers. Though often called a herring or a shad, it is neither.

Identification

The mooneye is a small ﬁsh whose compressed body is deep in proportion to its length and is covered with large, loose scales. Dark blue to blue green over the back, it is silvery on the sides and tapers to white on the belly. It has a small head and a short, bluntly rounded snout with a small terminal mouth, containing many sharp teeth on the jaws and the tongue.

The color of its eyes and the position of its anal ﬁn distinguish it from the goldeye. The irises of the large eyes of the mooneye are silver colored (unlike the gold-colored irises of the goldeye). The mooneye’s dorsal ﬁn begins before the anal ﬁn (the goldeye’s begins opposite or behind its anal ﬁn). The mooneye can be distinguished from the gizzard shad by not having a dorsal ﬁn ray projection.

Size/Age

Mooneye are slightly larger on average than goldeye and are often found to be 2 pounds in weight, although their maximum attainable size is uncertain. They may live at least 10 years.

Spawning behavior

Mooneye spawn in the spring, moving up tributary rivers or streams. Food. This species feeds on plankton, insects, and small ﬁsh. Small mooneye are preyed upon by large predators, including walleye, pike, catﬁsh, and salmon.

Distribution

Endemic to North America, mooneye occur in the St. Lawrence Great Lakes region (except Lake Superior), the Mississippi River drainage, and the Hudson Bay basin from Quebec to Alberta, and southward to the Gulf of Mexico. Mooneye are also present in Gulf Slope drainages from Mobile Bay, Alabama, to Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana.

Habitat

Mooneye inhabit deep, warm, silty sections of medium and large rivers, the backwaters of shallow lakes connected to them, and impoundments.

Mosquitofish (Gambusia afﬁnis afﬁnis)

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The mosquitoﬁsh is a member of the large Poeciliidae family of livebearers, which is closely related to killifish or cyprinodonts, differing from them mainly in bringing forth its young alive, rather than laying eggs.

Also known as the North American topminnow or the western mosquitoﬁsh, this species is famous as the numberone scourge of mosquito larvae. Although there are other larvae-eating species of fish, the mosquitofish tolerates salinity and pollution levels that would kill most other species, and it produces up to 1,500 young in its lifetime.

Native to the southeastern United States, the mosquitoﬁsh has been introduced to suitable warm waters around the world since 1905, when it was experimentally introduced to Hawaii and virtually eliminated mosquitoes. As a result, Gambusia afﬁnis afﬁnis is the widest-ranging freshwater ﬁsh on earth (other species of mosquitoﬁsh have not been as successfully introduced). It has most recently been introduced in many places to help control West Nile virus.

Female mosquitoﬁsh are about 2 inches long, and the males are only half as large. The anal ﬁn of the male is modiﬁed to form an intermittent organ for introducing sperm into the female. A mature female may produce three or four broods during one season, sometimes giving birth to 200 or more young at a time. This ﬁsh is easily raised in aquariums and is not sensitive to temperature variations, but it does not adjust well to living with other ﬁsh.

Although it has been highly effective at controlling malarial mosquitoes, the mosquitoﬁsh is not a panacea. Mosquitofish larvae cannot survive without water (as mosquito larvae can), they do not control mosquitoes in places with abundant surface vegetation to hide mosquito larvae, they may consume the young of forage and game species, and they can have adverse effects on indigenous ﬁsh species.

Mullet

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Mullet belong to the Mugilidae family, a group of roughly 70 species whose members range worldwide in shallow, warm seas. A few species live in freshwater and some are reared in ponds. All are good food ﬁsh, especially in smoked form, although smaller ones may be too bony to eat. Mullet roe is considered a delicacy. Mullet are important food ﬁsh for many predator species, and anglers use them alive or dead, in chunks or strips, as bait.

Identification

The striped mullet (Mugil cephalus) is bluish gray or green along the back, shading to silver on the sides, and white below. Also known as the black mullet, or fatback, it has indistinct horizontal black bars, or stripes, on its sides; the ﬁns are lightly scaled at the base and unscaled above, the nose is blunt and the mouth small; and the second dorsal ﬁn originates behind that of the anal ﬁn.

It is similar to the smaller fantail mullet (M. gyrans) and the white mullet (M. curema), both of which have black blotches at the base of their pectoral ﬁns, a characteristic that is lacking in the striped mullet.

The fantail mullet has an olive-green back with a bluish tint, shading to silvery on the sides and white below. Its anal and pelvic ﬁns are yellowish; there’s a dark blotch at the base of the pectoral ﬁn; the mouth has an inverted V-shape; and the second dorsal ﬁn originates behind the anal ﬁn.

The white mullet, also known as silver mullet, is bluish gray on the back, fading to silvery on the sides and white below. It lacks stripes; small scales extend onto its soft dorsal and anal ﬁns; there’s a dark blotch at the base of the pectoral ﬁn; and the second dorsal ﬁn originates behind the anal ﬁn.

Size

The striped mullet may reach a length of 3 feet and weigh as much as 12 pounds, although the largest specimens have come from aquariums. Roe specimens in the wild are common to 3 pounds, but most striped mullet weigh closer to a pound. The fantail mullet is small and usually weighs less than a pound. The white mullet is similar in size to the fantail.

Life history/Behavior

Mullet are schooling ﬁsh found inshore in coastal environs. Many, but not all, species have the unusual habit of leaping from the water as they race along in schools. Some have stiff bodies when they jump and fall back into the water with a loud splat, which usually draws the attention of people nearby; most newcomers to mangrove coasts think these leaping fish are a sporting species or are being pursued by gameﬁsh, although this is often not the case.

Theories abound as to why mullet jump: to escape predators, remove parasites, coordinate spawning migrations, aid respiration, and so forth. Some research has supported the respiration theory.

Research on striped mullet showed that the fish uses the upper portion of the pharynx for aerial respiration, obtaining air by jumping or holding its head above the water. The research showed that the jumping frequency of this species seemed to be inversely related to dissolved oxygen concentration. The less oxygen, the more often the ﬁsh jumped.

Adult striped mullet migrate offshore in large schools to spawn; juveniles migrate inshore at about 1 inch in size, moving far up tidal creeks. Fantail mullet spawn in nearshore or inshore waters during the spring and the summer, and juveniles occur offshore. White mullet spawn offshore, and the young migrate into estuaries and along beaches.

Food and feeding habits

These mullet feed on algae, detritus, and other tiny marine forms; they pick up mud from the bottom and strain plant and animal material from it through their sievelike gill rakers and pharyngeal teeth. Indigestible materials are spit out. In most species, the stomach is gizzardlike for grinding food.

Distribution

The striped mullet is cosmopolitan in all warm seas worldwide and is the only member of the mullet family found off the Paciﬁc coast of the United States. The fantail mullet occurs in the western Atlantic in Bermuda, and from Florida and the northern Gulf of Mexico to Brazil.

The white mullet is found in the western Atlantic in Bermuda and from Massachusetts south to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico; in the eastern Atlantic from Gambia to the Congo; and in the eastern Paciﬁc from the Gulf of California, Mexico, to Iquique, Chile.

Muskellunge

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The muskellunge is the largest member of the Esocidae family of pike. Its name is derived from the native Indian word maskinonge, which has had numerous interpretations. Among them are deformed pike (mashk kinonge); ugly ﬁsh (mas kinonge); and large pike (mas kenosha). The muskellunge is strictly a North American species, native to central and eastern North America.

Identification

The muskellunge has an arrowlike body that is long and sleek. A single soft-rayed dorsal fin is located very far back near the tail. The pelvic ﬁns are located
relatively far back on the belly, about halfway between the pectoral ﬁns and the tail, instead of directly under the pectoral ﬁns. The mouth is large, with the maxillae reaching back at least to the middle of the eyes, and it is broad like a
duck’s bill but full of teeth.

The coloration and the markings on muskellunge are highly variable but usually consist of dark markings on a brownish or green background. There are numerous dark, vertical bars that may appear as vermiculations or spots, and sometimes the body has no markings.

The northern pike, by comparison, has light-colored, oblong or kidney-shaped spots against a darker body, and the chain pickerel has a unique chainlike pattern on the sides, although the spaces between the “links” of the chain may be seen as large oblong spots, depending on one’s point of view. The grass and the
redﬁn pickerel look much more like the muskie in their markings, but they grow only to roughly 15 inches in length.

The muskie can also be distinguished from other Esox species by both cheeks and the gill cover, which are usually scaled only on the top half. In the pickerel, the cheeks and the gill cover are fully scaled; in the pike, the cheeks are fully scaled, but the gill cover is usually scaled only on the top half.

Another distinction occurs in the number of pores under the lower jaw. In the muskie there are 6 to 9 pores along each side (rarely 5 or 10 on one side only). In the northern pike there are 5 along each side (rarely 3, 4, or 6 on one side only). In the pickerel, there are 4 along each side (occasionally 3 or 5 on one side only).

Size/Age

Muskellunge are among the largest North American ﬁsh dwelling entirely in freshwater. The former all-tackle world record and current New York State record muskellunge is a 69-pound, 15-ounce ﬁsh that was caught in 1957 in the St. Lawrence River.

Most muskellunge encountered by anglers weigh between 7 and 15 pounds and are less than 40 inches long; specimens exceeding 20 pounds are not uncommon, but it is hard to come by one weighing more than 30 pounds. They have been known to live between 25 and 30 years, and many ﬁsh live for 15 years, although the average life span is closer to 8 years.

Life history/Behavior

Muskies spawn in the spring in 1 to 3 feet of water, in shallow bays covered with vegetation. This occurs just after ice out, and when the water temperatures are between 49° and 59°F. They are broadcast spawners and disperse the fertilized eggs randomly. Their spawning season usually occurs after the northern pike’s in areas where the two species coexist. Females grow larger than males at all ages, and both reach sexual maturity in 3 to 5 years.

Food and feeding habits

The muskie is a solitary ﬁsh that tends to stay in the same area, lurking opportunistically in thick weedbeds and waiting for prey. It is seldom a wandering, roaming ﬁsh, although it may migrate from deep to shallow environs to feed.

Its diet is varied, with a preference for larger, rather than smaller, ﬁsh, as the muskie is well adapted to capturing and swallowing ﬁsh of considerable size. Yellow perch, suckers, golden shiners, and walleye are among its favorite foods, but it also consumes smallmouth bass and many other ﬁsh.

Other Names

maskinonge, muskallonge, mascalonge, muskie, musky, ’lunge, silver muskellunge, Great Lakes muskellunge, Ohio muskellunge, Allegheny River muskellunge, spotted muskellunge, barred muskellunge, great muskellunge, great pike, blue pike, and so on. Occasionally, it is referred to as a “jack” in some areas.

