Content tagged with "Fishes"

Chestnut Lamprey

Ichthyomyzon castaneus

This strange, eel-like fish generates a lot of excitement when people see it, because it's a "vampire" to other fish. Adults have a well-developed, rasplike oral disc, seven porelike gill openings, no paired fins and a single nostril. The ammocoetes (the larval forms) are eyeless and have a horseshoe-shaped hood as a mouth.

Common Carp

Cyprinus carpio

Often we define the word “minnow” as any little fish, but more properly, minnows are a family of fishes, and some can get pretty big! The common carp, an introduction from Asia, is one of these “whopper” minnows.

Common Shiner

Luxilus cornutus

Princibally found in central and west-central Missouri in short, direct tributaries of the Missouri River, this minnow is very similar to the striped shiner, only it lacks dusty sprinkles of pigment on its chin and (except for breeding males) lacks dark lines on the upper part of its body.

Creek Chub

Semotilus atromaculatus

A slender, fine-scaled minnow with a black blotch at front of the dorsal fin and a black spot at the base of the tail fin. Dark olive back with silvery sides that have greenish or purplish reflections and a thick dusky stripe. Found nearly statewide.

Crystal Darter

Crystallaria asprella

This pale, very slender darter is Endangered in Missouri. Formerly known from many river drainages in the east-central and southeastern parts of our state, it apparently now lives only in the Gasconade and Black rivers.

Cypress Minnow

Hybognathus hayi

Missouri’s Bootheel lowlands are unlike any other place in the state, and many of the animals and plants that live there occur nowhere else within our borders. The cypress minnow, like the habitat it prefers, is in danger of vanishing from Missouri.

Duskystripe Shiner

Luxilus pilsbryi

Dark stripe along midside extending from nose to tail; an iridescent greenish-brown back with a narrow, lighter-colored band above the lateral dark stripe; silvery-white lower side and belly.

Fathead Minnow

Pimephales promelas

A chubby minnow with a blunt, rounded snout and short, rounded fins. Dusky stripe along the midside and a spot at the base of the tail fin. Occurs in streams of all sizes, but most abundant in pools of small prairie creeks, because of its tolerance for high temperatures, extreme turbidity and low oxygen.

Flathead Catfish

Pylodictis olivaris

Also known as shovelhead cat, yellow cat, mud cat, goujon, appaluchion and johnnie cat, this olive-colored catfish prefers reservoirs and large streams with a slow current.

Flathead Chub

Platygobio gracilis

This active, big-river fish formerly occurred along the entire length of the Missouri River. In the 1940s, it constituted 31 percent of all small fishes in the Missouri River! By the early 1980s, that figure was 1.1 percent. Today, it has all but vanished from our state.

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MDC protects and manages Missouri's fish, forest, and wildlife resources.

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Content tagged with "Fishes"

Chestnut Lamprey

Common Carp

Common Shiner

Creek Chub

Crystal Darter

Cypress Minnow

Duskystripe Shiner

Fathead Minnow

Flathead Catfish

Flathead Chub

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