Content tagged with "Fishes"

Primarily a marine species native to the Atlantic Coast of North America, the striped bass has been successfully stocked into numerous reservoirs throughout the United States. A silvery, elongated fish with prominent dark, horizontal stripes along the sides.

Darters usually prefer the swift, clear waters of streams and riffles, but this darter is different. True to its name, it prefers swamps and sloughs with no current at all. Rare in our state, it’s found only in a few southeast Missouri locations.

Tiger muskies, being the hybrid offspring of muskellunge and northern pike, are sterile and unable to reproduce. They sometimes appear naturally in waters inhabited by both parent species, but they are also produced artificially in hatcheries for stocking purposes.

This peculiar little fish is our only fish with both an adipose fin and rough-edged scales, characteristics of trout and perch, respectively—thus the name "trout-perch." This fish represents a family that was formerly much larger but that is now mostly extinct. Only two species of trout-perches are known to live worldwide—and ours is declining.