Distribution

The muskellunge is endemic to eastern North America. It is native to the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and Mississippi River basins from southern Quebec to the Red River of the North in Manitoba and extends south in the Appalachians to Georgia and west to Iowa. It has been introduced (including the hybrid version) widely to Atlantic coast drainages as far as southern Virginia and elsewhere in the southern and western United States, although its representation in many of these areas is minor.

Habitat

Muskellunge live in medium to large rivers and in lakes of all sizes, although their preferred habitats are cool waters with large and small basins or both deep and shallow areas. They are found in waters no more than 75 acres in size, as well as in enormous waters like Lake of the Woods, Ontario; Lake St. Clair, Michigan; or the St. Lawrence River.

They rarely venture far from cover and favor shallow, heavily vegetated waters less than 40 feet deep, but they sometimes inhabit deep water that lacks vegetation but offers ample prey.

Tiger Muskellunge

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A member of the Esocidae family, the tiger muskellunge is a distinctively marked hybrid fish produced when true muskellunge (E. masquinongy) and northern pike (Esox lucius) interbreed. This occurs when the male of either species fertilizes the eggs of the female of the opposite species. This is not a common occurrence in the wild but has happened naturally in waters where both parent species occur, making it an unusual and prized catch.

The tiger muskie was believed to be a separate species until scientists succeeded in crossing a northern pike with a muskellunge, thereby discovering the tiger muskie’s true origin. Deliberate crossbreeding of these species in hatcheries by ﬁsheries managers is now much more common than is natural hybridization, and tiger muskies have been stocked in many waters where neither parent occurs naturally. Fish culturists prefer to cross a male northern pike with a female muskellunge because the eggs of the muskie are less adhesive and don’t clump as badly in the hatching process.

Populations of introduced tiger muskies are naturally self-limiting because this hybrid is sterile and cannot reproduce itself. Its numbers can therefore be controlled over time. It also grows quickly and is aggressive, making it an excellent catch for anglers.

The tiger muskie has a distinctive look and should not be confused with the true muskellunge, which has been called a tiger muskie in some areas. In most respects, notably in size and appearance, the hybrid is very much like the true muskellunge, and anglers hold the naturally occurring hybrid in higher esteem than the true muskie because of its rarity, its beautiful markings, and its game nature.

The true muskie may have either bars or spots on the sides or no markings at all, but it is rarely as strikingly beautiful as the tiger muskie, which has dark, wavering tigerlike stripes or bars, many of them broken, that are set against a lighter background.

As is true with many hybrid ﬁsh, the body of the tiger muskie is slightly deeper than that of either comparable-length parent. The cheeks and jaws are usually spotted, with 10 to 16 pores existing on the underside of the jaws. The tips of the tail are more rounded than in the true muskie, and the ﬁns have distinct spots. In very large specimens, the ﬁns, especially the tail ﬁns, appear to be much larger than for a comparable true muskie.

Naturally occurring tiger muskies in excess of 30 pounds are extremely rare, and most have come from Wisconsin lakes. A 51-pound, 3-ounce ﬁsh, caught in 1919 at Lac Vieux Desert on the Wisconsin/Michigan border, is the all-tackle world-record tiger muskie. For a time, it was thought to be a true muskellunge and thus held the world record for that species.

Methods of ﬁshing for tiger muskies are no different than those for true muskies. Naturally occurring tiger muskies are caught incidentally by anglers ﬁshing for true muskellunge or other ﬁsh species. Introduced muskies are caught as both targeted and incidental catches. Most are released alive, particularly those of natural origin.

Other Names

tiger muskie, norlunge, nor’lunge, hybrid muskellunge.

Paddlefish

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Members of the primitive Polyodontidae family of bony ﬁsh, paddleﬁsh are distant relatives of sturgeon, whose closest living relatives are gar (see) and bowﬁn. They are large, slow-maturing, and long-lived freshwater fish of large inland rivers. They have a distinctive appearance and a prehistoric lineage that dates back hundreds of millions of years. They are not related to catﬁsh.

There are only two known species of paddlefish. The American species (P. spathula), which is proﬁled here, is commonly referred to simply as paddleﬁsh, lives only in the United States in the Mississippi River system and is a threatened species, although it is pursued in some areas by both commercial ﬁshermen and recreational anglers. The other species is the Chinese paddleﬁsh (Psephurus gladius), which is native to the Lower Yangtze River in China.

Paddleﬁsh have been steadily declining in numbers, due to overexploitation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, habitat degradation (e.g., construction of dams, locks, and other migratory obstructions), and pollution. The life history of this species and its slow-maturing and intermittent spawning have contributed to its vulnerability to these activities.

Paddleﬁsh are protected in some states, and restricted ﬁsheries exist in others. Populations of North American paddleﬁsh that can sustain ﬁshing pressure exist in only a few localities, and poaching is a continued threat. Poaching occurs for the purpose of securing eggs, which are substituted for sturgeon eggs and valuable when made into caviar.

Identification

The paddlefish is almost sharklike in appearance, and if its long paddle extension were cut off, it would look even more like a shark. Unlike sharks or other ﬁsh, the paddleﬁsh has a unique, long, paddle- or spoonlike snout. The function of the snout has not been completely determined, although it is highly enervated. Paddleﬁsh are suspected of using their snouts to locate prey, perhaps to stir sediment on the bottom. There are two small barbels on the snout, and the underside is dotted with sensory pits.

The paddleﬁsh also has a greatly elongated operculum ﬂap, an extremely large basketlike mouth, long gill rakers, and a deeply forked tail with a high dorsal ﬁn that resembles a shark ﬁn. Adult paddleﬁsh are toothless, but juveniles have teeth on their jaws. The color is slate gray to purplish above. They have almost white bellies, and the skin is smooth, like that of a catﬁsh, with the only scales being on the caudal peduncles.

Size/Age

Paddleﬁsh may live to be 25 to 30 years old. They often grow to 100 pounds, although the average ﬁsh is much smaller. Literature from the past contains reports of paddlefish that grew to more than 200 pounds. World records are not kept for this species by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) because they are not hooked in the mouth but snagged. Nevertheless, state records show that Montana produced a 142-pound, 8-ounce ﬁsh in 1973 in the Missouri River. A 134-pounder from Missouri was over 20 years old.

Life history/Behavior

Adults migrate upstream to gravel bars in the spring, spawning in high currents with temperatures between 50°F and 60°F. They are commonly found in tailwaters below dams, which impede their upstream migration. In rivers where they are able to travel unimpeded, paddleﬁsh may migrate signiﬁcant distances.

Spawning occurs in midstream, and the adhesive eggs attach to the gravel on the bottom. When hatched, the fry are moved downstream by swift currents into deep pools with lower water velocities. Where oxbows occur, they may serve as alternate spawning sites and important nursery areas for young paddleﬁsh, whose early growth is rapid.

Food and feeding habits

Paddlefish eat zooplankton, microscopic plants and animals that live in open water. They swim through the water with their large mouths open and strain out the zooplankton with numerous (hundreds) gill rakers. They are not bottom feeders and move about in shallow water or near the surface of slow-moving currents with favorable foraging conditions.

Other Names

spoonbill, spoonbill catﬁsh, spoonbill cat, American paddleﬁsh, Mississippi paddleﬁsh, shovel-billed cat, duckbilled cat, spadeﬁsh, shovelﬁsh.

Distribution

The American paddleﬁsh ranges throughout the Mississippi River drainage, from the Missouri River in Montana southward. Some populations are self-sustaining, whereas others are maintained with stocking. American paddleﬁsh have been sent to Russia (50,000 paddleﬁsh eggs were shipped from Missouri in the mid-1970s) in an attempt to establish the species there and to augment caviar production, which has suffered due to dwindling sturgeon populations.

Habitat

Paddleﬁsh prefer low-gradient rivers, pools, backwaters, and oxbows; they also exist in ﬂood-plain reservoirs as a result of dam building. When not spawning, they are pelagic and are found in open water.

White Perch (Morone americana)

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White perch are abundant in some places, rare in others, similar enough to other species to be misidentiﬁed, and underappreciated as table fare.

Identification

The white perch is not a true perch but a member of the temperate bass family and a relative of the white bass and the striped bass. It is similar in shape to the striped bass, but it has a deeper, less-rounded body and lacks the horizontal lines found on the striped bass.

Although shorter, stockier, and smaller in weight than a striper, it is very similar in appearance to a white bass, except that it has no stripes. A more appropriate name for this species would probably be silver bass, and it is called by that name in some areas.

The white perch has a deep, thin body that slopes up steeply from the eye to the beginning of the dorsal ﬁn and that is deepest under the ﬁrst dorsal ﬁn. On large, older specimens, the white perch can be nearly humpbacked at that spot.

Its colors can be olive, gray green, silvery gray, dark brown, or black on the back, becoming a lighter silvery green on the sides and silvery white on the belly. The pelvic and the anal ﬁns (both on the belly) are sometimes rosy colored. Like all members of the temperate bass family, it has two dorsal ﬁns on the back, and the pelvic ﬁns sit forward on the body, below the pectoral ﬁns.

The ﬁrst dorsal ﬁn has nine spines, but the second one is soft rayed. There are three spines at the front of the anal ﬁn, and a single spine precedes the second dorsal ﬁn and each pelvic ﬁn. The white perch has no teeth on its tongue, its scales are relatively large, and the lateral line is complete.

Size/Age

White perch are generally small and slow-growing after attaining juvenile size. The average white perch caught by anglers weighs under a pound and is probably close to three-quarters of a pound and 9 inches in length. These ﬁgures can obviously vary among regions and populations. In some places, the average white perch is just 6 inches long.

These ﬁsh have a normal life span of between 5 and 7 years, but some specimens may live for 14 to 17 years. They are said to be able to grow to 19 inches and 6 pounds, but these dimensions are extremely rare; the largest white perch in angling records is a 4-pound, 12-ounce Maine ﬁsh that was caught in 1949.

Life history/Behavior

White perch are spring spawners, usually accomplishing this act when water temperatures are between 57°F and 75°F and in shallow water over many kinds of bottoms. Males and females each spawn several times in random fashion. For unknown reasons, white perch in some bodies of freshwater are extremely successful at reproduction, whereas in others they are virtually unsuccessful.

These ﬁsh are a schooling species that groups even while young and continues to stay in loose open-water schools through adulthood. They do not orient to cover and structure and tend to be deeper than yellow perch, with whom they occupy the same lakes and ponds in parts of their range.

Food and feeding habits

White perch in lakes are known to feed both during the day and at night but are generally more active in low light and nocturnally. Freshwater and saltwater populations move to surface (or inshore) waters at night, retreating to deeper water during the day.

