Field Guide

Fishes

Showing 1 - 10 of 127 results
Media
Sturgeon chub side view photo with black background
Species Types
Scientific Name
Macrhybopsis gelida
Description
The sturgeon chub is a small minnow adapted for life in the murky, swift-flowing water of big rivers — the Missouri and lower Mississippi. A Species of Conservation Concern, it prefers sand or gravel substrates.
Media
Alligator gar side view photo with black background
Species Types
Scientific Name
Atractosteus spatula (formerly Lepisosteus spatula)
Description
The alligator gar is Missouri's largest gar and has a distinctively short, broad snout. Populations are declining. This fish once occurred in the Mississippi River at least as far upstream as the mouth of the Illinois River and in major tributaries.
Media
Smallmouth buffalo side view photo with black background
Species Types
Scientific Name
Ictiobus bulbalus
Description
The smallmouth buffalo is nearly as common and widespread in Missouri as the bigmouth buffalo. Identify it by its small, nearly horizontal mouth and the strongly keeled forward part of its back.
Media
Black buffalo side view photo with black background
Species Types
Scientific Name
Ictiobus niger
Description
Compared to Missouri’s other buffalofishes, the black buffalo is less abundant and widespread, and of the three, it occurs most often in places with strong currents.
Media
Quillback side view photo with black background
Species Types
Scientific Name
Carpiodes cyprinus
Description
Like our other carpsuckers, the quillback has a deep, rather thick body and a long, sickle-shaped dorsal fin. This silvery, hump-backed fish is widely distributed in Missouri.
Media
White sucker side view photo with black background
Species Types
Scientific Name
Catostomus commersonii
Description
The white sucker has fine scales and a short dorsal fin. The lips are covered with small bumps. A small-creek fish that occurs nearly statewide, but absent from the Bootheel lowlands and the southeastern Ozarks.
Media
Northern hog sucker side view photo with black background
Species Types
Scientific Name
Hypentelium nigricans
Description
The northern hog sucker is one of the most abundant and widely distributed stream fishes in the Ozarks. It has a large, bony, square head. The mouth is at the tip of snout on the bottom. There are usually four dark crossbars.
Media
Golden redhorse side view photo with black background
Species Types
Scientific Name
Moxostoma erythrurum
Description
The golden redhorse is a smaller-bodied sucker with large scales and a short dorsal fin. It occurs in Ozark and northeast Missouri streams.
Media
Highfin carpsucker breeding male side view photo with black background
Species Types
Scientific Name
Carpiodes velifer
Description
The highfin carpsucker is named for the remarkably long first principal ray of its dorsal fin. It is rare in Missouri and is a Species of Conservation Concern.
Media
River redhorse side view photo with black background
Species Types
Scientific Name
Moxostoma carinatum
Description
The river redhorse occurs throughout the Ozarks but is seldom common. It inhabits pools of clear, medium-sized to large streams with gravelly or rocky bottoms and continuous strong flow.
See Also
Media
Photo of a three-toed amphiuma in an aquarium.
Species Types
Scientific Name
Amphiuma tridactylum
Description
The three-toed amphiuma is an eel-like, completely aquatic salamander. It has very small forelimbs and hind limbs, each with three tiny toes. In Missouri it’s found only in the Bootheel region.
Media
Photo of researcher holding a gilled siren
Species Types
Scientific Name
Siren intermedia nettingi
Description
The western lesser siren is an eel-like, aquatic salamander with external gills, small eyes, small forelimbs with four toes, and no hind limbs. In Missouri, it’s found mostly in the Bootheel and northward in counties near the Mississippi River.

About Fishes in Missouri

Missouri has more than 200 kinds of fish, more than are found in most neighboring states. Fishes live in water, breathe with gills, and have fins instead of legs. Most are covered with scales. Most fish in Missouri “look” like fish and could never be confused with anything else. True, lampreys and eels have snakelike bodies — but they also have fins and smooth, slimy skin, which snakes do not.