Perch eat mostly aquatic insect larvae when they are small. As they grow, they eat many kinds of small ﬁsh, such as smelt, yellow perch, killiﬁsh, and other white perch, as well as the young of other species, particularly those that spawn after them. They also reportedly consume crabs, shrimp, and small alewives and herring.

Other Names

silver bass, silver perch, sea perch, bass, narrow-mouthed bass, bass perch, gray perch, bluenose perch, humpy; French: bar blanc d’Amerique.

Distribution

White perch are found along the Atlantic coast from the southern Gulf of St. Lawrence to South Carolina and inland along the upper St. Lawrence River to the lower Great Lakes. They are present in all three Maritime Provinces, common in Lake Ontario, and especially abundant in the Hudson River and Chesapeake Bay areas. The white perch is far more coastal in occurrence than is the white bass, and most of the overlap in their distribution occurs in the area of the Great Lakes and the upper St. Lawrence River.

Habitat

Like its striped bass cousin, the adaptable white perch is at home in saltwater, brackish water, and freshwater. In marine waters, it is primarily found in brackish water, estuaries, and coastal rivers and streams, and some of the latter have sea-run populations. Some white perch remain resident in brackish bays and estuaries, whereas others roam widely in search of food.

White perch inhabit scattered freshwater lakes and ponds throughout their range, but in varied abundance. A proliﬁc ﬁsh, they have overpopulated some ponds and small lakes and have been deemed a nuisance, especially when crowding out black bass, trout, and other species. For marine purposes, white perch are considered demersal (bottom dwelling), and in general they do tend to stay deep in their home waters, on or close to the bottom.

Yellow Perch (Perca ﬂavescens)

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The most widely distributed member of the Percidae family, the yellow perch is one of the best loved and most pursued of all freshwater ﬁsh, particularly in northerly states and provinces in North America. This is due to its availability over a wide range, the general ease with which it is caught, and its delicious taste.

Identification

Unlike the white perch, which is actually a temperate bass, the yellow perch is a true perch. Although it resembles the true bass in many ways, it is more closely related to fellow Percidae family members, the walleye and the sauger. Its most striking characteristic is a colorful golden yellow body, tinged with orange-colored ﬁns.

The yellow perch is colored a green to yellow gold and has six to eight dark, broad vertical bars that extend from the back to below the lateral line, a whitish belly, and orange lower fins during breeding season. Its body is oblong and appears humpbacked; this is the result of the deepest part of the body beginning at the ﬁrst dorsal ﬁn, then tapering slightly to the beginning of the second dorsal ﬁn. This trait is somewhat similar in white perch, to which the yellow perch is unrelated, although both fish may inhabit the same waters.

The yellow perch is distinguished from the trout and the salmon by its lack of an adipose ﬁn, which is ordinarily located between the dorsal and the tail ﬁns, and from sunﬁsh by its separate dorsal ﬁns (connected in sunﬁsh) and two or fewer anal ﬁn spines (sunﬁsh have three or more). It is distinguished from the walleye and the sauger by its lack of canine teeth and by a generally deeper body form.

Size/Age

The average yellow perch caught by anglers weighs between 1⁄4 to 3⁄4 pound and measures 6 to 10 inches in length. In lakes with stunted populations, the ﬁsh are on the lower end of this range, and a 10-inch ﬁsh is usually considered fairly large.

Some lakes produce perch in the 1-pound and larger class, although ﬁsh greater than 1.5 pounds are infrequent. The all-tackle world-record yellow perch, taken in 1865, weighed 4 pounds, 3 ounces and is the oldest freshwater sportﬁsh record in the books. Yellow perch can grow to 16 inches in length and can live up to 12 years.

Life history/Behavior

Yellow perch usually spawn in the early spring when the water temperature is between 45°F and 50°F. Eggs are spawned in the shallow areas of lakes or up in tributary streams in gelatinous ribbons by an adult female and are fertilized by as many as a dozen males in weedy areas several feet deep. The ribbons, which may be up to 7 feet long and several inches wide, attach to vegetation until one-quarter to one-half of the 10,000 to 48,000 eggs hatch into fry in 10 days to 3 weeks after spawning.

Yellow perch travel in schools composed of ﬁsh that are similar in size and age, and there is some evidence of the sexes dividing into separate schools. In large lakes, adults move in schools farther offshore than do the young. They move between deeper and shallow water in response to changing food supplies, seasons, and temperatures.

Because of their predaceous nature and swift breeding, overpopulation is a problem in many lakes where yellow perch have been introduced; the ﬁsh may become stunted, and other species may be adversely impacted as a result. The introduction, through natural or artiﬁcial means, of yellow perch into ponds containing trout usually results in a collapse of the trout population, and this may be true for other species of fish that were dominant before yellow perch entered.

Food and feeding habits

Young yellow perch feed on zooplankton until they have grown to several inches in length and then feed on larger zooplankton, insects, young crayﬁsh, snails, aquatic insects, ﬁsh eggs, and small ﬁsh, including the young of their own species.

Other Names

ringed perch, striped perch, coon perch, jack perch, lake perch, American perch; French: perchaude.

Distribution

Yellow perch are widespread in the northern United States and Canada. They range east from Nova Scotia to the Santee River drainage in South Carolina and west throughout the Great Lakes states to the edge of British Columbia and into Washington. Small numbers extend north through Great Slave Lake almost to Great Bear Lake in Canada’s Northwest Territories.

They appear in nearly every state due to stocking, but they are sparsely distributed in the South, most of the West, and parts of the Midwest; they are also sparse in British Columbia and northern Canada. Although the yellow perch is a freshwater ﬁsh, Nova Scotia ﬁsheries personnel report that it is occasionally found in brackish water along the Atlantic coast.

Habitat

Yellow perch are found in a wide variety of warm and cool habitats over a vast range of territory, although they are primarily lake ﬁsh. They are occasionally found in ponds and rivers. These ﬁsh are most abundant in clear, weedy lakes that have a muck, sand, or gravel bottom.

Smaller lakes and ponds usually produce smaller ﬁsh, although in very fertile lakes with moderate angling pressure, yellow perch can grow large. They inhabit open areas of most lakes and prefer temperatures between the mid-60s and the low 70s.

Chain Pickerel (Esox niger)

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This member of the Esocidae family of pike is a lean, sporting, evil-eyed bandit, yet it is virtually neglected by most nonwinter anglers, rarely speciﬁcally pursued by open-water anglers, and often downgraded by those who catch it unintentionally while seeking more popular ﬁsh. Respectable battlers on appropriate tackle, these aggressive, available ﬁsh also offer a good chance of angling success.

Long, slimy, toothy, camouﬂaged in green brown and bearing chainlike markings, the chain pickerel has cold-blooded eyes and is a smaller but equally fearsome-looking version of its northern pike and muskellunge cousins. It has an unusual arrangement of bones, but the ﬂesh is generally white, flaky, and sweet.

At some times and from some places, however, the ﬂavor is not as good. This deﬁcit may be remedied by removing the skin before cooking. Many chain pickerel are caught through the ice.

This ﬁsh is sometimes confused with the walleye, particularly in southern Canada, where walleye are called “pickerel,” but the walleye is a member of the perch family and is unlike the true chain pickerel in all respects save one: It, too, has many teeth. Chain pickerel are abundant where pike and muskies are not found or are not particularly abundant.

Identification

With its long, slender body, the chain pickerel is very similar in appearance to the northern pike and the muskellunge, especially when young. It gets its name from its markings, which appear in a reticulated, or chain-like, pattern of black lines that covers the golden to yellowish or greenish sides.

The small, light-colored oval spots on the sides of the northern pike resemble the very large, light oval areas on the chain pickerel but may be distinguished by the dark background behind the pattern on the northern pike; also, the northern pike’s spots never appear large in relation to the background, whereas in the chain pickerel the lighter areas are more prevalent.

The chain pickerel has fully scaled cheeks and gill covers. These further distinguish it from the northern pike, which usually has no scales on the bottom half of the gill cover, and from the muskellunge, which usually has no scales on the bottom half of either the gill cover or the cheek.

It has only one dorsal ﬁn, which is located very far back on the body near the caudal peduncle. There is a dark vertical bar under each eye, and the snout is shaped like a duck’s bill. The lower jaw has a row of four sensory pores on each side, and the mouth is full of needle-like teeth.

Size/Age

The chain pickerel can exceed 30 inches in length and 9 pounds in weight, although the average ﬁsh is under 2 feet long and weighs less than 2 pounds. In some waters it may be even smaller. The all-tackle world record is a 9-pound, 6-ounce ﬁsh caught in Georgia in 1961. The maximum age is roughly 10, although the average is around 4. Females grow larger and live longer than males.

Other Names

jack, pike, eastern pickerel, eastern chain pickerel, lake pickerel, reticulated pickerel, federation pickerel, mud pickerel, green pike, grass pike, black chain pike, duck-billed pike, river pike, picquerelle, water wolf.

Distribution

This species extends along the Atlantic slope of North America from Nova Scotia to southern Florida, as well as along the Gulf Coast west to the Sabine Lake drainage in Louisiana and from the Mississippi River basin north to southwestern Kentucky and southeastern Missouri. Chain pickerel have been introduced to Lakes Ontario and Erie drainages and elsewhere. Their primary abundance is from the mid-Atlantic states northward and in Florida and Georgia.

Habitat

Chain pickerel inhabit the shallow, vegetated waters of lakes, swamps, streams, ponds, bogs, tidal and nontidal rivers, backwaters, and quiet pools of creeks and small to medium rivers, as well as the bays and coves of larger lakes and reservoirs. Solitary ﬁsh, they prefer water temperatures of 75º to 80ºF and are occasionally found in low-salinity estuaries, though they can tolerate a wide range of salinities. They move into deeper water during the winter and continue to feed actively.

The environs preferred by pickerel are somewhat similar to those of largemouth bass, particularly in regard to vegetation and abundant cover. Their primary hangouts are lily pads and various types of weeds, and they sometimes lie near such objects as stumps, docks, and fallen trees. Invariably, the waters with the best pickerel populations are those with abundant vegetation, much of which is found near shore.

Grass and Redfin Pickerel

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The grass pickerel and the redﬁn pickerel are two nearly identical subspecies of Esox americanus, differing only slightly in range. Because they occur only in small populations and are of small size, they have little importance as sportﬁsh, although they are signiﬁcant predators in many waters of more prominent small sportﬁsh. The white, sweet ﬂesh of these members of the Esocidae family is bony, but it has an excellent ﬂavor.

Identification

Slender and cylindrical, grass and redfin pickerel look much like the chain pickerel, with the same fully scaled cheeks and gill covers. They are dark olive to brown or black above, amber to brassy white below, with 20 or more dark green to brown wavy bars along the sides.

On the grass pickerel, there are pale areas between the bars that are wider than the bars. The grass pickerel is lighter in color than the redﬁn pickerel and has a pronounced pale midlateral stripe. The grass pickerel also has yellow-green to dusky lower ﬁns and a long narrow snout (although shorter than the chain pickerel’s), with a concave proﬁle, whereas the redﬁn pickerel appropriately has red lower and caudal fins, as well as a shorter, broader snout, with a convex proﬁle.

Each has a large mouth with sharp canine teeth and several sensory pores on the lower jaw. A dark vertical bar extends down from each eye, which is more vertical in the grass pickerel than in the redﬁn. An easy way to distinguish the redﬁn from the grass pickerel is to examine the scales on the sides of the redﬁn, of which there are more notched or heart-shaped ones, specifically six in the area between the pelvic fins. There are up to three on the grass pickerel. Also, the redﬁn has more than seven of these scales between the dorsal and the anal ﬁns, whereas the grass pickerel has four or fewer.

Size/Age

Both species seldom exceed 10 inches in length (the redﬁn pickerel can reach 14 inches) and three-quarters of a pound in weight; the redﬁn pickerel generally grows faster and slightly longer than the grass pickerel. The alltackle world record for the grass pickerel is a 1-pound Indiana ﬁsh; for the redﬁn pickerel, the record is a 1-pound, 15-ounce New York fish. They can live up to 8 years, although they usually live 5 years or less. Females live longer and grow larger than males.

Life history/Behavior

Reaching sexual maturity when they are roughly 2 years old and at least 5 inches long, grass and redﬁn pickerel spawn in the late fall, the early winter, or the spring; grass pickerel require water temperatures between 36° and 54°F, and redﬁn favor waters approaching 50°F.

Spawning takes place in heavily vegetated, shallow areas, and the backs of the ﬁsh appear at the surface as they scatter eggs in small batches over the vegetation. Grass pickerel may produce twice as many eggs as do redﬁn pickerel. They do not build nests. The grass pickerel’s eggs hatch in 11 to 15 days, the redﬁn pickerel’s in 12 to 14 days, without the protection of the parents.

Food and feeding habits

Grass and redﬁn pickerel are largely piscivorous, feeding mainly on other ﬁsh, such as minnows, although they occasionally eat aquatic insects, small crayﬁsh, and frogs. They will remain virtually motionless among the vegetation for hours at a time, waiting to dart out and seize a potential meal.

Other Names

banded pickerel, little pickerel, mud pickerel.

Distribution

In North America, grass pickerel range from the Great Lakes basin north to southern Ontario in Canada and to Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nebraska; they also occur in the Mississippi River and Gulf slope drainages west of the Pascagoula River in Mississippi to the Brazos River in Texas.

Redﬁn pickerel are found in Atlantic slope drainages, from the St. Lawrence River drainage in Quebec to southern Georgia; they also occur in Gulf slope drainages from the Pascagoula River in Mississippi to Florida. Populations for both species are generally small on a local level.

Habitat

Grass and redﬁn pickerel inhabit quiet or small lakes and swamps, bays and backwaters, and sluggish pools of streams. Both prefer heavy vegetation in clear waters, but the grass pickerel favors waters with neutral to basic acidity, and the redﬁn inhabits comparatively acidic waters.

Northern Pike (Esox lucius)

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Malevolent-looking and spear shaped, the northern pike is the namesake member of the Esocidae family of pike. It is a worthy angling quarry, one that grows fairly large, ﬁghts well, and accommodates anglers frequently enough to be of substantial interest in the areas where it is found.

Identification

The northern pike has an elongated body and head. The snout is broad and ﬂat, shaped somewhat like a duck bill. The jaws, the roof of the mouth, the tongue, and the gill rakers are armed with numerous sharp teeth that are constantly being replaced. A single soft-rayed dorsal ﬁn is located far back on the body.

Male and female pike are similar in appearance, and both are variable in color. A ﬁsh from a clear stream or lake will usually be light green, whereas one from a dark slough or river will be considerably darker. The underparts are whitish or yellowish. The markings on the sides form irregular rows of yellow or gold spots. Pike with a silvery or blue color variation are occasionally encountered and are known as silver pike.

The northern pike can be distinguished from its relatives by three main features. Most noticeably, the greenish or yellowish sides of these ﬁsh are covered with lighter-colored kidney-shaped horizontal spots or streaks, whereas all other species have markings (spots, bars, stripes, or reticulations) that are darker than the background color.

Their markings are most likely to be confused with those of the chain pickerel. The second distinction is the scale pattern on the gill cover and the cheek. In the northern pike the cheek is fully scaled, but the bottom half of the gill cover is scaleless. In the larger muskellunge, both the bottom half of the gill cover and the bottom half of the cheek are scaleless.

In the smaller pickerel, the gill cover and the cheek are both fully scaled. The third distinctive feature is the number of pores under each side of the lower jaw; there are usually 5 in the northern pike (rarely 3, 4, or 6 on one side), 6 to 9 in the muskellunge (rarely 5 or 10 on one side), and 4 in smaller pickerel (occasionally 3 or 5 on one side only).

Size/Age

Pike are normally 16 to 30 inches long and weigh between 2 and 7 pounds. Females live longer and attain greater size than males. Pike up to 20 pounds are common in some Canadian and Alaskan rivers, lakes, and sloughs, and ﬁsh weighing up to 30 pounds and measuring 4 feet in length are possible. The North American record is a 46-pound, 2-ounce New York ﬁsh caught in 1940. The average life span is 7 to 10 years, but in slow-growing populations they may live up to 26 years.

Life history/Behavior

Northern pike spawn in the spring, moving into the heavily vegetated areas of lakes and rivers either just after ice out or, in some cases, prior to ice out. In many places they spawn in wetlands or marshes that will have little or no water later in the season. They are broadcast spawners, and the scattered eggs that fall to the bottom are adhesive.

They usually hatch in 12 to 14 days but do so later in much colder waters. In waters that also contain muskellunge, the two species may crossbreed naturally; this occurs rarely but can happen, as muskies spawn in the same or similar environs, although usually after pike.

Food and feeding habits

Pike are voracious and opportunistic predators from the time they are mere inches long. They are solitary, lurking near weeds or other cover to ambush prey. Their diet is composed almost entirely of ﬁsh, but it may occasionally include shorebirds, small ducks, muskrats, mice, frogs, and the like. In pike waters, it is common to ﬁnd scarred ﬁsh that were grabbed by but escaped the large toothy maw of a pike. Pike feed most actively during the day and are heavily sight-oriented.

Other Names

pike, northern, jack, jackﬁsh, snake, great northern pike, great northern pickerel, American pike, common pike, Great Lakes pike; Danish: gedde; Dutch: snoek; Finnish: hauki; French: brochet; German: hecht; Hungarian: csuka; Italian: luccio; Norwegian: gjedde; Portuguese: ÿlcio; Russian: shtschuka; Spanish: lucio; Swedish: gäddo.

Distribution

The northern pike is densely distributed throughout Alaska, with the exception of the offshore islands, and widespread throughout Canada and the arctic islands above Hudson Bay, being conspicuously absent from the coastal plains (most of British Columbia and the Canadian Atlantic coast east of the St. Lawrence River).

In the United States, it is found south of Maine in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts (except along the coast) and in all the Great Lakes states (although it is largely absent from lower Michigan and Indiana), as well as west of the Great Lakes in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, and Montana. It has been widely introduced outside this native range, even into southern and western states.

Habitat

Although classiﬁed by biologists as a coolwater species, the northern pike exists in diverse habitats. It is especially known to inhabit the weedy parts of rivers, ponds, and lakes, but it may be found in deeper,

open environs in waters without vegetation, or when the temperature gets too high in warm shallower areas. Warm shallow ponds and cold deep lakes both support pike, but large individuals have a preference for water that is in the mid-50°F range. Smaller ﬁsh are more likely to be in warm shallow water.

Rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus)

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A prominent coarse ﬁsh, the rudd is widely sought by European anglers but is barely known to most North Americans. It is a member of the large Cyprinidae family, which includes minnows and carp, and is of similar size and color to its relative the roach.

Identification

The rudd is somewhat cylindrical, yet deep bodied. It has a moderately forked tail and an upturned mouth. The scales are strongly marked, the back is dark brown, and the sides are golden brown, tapering to a white belly. The pectoral, pelvic, and anal ﬁns are reddish orange, and the dorsal and tail ﬁns are dusky. The rudd has 8 to 9 dorsal rays, 10 to 11 anal rays, and eyes that are red or have a red spot.

The rudd may be confused with the roach; however, the pectoral ﬁns of the roach lack the reddish-orange color, and the body is more silvery. It is similar in appearance to the golden shiner (see: Shiner, Golden) but is distinguished from that species by its scaled ventral keel. Size. The maximum size for rudd is in the 4- to 5-pound range, although ﬁsh of that nature are rare. A 2-pound rudd is typically a large one.

Life history/Behavior

Spawning takes place in heavy weeds in spring, when rudd broadcast numerous adhesive eggs, rather than construct a nest. The fry stay in schools and gather in large congregations, and they provide forage for numerous predators. Rudd remain a schooling ﬁsh as adults. Their schools generally consist of similar-size individuals.

Food and feeding habits

Rudd feed on snails, aquatic insects, and small ﬁsh and spend a lot of time in beds of vegetation. They are largely surface feeders, but they also feed on the bottom and at mid-depths. Many rudd are observed taking food from the surface or from the under-sides of aquatic plants.

Other Names

European rudd; German: rotfeder; Italian: scardola. Distribution. Rudd range from western Europe to the Caspian and Aral Sea basins but are absent from Russia; they have been introduced to the United States.

Habitat

Pools, canals, lakes, and slow-running rivers with muddy bottoms are the prime locations for rudd. They spend much time in or along the edges of vegetation.

Ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernuus)

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A member of the Percidae family of perch, the ruffe was introduced into North America, evidently through ballast water discharge by transoceanic ships. It has become a considerable threat to the delicate predator-prey balance necessary to maintain ﬂourishing ﬁsheries in North American waters, especially in the Great Lakes. It has been reported only in Lake Superior waters but is likely to exist, or spread, elsewhere.

The species found and multiplying in Lake Superior has been identiﬁed as Gymnocephalus cernuus. The native range of G. cernuus is from France to the Kolyma River in eastern Siberia, and it has been introduced to England, Scotland, and Scandinavia.

Identification

The ruffe’s body shape is very similar to that of the yellow perch, and its body markings are similar to those of the walleye. It has a spiny ﬁrst dorsal ﬁn connected to a second soft dorsal ﬁn, two deep sharp spines on the anal ﬁn, one sharp spine on the pelvic ﬁns, and sharp spines on the gill cover. The dorsal ﬁns have rows of dark spots, the eyes are large and glassy, and the mouth is small and downturned. There are no scales on its head.

Size/Age

The ruffe seldom exceeds 6 inches in length but can attain a length of 10 inches. Most female ruffe live for 7 years but may live up to 11 years. Males generally live 3 to 5 years.

Life history/Behavior

The ruffe generally matures in 2 to 3 years and spawns between mid-April and July, depending on location, temperature, and habitat. Young ruffe have a faster growth rate than many of their competitors, and adults reproduce proliﬁcally, which allows for quick population expansion. It is a nocturnal ﬁsh, spending its days in deeper water and moving shallower to feed at night.

Food

The ruffe’s primary diet is small aquatic insects and larvae, although it may consume ﬁsh eggs.

Other Names

Eurasian ruffe; French: grémille; German: kaulbarsch; Polish: jazgarz; Russian: yersh obyknovennyi.

Habitat

The ruffe occurs in freshwater and in brackish waters with 3 to 5 parts per million salinity. It exists in a variety of lake environments, preferring turbid areas and soft bottoms without vegetation. In rivers, it prefers slower-moving water. It is more tolerant of murky and eutrophic conditions than are many other perch.

Sauger (Stizostedion canadense)

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A member of the perch family, the sauger is a smaller, slimmer relative of the walleye, which it closely resembles. It is an important commercial species in some places, especially in Canada, and a gameﬁsh that is often overlooked in some parts of its range. Most of the commercial Canadian catch is taken in Manitoba, where ﬁshing with gillnets and pound nets occurs in the summer, the autumn, and the winter.

Sauger are marketed almost entirely as fresh and frozen ﬁllets, and much of the catch is exported to the United States. Their ﬂesh is slightly softer, sweeter, and ﬁner in texture than that of the walleye, but this difference is generally indistinguishable to most people, and commercially, they are sold as one and the same ﬁsh.

Identification

The sauger’s body is slender and almost cylindrical, and the head is long and cone shaped. The back and the sides are a dull brown or olive gray ﬂecked with yellow and shading to white over the belly. There are three or four dark saddle-shaped blotches on the back and the sides.

It is easily distinguished from the smooth-cheeked walleye by the presence of rough scales on its cheeks and two or three rows of distinct black spots on the membranes of its spiny dorsal ﬁn, by the absence of a large blotch on the anterior portion of its spinous dorsal ﬁn, and by the absence of a white tip on its tail. The eyes are large and glossy, and the teeth are large and sharp.

Size/Age

Sauger are commonly caught at sizes ranging from 10 to 16 inches and up to 11⁄2 pounds. Specimens exceeding 22 inches and 5 pounds are rare. The maximum size is about 9 pounds, and the all-tackle world record is an 8-pound, 12-ounce ﬁsh caught in North Dakota in 1971. The life span is 10 to 12 years.

Life history/Behavior

Male sauger mature at age 2, females at ages 3 or 4. They spawn when the water temperature is between 41° and 46°F. Adults enter back-waters or tributaries or congregate in tailwaters and search for gravel or rock substrate where they can deposit their eggs. In large river systems, the upstream spawning run can cover 100 to 200 miles, although it will be just a short distance from reservoirs into tributaries.

In waters where they occur with walleye, they will usually spawn immediately after walleye. Sauger can naturally interbreed with walleye, producing a ﬁsh called a saugeye. Sauger grow more slowly than do walleye, however, and are primarily a river ﬁsh that locates near the bottom on a variety of bottom types.

Like walleye, the sauger is a schooling species. Food and feeding habits. Sauger feed on such small ﬁsh as shad, sunfish, and minnows, as well as on crayfish, leeches, and insects. Most feeding occurs over rocky gravel bottoms or along sparsely weeded sandy bottoms.

Other Names

sand pickerel, sand pike, blue pickerel, pike, gray pike, blue pike, river pike, pike-perch, spotﬁn pike, jack, jack ﬁsh, jack salmon; French: doré noir.

Distribution

This species has a general distribution in mid-central North America from Quebec to Tennessee and Arkansas, and north-westerly through Montana to about central Alberta. Between Alberta and Quebec it occurs in southern Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario and throughout the Great Lakes to James Bay.

It does not occur east of the Appalachians or much south of Tennessee, except in a few drainages where it has been introduced, principally from the Carolinas through the lower coastal states to as far south as Texas on the lower Gulf of Mexico.

Habitat

Habitat preferences of the sauger tend to large, turbid, shallow lakes and large, silty, slow-ﬂowing rivers. It is more tolerant of muddy water and swifter current than walleye, and it prefers water temperatures between 62° and 72°F. It is often found in tailwaters below dams and along rocky riprap. Eddies near turbulent water are often staging and feeding areas. Gravel bars and points are prominent holding locations in lakes.

Saugeye (Stizostedion vitreum x S. canadense)

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The saugeye is a hybrid ﬁsh resulting from the interbreeding of walleye and sauger. It occurs naturally, although infrequently, where the two species mix together.

Most populations are produced in hatcheries and are usually stocked in locations where neither parent species has been able to maintain a population. In some literature, it is identiﬁed as Stizostedion vitreum x S. canadense, which refers to a cross between a female walleye and a male sauger. The meat of the saugeye is similar to that of its parents, making it excellent table fare.

Identification

The body of the saugeye is more similar to that of a walleye than to that of a sauger, although the dorsal ﬁn is sometimes spotted (it is on the sauger and is not on the walleye). It also has saddlelike markings on the back and the sides, as the sauger does, and the caudal ﬁn has a white border on its lower lobe, as that of the walleye does. The saugeye also has a dark blotch on the membranes of the spiny dorsal ﬁn. The body may have a yellowish cast.

Size/Age

This ﬁsh grows rapidly and has the potential to reach the intermediate sizes, although not the overall size, that walleye typically attain. The all-tackle world record is a 12-pound, 13-ounce ﬁsh from Ohio. Typical saugeye are about 15 inches in length and they normally range from 10 to 24 inches.

Spawning behavior

Unlike some hybrid species, saugeye are not sterile and do have the ability to produce offspring with either parent stock. Spawning occurs in tributaries or in tailwater areas when the temperature is between 40° and 50°F.

Food

Small ﬁsh are the primary food for saugeye. Shad are especially favored in many lakes and rivers.

Distribution

The saugeye has been introduced to waters in the United States from western Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee to the eastern Dakotas and southward to Oklahoma.

Habitat

Like their sauger parent, saugeye are more tolerant of muddy or turbid water than are walleye and seem better suited to impoundments that receive a high rate of water exchange (which increases turbidity). The introduction of saugeye to new waters, however, is still in its early stages.

Gizzard Shad (Dorosoma cepedianum)

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A member of the Clupeidae family of herring and shad, the gizzard shad is important forage for large ﬁsh. However, its rapid growth rate causes it to exceed a consumable size for most predators early on in its life. It is often labeled a nuisance ﬁsh by anglers and biologists, due to large die-offs, which happen because the species is especially susceptible to drastic changes in temperature and low concentrations of oxygen.

Identification

The gizzard shad is one of two freshwater members of the herring family that has a distinctively long, slender last ray on its dorsal ﬁn. The body is silver blue on the back and silver white underneath, with either blue-and-green or gold reﬂections on the head and the ﬂanks.

Occasionally, there are six to eight horizontal dark stripes on the back, starting behind a large purple blue or black shoulder spot (which is faint or absent in large adults). The gizzard shad also has dusky fins, a blunt snout, a subterminal mouth, and a deep notch at the center of the upper jaw.

Size/Age

Growing to a maximum of 20.5 inches and averaging about 10 inches in length, this species commonly reaches more than a pound in weight but has grown to over 4 pounds. Most gizzard shad die before they reach age 7, although they can live up to 10 years.

Life history

Gizzard shad occur in schools and are ﬁrst able to spawn when 2 to 3 years old or 7 to 13 inches long. They breed near the surface in freshwater from March through August, when water temperatures range from 50° to 70°F. They roam open waters in search of plankton, which occurs at various levels, according to the season and conditions.

Food and feeding habits

Gizzard shad are ﬁlter feeders that strain microscopic organisms from the water or pick through mud and organic matter on the bottom.

Other Names

shad, eastern gizzard, hickory shad, mud shad, nanny shad, skipjack, winter shad.

Threadfin Shad (Dorosoma petenense)

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A well-known forage ﬁsh and a member of the Clupeidae family of herring and shad, the threadﬁn shad rarely grows larger than 5 inches long, remaining small enough to be one of the most important open-water forage species for prominent freshwater gameﬁsh, especially bass and stripers.

Identification

The threadﬁn shad is silvery with a deeply compressed body and is most easily recognized by the elongated, thin last ray on its dorsal ﬁn. It has a small, dark shoulder spot, and its upper jaw does not project past the lower jaw.

It is similar in appearance to other herring, including the similar-size but more northerly ranging alewives and the larger gizzard shad, with which it shares overlapping ranges and many of the same waters. It is distinguished from gizzard shad of similar size by its more pointed snout, terminal mouth, black dots on its chin and the bottom of the mouth, and yellow ﬁns.

Size

This species is commonly found at 21⁄2 to 4 inches long and can attain a maximum length of 9 inches. Many threadﬁns do not live longer than 2 years, although they can live as long as 4 or more years.

Life history/Behavior

Threadfin shad spawn in the spring and the autumn near or over plants or other objects. They are proliﬁc but short-lived and are highly susceptible to winter kill from extreme cold temperatures, which helps keep their numbers in check.

Food and feeding habits

Threadﬁns are ﬁlter feeders that primarily consume plankton and organic detritus in open water; they occasionally feed on fish larvae and on the organic material found on or over sandy or silty bottoms. In reservoirs and large lakes, these ﬁsh are constantly on the move, searching for and feeding on minute plankton, the location and the level of which will vary seasonally and according to various factors.

Other Names

shad, threadﬁn.

Distribution

Threadﬁn shad occur throughout the Mississippi River basin, from the Ohio River of Kentucky and southern Indiana southwest to Oklahoma and south to Texas and Florida, as well as in other Gulf of Mexico drainages and Atlantic drainages in Florida. They are also present in rivers in Guatemala and Honduras. They have been introduced as a forage species in Hawaii and the western United States and to other areas in the mainland United States.

Habitat

Occasionally found in the brackish waters of estuaries and bays, threadﬁn shad are mainly a freshwater ﬁsh occurring in large rivers, reservoirs, lakes, and backwaters, where they principally inhabit open-water environs.

Common Shiner (Luxilus cornutus)

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The common shiner is an abundant minnow of the Cyprinidae family that is commonly used as a baitﬁsh. It has been known to hybridize with striped shiners.

Identification

The common shiner is silvery with a deep compressed body, a dusky dorsal stripe, large eyes, diamond-shaped scales that ﬂake off easily, and nine anal rays. It has no barbels and no dark lateral stripe, but there is a dark stripe along the middle of the generally olive-colored back. During the spawning season, males develop blue backs and red or pink bodies, with pinkish ﬁns, and display large tubercles on their heads, their pectoral ﬁns, and anterior parts of their bodies.

Size

Common shiners are usually 3 to 4 inches long but can grow to 8 inches.

Spawning behavior

Common shiners spawn in the late spring in water temperatures ranging from 60° to 65°F. They are diverse spawners, preferring to use the nests of other minnows such as chub and fallfish, but they also spawn over gravel or in excavated depressions in gravel or sand.

Groups of males gather at the spawning site and vie for position at the upstream end of the nesting area. Spawning occurs when the male wraps his body around a female and drives her toward the nest. Because they often spawn in nests constructed by other minnow species, hybridization is common.

Food

Common shiners feed mainly on insects and insect larvae, but their diet may also include plant material, ﬁsh eggs, and small ﬁsh.

Other Names

shiner.

Distribution

This species occurs throughout the Mississippi River, the Hudson Bay, the Great Lakes, and the Atlantic basins from Nova Scotia to Saskatchewan, south to Missouri and Virginia.

Habitat

Common shiners are most prevalent in small to moderate-size streams, preferring areas that are clear and without fast-moving water. They will tolerate a small amount of silt but not muddy water.

Emerald Shiner (Notropis atherinoides)

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The emerald shiner is one of many shiners that are members of the minnow, or Cyprinidae, family. These ﬁsh are important forage for predator species and are frequently used as bait by anglers. Unlike most minnows, however, the emerald shiner is a pelagic big-water species and is abundant in large rivers and in lakes within its range.

Identification

The emerald shiner is a slender, elongated ﬁsh with a pale and silvery slab-sided body; it is faintly iridescent green on the top, fading to silver or white on the belly. Juveniles appear semitransparent. Other characteristics include a faint lateral band, a short and fairly pointed snout, large eyes, and usually 11 anal ﬁn rays. It has no barbels. During the spawning season, males develop very small tubercles on the ﬁns but have no breeding colors.

Size/Age

Emerald shiners are commonly 3 to 4 inches long and seldom grow to more than 5 inches long. They typically live for only 3 years.

Spawning behavior

Spawning occurs when water temperatures reach about 75°F and may be continued over an extended period, lasting from late spring through midsummer in some places. Unlike many other shiners, this species spawns in midwater in groups. It is also prone to cyclical abundance.

Food

A pelagic species, emerald shiners feed on plankton, zooplankton, blue-green algae, diatoms, and insect larvae.

Other Names

buckeye, shiner, lake shiner, lake emerald shiner, common emerald shiner; French: mémé émeraude.

Distribution

This species has a wide range, from the St. Lawrence and the Hudson River basins west to the Mackenzie River drainage of the Northwest Territories and south throughout the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River drainages, to the Gulf Coast from Texas to Alabama. It is probably the most abundant ﬁsh in the Mississippi River and other large rivers, and is also prominent in the Great Lakes, as well as in other large lakes.

Habitat

Emerald shiners travel in large schools in midwater and near-surface areas. They roam in large lakes and are common in the pools of big rivers. They are known to move vertically toward the surface at night and to deeper water in daylight.

Golden Shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas)

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The golden shiner is a prominent and widespread minnow of the Cyprinidae family. These ﬁsh are important forage species for predators and are widely used in various sizes as bait by anglers.

Identification

The golden shiner has a deep, compressed body that is generally golden yellow or brass colored in turbid water, varying to more silvery in clear water. The ﬁns are yellow green but become reddish in large spawning adults. The mouth is small and upturned with a slightly pointed snout, and there is a distinctive ﬂeshy, scaleless keel along the belly from the pelvic to the anal ﬁn.

The dusky lateral line of the golden shiner noticeably dips down in the middle of the body, and the caudal ﬁn is moderately forked. The color of the ﬁns is more pronounced during breeding season; the breeding male develops ﬁne tubercles on the dorsal surface of the head and the body. The golden shiner has 7 to 9 dorsal rays and 8 to 19 anal rays.

Size/Age

Golden shiners can grow to 10.5 to 12 inches in length, although the average size varies with the environment. Many northerly waters are likely to produce smaller ﬁsh on average, and 3 to 5 inches is the norm in many places. These ﬁsh reportedly live for up to 10 years.

Spawning behavior

Golden shiners reach sexual maturity in their second year when they are usually 2.5 to 3.5 inches long, and spawn over an extended period, commencing in the spring when water temperatures exceed 68°F. They do not prepare nests, as many other shiners and minnows do; rather, they scatter adhesive eggs over algae and other aquatic vegetation and do not exhibit parental care.

Food

The food of golden shiners consists of plankton, algae, insects, and small ﬁsh; they feed in midwater and at or near the surface.

Other Names

roach, shad roach, shiner, pond shiner.

Distribution

This species is widely distributed east of the Rockies in the central and eastern United States, ranging from Quebec to Saskatchewan in the north, and to Florida, Texas, and Mexico in the south. It has been introduced elsewhere, including Arizona, California, and Washington.

Habitat

Slow-water ﬁsh, golden shiners are prevalent in lakes, ponds, backwaters, and the slower parts of streams and small to medium rivers. They are common in weedy, clean, quiet, and shallow waters.

Striped Shiner (Luxilus chrysocephalus)

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The striped shiner is a common and widespread minnow of the Cyprinidae family that is familiar to anglers who use it as bait or observe it spawning over the gravel nests built by other minnows. Two subspecies are recognized: Luxilus chrysocephalus chrysocephalus and L. c. isolepis.

Identification

The striped shiner is a silvery, laterally compressed minnow with large eyes and a terminal mouth. The exposed portion of its scales near the anterior lateral line is much more deep than it is wide. Anterior portions of scales are darkly pigmented, giving a crescent-shaped appearance to the sides.

Several parallel stripes run along each side of the upper body and converge posterior to the dorsal ﬁn. L. c. chrysocephalus has wavy stripes, whereas L. c. isolepis has straight stripes. Other characteristics include 8 to 10 anal ﬁn rays and a complete lateral line with 36 to 42 scales. The nuptial male develops a rosy pink color on its head, its body, and the margins of all ﬁns and has tubercles on the head, the snout, the lower jaw, and the pectoral ﬁns.

Size/Age

Adults can exceed 8 inches in length, but most are less than 5 inches long; they can live up to 6 years.

Spawning behavior

Striped shiners reach sexual maturity in their second year. Adult males are larger than females. Spawning occurs from late spring to early summer in water temperatures ranging from 61° to 81°F.

Striped shiners are classiﬁed as pit spawners. Males excavate small pits on the top of chub nests or directly on the stream bottom and aggressively defend these pits while attempting to secure females for spawning. Because of their tendency to spawn over chub nests, striped shiners often hybridize with chub and with other minnows that use nests.

Food

Striped shiners feed mainly on insects, but their diet may also include detritus, algae, ﬁsh eggs, crayﬁsh, and small ﬁsh.

Other Names

shiner.

Distribution

The subspecies L. c. chrysocephalus extends throughout drainages of the lower Mississippi River and the Gulf Coast; L. c. isolepis occurs in drainages of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basins north of the Red River in Arkansas.

Habitat

Striped shiners occur in water bodies ranging from small streams to small rivers but are most abundant in small to medium streams. Their preferred habitats are pools, runs, and backwaters of ﬂowing streams. They are more common in free-ﬂowing streams with clear or slightly turbid water.

Splake (Salvelinus namaycush x Salvelinus fontinalis)

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A member of the charr group of the Salmonidae family, the splake is a distinctively marked hybrid ﬁsh produced in a hatchery by crossing a true lake trout female (S. Namaycush) and a true brook trout male (S. fontinalis). This interbreeding does not occur in nature but is initiated by humans and results in a fertile hybrid species capable of reproducing.

Identification

The splake is difﬁcult to identify externally because it resembles different aspects of both parents. The body shape is intermediate between the heavier lake trout and the slimmer brook trout. The shape of the tail is also intermediate.

It is not as deeply forked as that of the lake trout and more closely resembles the slightly indented tail of the brook trout. In coloration and markings, the splake more closely resembles the brook trout. It has vermiculations like brook trout, red-orange ventral ﬁns, and yellowish spots along its ﬂanks.

Size

Splake do not grow as large as lake trout, but they do grow larger than brook trout. Most splake weigh a few pounds, although those from bigger waters with a large forage base may be in the 8- to 12-pound class. The all-tackle world record weighed 20 pounds, 11 ounces.

Life history/Behavior

Although they can reproduce, not all splake do, and some populations lack a suitable habitat for spawning, which is generally rocky reefs near deep water. They also are capable of back-crossing (hybrids mating with parent species), which has occurred in hatcheries but evidently not in the wild. Spawning occurs in the fall, usually in October, on rocky reefs. In the spring, splake are often near tributaries or on gravel shoals, and in the summer they seek deep water.

Food

This omnivorous species eats smelt, white perch, yellow perch, crayﬁsh, insects, sculpin, and other ﬁsh.

Other Names

wendigo.

Distribution

Splake inhabit Lakes Superior and Huron in the Great Lakes and various midsize lakes in selected states, from Colorado, Utah, and Idaho in the western United States to northern New York and Maine in the east.

Northern Squawfish (Ptychocheilus oregonensis)

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The northern squawﬁsh is a large-growing member of the Cyprinidae family of minnows that is often caught in north-western North America trout and salmon waters. Yet it is not actively sought and is viewed as a threat to more popular species.

Related ﬁsh include the Colorado squawﬁsh (P. lucius), the Sacramento squawfish (P. grandis), and the Umpqua squawﬁsh (P. umpquae), which have limited distribution in their respective river systems. The Colorado squawﬁsh, which is endangered, is North America’s largest native minnow and can grow to 6 feet.

Identification

The northern squawﬁsh’s mouth is terminal and large, extending back past the front edge of the eye. The head is somewhat conical and ﬂattened between the eyes, and the body is slender and barely compressed. All ﬁns are clear, with no spots or coloration, and there are 9 to 10 rays in the dorsal ﬁn and 8 rays in the anal ﬁn. The caudal ﬁn is deeply forked.

Its coloring is usually dark green or greenish brown above and lighter and often silvery on the sides, and it has a whitish belly. The spawning male takes on a yellowish or yellow-orange color and develops tubercles on the head, the back, and some ﬁns.

Size/Age

This species can live 10 years and can grow to 25 inches, although it has been reported to attain lengths between 3 and 4 feet. Common sizes are in the 7- to 10-inch range.

Food

The diet of northern squawﬁsh is terrestrial insects, aquatic insect larvae, plankton, crustaceans, small ﬁsh, and ﬁsh eggs. Large individuals especially prey on small ﬁsh and are considered serious predators of juvenile salmonids. In the Columbia River, ﬁsheries managers undertake efforts to control squawﬁsh numbers to minimize this problem.

Other Names

squawﬁsh, Columbia River dace, Columbia squawﬁsh; French: sauvagesse du nord.

Distribution

Northern squawﬁsh occur in North America in the Paciﬁc drainages from the Nass River in British Columbia to the Columbia River in Nevada, in the Harney River basin in Oregon, and in the Peace River system (Arctic basin) in British Columbia and Alberta.

Habitat

Northern squawﬁsh inhabit lakes, ponds, and runs of small to large rivers.

Sticklebacks

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Sticklebacks are small, slim members of the Gasterosteidae family that are rarely more than 3 inches long and are conﬁned to the Northern Hemisphere, occurring most abundantly in North America. They are primarily freshwater ﬁsh, but some also occur in brackish or shallow inshore waters of seas.

The family contains seven genera, nine species, and several subspecies; they are of minimal forage value for predatory ﬁsh and are little used as bait, but they have a distinctive appearance and unusual courtship and spawning behaviors.

The stickleback gets its name from the short, stout spines in its ﬁrst dorsal ﬁn, the number of spines generally identifying the species. Each family member has from 3 to 26 well-developed isolated dorsal spines, preceding a normal dorsal ﬁn having 6 to 14 rays. Almost every species also has a spine at the leading edge of the anal ﬁn and each pelvic ﬁn. The body lacks scales, but in most species it is armored along the sides with bony plates.

Several species of sticklebacks are kept in aquariums. They swim with short spurts of speed, then pause. This makes them interesting to watch, as does their spawning ritual, which people are unlikely to observe in the wild. At spawning time, the males adopt courtship colors, with the bellies bright red in some and velvety black in others.

Each male builds a nest among the stems of aquatic plants; the nest is hollow inside but completely covered on the top, the bottom, and the sides, with stems held together with a secretion of sticky threads. Once the nest has been built, the male searches for a female and drives her toward the nest, nipping at her ﬁns and chasing after her if she turns the wrong way.

As soon as the female has laid her eggs, she leaves the nest, sometimes squirming out through the bottom. The male enters the nest immediately and fertilizes the eggs. Often he may go out again and get one or two other females to lay eggs in the nest. Some males build several nests at the same time. The eggs hatch in a week or less.

While the eggs are incubating, the males of most species aerate them by fanning currents of water through the nests (the male of one species builds a nest with two holes in the top and sucks water from one of the holes to cause circulation over the eggs). After the eggs hatch, the male tends the fry for several days, generally trying to keep them near the nest.

One of the common species in North America is the brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans), found in streams from southern Ohio westward to Montana and northward, and throughout southern Canada from Nova Scotia to eastern British Columbia.

It is generally less than 3.5 inches long. The ﬁve or six spines on its back are completely separate from one another, rather than joined by a membrane, and the caudal peduncle is especially slender. Like most sticklebacks, it is quarrelsome and guards its territory, particularly its nest, from intruders.

The threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) occurs in northern Eurasia and North America, living in both brackish water and freshwater. A number of subspecies are recognized. The ninespine stickleback (Pungitius pungitius), found in northern Europe, China, Japan, and northern North America, is dark brown, and the male becomes a rich black during the courtship and spawning periods.

The ﬁfteenspine stickleback (Spinachia spinachia) is a European saltwater species restricted to northwestern Europe. The fourspine stickleback (Apeltes quadracus) is found only along the eastern coast of North America, from North Carolina to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The blackspotted or twospine stickleback (G. wheatlandi) is another western Atlantic species.

Stonecat

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The stonecat is a widely distributed and relatively common member of the madtoms. It is the largest madtom in body size, is the species with the longest life span, and has a lower relative fecundity than other madtoms. It may be used for bait, especially in bass ﬁshing.

Identification

Stonecats are olive, yellowish, or slate colored on the upper half of their bodies and are the only madtoms that exceed 7 inches in total length. The stonecat has backward extensions from the sides of the toothpatch on the roof of its mouth. In most cases, the stonecat has a patch on its nape, a white spot at the rear of the dorsal ﬁn base, and another white spot on the upper edge of the caudal ﬁn. There are either no or a few weak teeth on the rear of the pectoral spine.

Size/Age

Of 261 specimens collected from Missouri and Illinois streams, the largest specimens were a 7-inch male and a 6.4-inch female. Growth is fastest in the ﬁrst year of life. Individuals up to 5.3 inches are at least 3 years of age. Individuals greater than 6.5 inches are 4 years and older. The largest and oldest stonecat ever collected was 12.25 inches in total length and 9 years old.

Spawning behavior

Females mature at 3 to 4 years of age and a mean standard length of 4.7 inches. Clutches are guarded by males under large ﬂat rocks in pools or crests of rifﬂes. Rocks used as spawning cover averaged 200 square inches and were found in water averaging 34 inches deep.

Food

Mayfly larvae are important food for all sizes of stonecat. Excluding those specimens greater than 4.7 inches in standard length, all stonecats consume stoneﬂy, caddisﬂy, and midge larvae.

Stonecats less than 3.1 inches in standard length consume blackﬂy larvae, whereas larger stonecats consume more crayﬁsh. Like most typical madtoms, stonecats consume a variety of organisms that are only infrequent prey, including ﬁsh eggs, worms, amphipods, and chilopods.

Distribution

The stonecat has a widespread distribution. It exists in the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence River, drainages of Hudson Bay, and the Mississippi River basin. It can be found from the Hudson River drainage of New York, west to the Red River drainage of Hudson Bay. It is found in drainages of the Mississippi River basin from Quebec to Alberta, southerly to northern Alabama and Mississippi, and westerly to northeastern Oklahoma.

Habitat

Generally, the stonecat inhabits rifﬂes of medium to large rivers in places with many large rocks. It also occurs in lakes where currents or wave action produces streamlike conditions. In the main channels of large rivers, it has been found in swift water over sand substrate.

Central Stoneroller (Campostoma anomalum)

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The central stoneroller is a member of the Cyprinidae family of minnows. It is a hardy species that provides important forage for gameﬁsh and is commonly used as bait.

Identification

The central stoneroller has a thick and barely compressed torpedo-shaped body that is dull gray with a brassy tint and a pale golden stripe along the upper sides. It has an unusual appearance due to its subterminal mouth and a hard cartilaginous ridge on the lower jaw.

The mouth formation and the lower ridge enable the central stoneroller to scrape algae and other minute organisms off rocks. There are dark brown to black blotches on the back and the sides of large specimens, the caudal ﬁn is moderately forked, and the lateral line is nearly straight.

A breeding male exhibits large tubercles on the top of the head and the upper scales almost to the base of the tail, and there are small tubercles on the pectoral rays and the ﬁrst dorsal ray; it also has an orange cast, with orange and black anal and dorsal ﬁns.

Size

This species grows to 81⁄2 inches but is usually 4 to 6
inches long.

Spawning behavior

The male central stoneroller primarily builds pit nests by carrying pebbles in its mouth or disturbing the upstream gravel to ﬂoat pebbles downstream. Nests are communal and are constructed in gravel areas at the top of rifﬂes.

They are relatively shallow and are built in quiet areas, those with moderate current, or where there is overhanging protection. Spawning occurs in the spring, and males defend their territories and aggressively challenge other males.

Other Names

stoneroller, minnow, hornyhead, knottyhead.

Distribution

The central stoneroller ranges widely in the eastern and central United States and southern Canada in the Atlantic, Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and Mississippi River basins, from New York to North Dakota and south to Georgia and Texas and northern Mexico. It is least common in the Great Plains.

Habitat

Central stonerollers prefer clean rifﬂes, runs, and pools with current in streams, creeks, and small to medium rivers.

Sturgeon

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Sturgeon are large, slow-maturing, long-lived, and primitive ﬁsh found in large inland and coastal rivers, as well as in some lakes. They are contemporary species of ancient lineages; fossil remains of sturgeon and related paddleﬁsh have been dated to early in the Triassic period of the Mesozoic era (230 to 265 million years ago), making them contemporaries of dinosaurs and causing them to be referred to as “living fossils.”

Best known for the black caviar made from their eggs, sturgeon and paddlefish are members of the order Acipenseriformes, but at some distant point they separated from a common ancestor. As a result, sturgeon are members of the family Acipenseridae, and paddleﬁsh are members of Polyodontidae. Both are considered bony fish; however, they have a mostly cartilaginous skeleton. Their closest living relatives are gar and bowﬁn.

Like paddleﬁsh, sturgeon are distinctive in appearance. Each species possesses a heterocercal tail (the upper lobe is larger than the lower), a spiral valve intestine, a spiracle (aperture for breathing), an upper jaw that is not fused with the cranium, and a cartilaginous backbone as an adult. The sturgeon have ﬁve rows of bony scutes (scalelike plates), a bottom-oriented, extendible, hoselike mouth with ﬂeshy lips; four barbels; an extended snout; and a teardrop-shaped body.

Species

In North America, there are nine recognized species. White sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) and green sturgeon (A. medirostris) occur on the West Coast of North America. White sturgeon occur in lower and upper waters, sometimes hundreds of miles inland.

Green sturgeon are usually found in the lower areas of estuaries. Atlantic sturgeon (A. oxyrinchus oxyrinchus) and shortnose sturgeon (A. brevirostrum) live on the East Coast. The lake sturgeon (A. fulvescens) occurs in the Great Lakes and the upper Mississippi river system.

Shovelnose sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorhynchus) and pallid sturgeon (S. albus) are found in the Mississippi River system. The Alabama sturgeon (S. suttkusi) is endemic to the Mobile River drainage in Alabama. The gulf sturgeon (A. oxyrinchus desotoi), a subspecies of the Atlantic sturgeon, occurs frequently in all Gulf drainages from Tampa Bay, Florida, west to Mermantau River, Louisiana.

Life history

Members of the genus Scaphirhynchus, as well as the lake sturgeon, are potamodromous. They live in rivers or lakes, respectively, and migrate upstream into smaller tributaries or rivers to spawn. Their migratory patterns are similar to those of paddleﬁsh.

Adult sturgeon of the genus Acipenser, with the lone exception of lake sturgeon, are anadromous. They typically winter in the ocean, migrating into coastal rivers as the water warms above 54°F. Sturgeon also use peak river discharge in the spring as a cue for migratory behavior. Most sturgeon stage in brackish water for a few days before migrating upstream or out to the ocean.

They then migrate hundreds of miles upstream to reach gravel bars and spawn in high-velocity currents. Several males spawn with each female, and the eggs adhere to the gravel. The eggs hatch, and the fry are carried downstream to areas with slower water velocity. Adults then move downstream to summer habitats, where they remain until the fall.

Early growth is rapid, and juveniles may reach their adult size in as few as 3 years. Sturgeon often do not mature until 6 years of age, and in some areas they do not mature until age 10 or 12. Sturgeon spawn intermittently, every 2 to 6 years, depending on the species.

Most sturgeon are opportunistic feeders. Juveniles primarily eat aquatic invertebrates, whereas subadults may also consume mollusks, ﬁsh, and crayﬁsh. Some species, such as white sturgeon, are good predators and willingly prey on other ﬁsh. Migrating adults of Acipenser, except white and lake sturgeon, typically do not feed while in freshwater.

Sturgeon are most often found on or near the bottom. They are typically concentrated in deep pools that occur in river bends. During migration (spring and fall), juveniles and adults inhabit deep pools that occur in brackish water along the freshwater-saltwater interface of coastal rivers.

Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens)

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A member of the Acipenseridae family of sturgeon, the lake sturgeon was an important part of aboriginal culture in North America. In some cultures, spring ceremonial festivities were held at lake sturgeon spawning sites. Around 1855, a market for caviar was developed, which in turn spurred a market for smoked ﬁsh around 1860.

Caviar and smoked meat from lake sturgeon were also important exports to Europe. By 1910, however, lake sturgeon ﬁsheries had been overexploited through the Great Lakes region. Overﬁshing, the building of dams, habitation alteration, and pollution have since impeded the lake sturgeon’s recovery in most areas.

For waterways with declining or extirpated populations (that is, Lake Winnipeg, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario), lake sturgeon are being successfully raised in hatcheries for stocking. Current research shows, however, that brood stock should be taken from the water body where hatchery-raised ﬁsh will be released; yet brood stock is also rare in areas where stocking may be helpful.

These populations will require a great deal of time and improved conditions before they can recover fully. Lake sturgeon have responded positively to changes in dam discharges that facilitate or imitate river conditions. Signs of this include increased spawning activity.

Identification

The somewhat torpedo-shaped lake sturgeon has a spiracle, and the upper lobe of the caudal ﬁn is longer than the lower lobe. The anal ﬁn origin is behind the dorsal ﬁn origin. The ﬁsh exhibits an olive-brown coloring, and the scutes (bony scalelike plates) on the back and along the side are the same color as the skin. There are 9 to 17 scutes on the back, 29 to 42 scutes along the sides, and 25 to 30 anal rays. There are 4 barbels on the underside of the mouth.

Size/Age

Lake sturgeon may reach 9 feet in length and have been reported to weigh between 200 and 300 pounds, although ﬁsh of 100 pounds are extremely large today, and most are in the 40-pound range and about 4 feet long. The life expectancy of lake sturgeon varies, according to different reports, but at one time it was believed to be 80 to 100 years or more. A specimen caught in 1952 was reputed to have been 152 years old, but older specimens of the modern era have ranged only to 38 years old.

Life history/Behavior

Males mature around 14 to 16 years of age and females near 24 to 26 years of age. As adults, lake sturgeon migrate as far as 125 miles to spawn. They sometimes leap out of the water during spawning and fall with a loud splash.

Spawning sturgeon migrate in the fall and then overwinter at the spawning sites. Spawning peaks in April at temperatures of 48° to 58°F; a secondary spawning probably follows in May. They spawn on gravel bars or below dams or other obstructions, in swift, shallow water, sometimes in a spectacular commotion of thrashing, rolling, and leaping.

Six to eight males spawn with each female. They broadcast their eggs and sperm over large substrate such as boulders, and the eggs adhere to the substrate. Eggs hatch at 8 to 14 days of fertilization and drift downstream to more placid waters during the night. As is typical for most sturgeon, early growth is rapid. Mature females spawn only once every several years.

Food and feeding habits

Lake sturgeon feed in freshwater, typically on the bottom. In Lake Winnebago, young lake sturgeon feed primarily on midge larvae, larvae of some moths with aquatic life phases, and water fleas. Mayﬂy nymphs and mollusks are also important components of the lake sturgeon’s diet. The amount of ﬁsh consumed by lake sturgeon varies by location, ranging from little or none to 25 percent of the diet. In some areas, small ﬁsh are a preferred bait.

Other Names

sturgeon, red sturgeon, rock sturgeon; Cree: nameo, nemeo.

Distribution

Lake sturgeon occur in the St. Lawrence waterway and the Great Lakes. They are found in the Hudson Bay and the Mississippi River basins from Quebec to Alberta and southward to Alabama and Louisiana, including Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba, and its tributaries.

They are rare in the Ohio and the middle Mississippi River basins. Lake sturgeon numbers are a fraction of what they once were throughout this range, and the species does not occur in some parts of its former range; some stocking efforts have been undertaken.

Habitat

Lake sturgeon are primarily freshwater ﬁsh, occurring in large lakes and rivers, usually 15 to 30 feet deep. They are found over mud, sand, or gravel bottoms but may (rarely) occur in brackish water.

Shovelnose Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorinchus)

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A member of the Acipenseridae family of sturgeon, the shovelnose is a small species and the most abundant sturgeon in the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers and tributaries. The shovelnose is rarely encountered by anglers but has historically had commercial value. Because shovelnose sturgeon are nearly identical to pallid sturgeon (S. albus), a federally endangered species, some localities do not allow commercial or recreational ﬁshing for shovelnose.

Identification

The shovelnose sturgeon has a broad, ﬂat head with an extended spadelike snout. There are four barbels under the snout, the two middle ones being almost as long as the outside barbels. All four are located in a straight line in front of the mouth.

The body is brown to gray in color, with ﬁve rows of scutes (bony scalelike plates). The upper lobe of the caudal ﬁn is longer than the lower lobe and has a threadlike extension, which may be worn off in older individuals. There are scales under the body and also on the caudal peduncle.

Size/Age

The average size of adult shovelnose sturgeon is about 20 inches and 11⁄2 pounds. A large specimen is about 5 pounds; they rarely exceed 3 feet or 6 pounds in weight but reportedly may grow to 10 pounds. The shovelnose is smaller than the pallid sturgeon, which is also found in the Mississippi River system.

Spawning behavior

Spawning begins at 5 to 7 years of age and occurs over sand and gravel in large channels with fast currents.

Food

The shovelnose feeds entirely on the bottom on the larvae of aquatic insects, which constitute the bulk of its diet. It may occasionally eat small ﬁsh.

Other Names

sturgeon, hackleback sturgeon.

Distribution

The shovelnose occurs in much the same range as the lake sturgeon, although not in the Great Lakes. Its range is the Mississippi River basin from western Pennsylvania to Montana and south to Louisiana; the Mobile Bay drainage in Alabama and Mississippi; and the upper Rio Grande in New Mexico.

Habitat

This species prefers the fast currents of large rivers with sand or gravel bottoms but can live in muddy waters.

Sucker

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Suckers are medium-size ﬁsh that are well known to many anglers for their large lips. They belong to the family Catostomidae, which is closely related to the minnows.

Identification

Suckers are most easily distinguished by their inferior mouths and large ﬂeshy lips. They have no barbels like catﬁsh, no hardened spines in their dorsal or anal ﬁns like perch and sunﬁsh, and no adipose ﬁns like trout. Suckers are robust ﬁsh, slightly laterally compressed. Most suckers are medium-size ﬁsh, but they range in adult size from only 6 inches (Roanoke hogsucker, Hypentelium roanokense) to more than 33 pounds (buffalo).

Most suckers are not bright or distinctive in color. Many have an almost metallic sheen in shades of gold, green, purple, or white. Their coloration becomes more intense during reproduction, when many species darken in color and develop lateral stripes. Reproductive adults also develop hardened tubercles on their anal and caudal ﬁns and heads. Young suckers typically have a more distinct color pattern, with several saddles on their backs and dark blotches on their sides for camouﬂage.

Life history

Suckers inhabit all types of freshwater habitats, including rivers, lakes, and small streams. Most river species live in moderately fast-run habitats with moderate depths. The biggest suckers live in large lakes and deep pools in larger rivers.

Because of their large size, suckers do not need to seek cover from predators, so they often coexist with bass and trout in deep pools. Despite popular belief, suckers are not ﬁsh that inhabit dirty, silty waters. In fact, most suckers require very clean substrate and are not tolerant of low dissolved oxygen.

Food

With inferior mouths and large, ﬂeshy lips, suckers are well adapted to feeding on the bottom of streams or lakes. Most species suck up substrate and sift out small invertebrates and other organic materials. The most common foods are insects and worms, although some suckers are specialized for feeding on snails, vegetation, or crustaceans.

Several species will also feed on detritus and will scrape algae from rocks. Suckers that feed on detritus, like the white sucker (see: Sucker, White), are the most widespread and abundant. Chubsuckers (genus Erimyzon) are midwater plankton feeders.

Age

Most suckers are moderately long lived, and the average life span is 8 to 15 years.

Spawning behavior

Suckers become sexually mature at 2 to 3 years. A majority spawns in early spring, although some species continue into early summer. Many larger species make long migrations to the headwaters of rivers to spawn.

They may come from farther down in the river or from adjacent lakes. These species spawn upstream, then the larvae hatch and drift downstream to recolonize lower stream reaches. Suckers typically need clean gravel substrate in which to spawn. This type of habitat usually occurs at the tail ends of pools, in rifﬂes, and in gravel bars.

Most sucker species spawn in large aggregations. Several males may spawn with the same female at the same time. Many suckers spawn in a trio, with a female ﬂanked by two smaller males. The males align next to the female in a suitable location in a rifﬂe or pool tail. Then all three individuals shake violently as sperm and eggs are released.

This shaking allows the ﬁsh to dig down into the substrate and bury the newly deposited eggs. Only one species of sucker, the river redhorse (Moxostoma carinatum), actually prepares a redd as trout do, but many do move around much gravel as they dig into the stream bottom. Suckers produce many small eggs and provide little or no parental care.

Value

The real value of suckers is in their ecological role. They utilize food resources such as snails, detritus, and algae that would otherwise go largely unused. This gives them an important role in the ecosystems in which they live, processing nutrients and resources that beneﬁt other species.

Distribution

Suckers are widespread, distributed all across North America from the Arctic Circle down well into Mexico and from the East Coast to the West Coast. The white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) is one of the most widely distributed ﬁsh in North America.