Field Guide

Fishes

Showing 1 - 10 of 12 results
Sturgeon chub side view photo with black background
Sturgeon Chub
Macrhybopsis gelida
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.
Quillback side view photo with black background
Quillback
Carpiodes cyprinus
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.
Highfin carpsucker breeding male side view photo with black background
Highfin Carpsucker
Carpiodes velifer
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.
Orangethroat darter male in spawning colors, side view photo with black background
Darters
Etheostoma, Percina, Ammocrypta, and Crystallaria spp.
Darters have been described as the hummingbirds of the fish world: colorful, small, and quick. Missouri has about 44 different types of darters. They are most diverse in the fast, clear, rocky streams of the Ozarks.
Crystal darter side view photo with black background
Crystal Darter
Crystallaria asprella
The crystal darter is Endangered in Missouri. Formerly known from many river drainages in the east-central and southeastern parts of our state, this pale, very slender darter apparently now lives only in the Gasconade and Black rivers.
Flathead chub side view photo with black background
Flathead Chub
Platygobio gracilis
The flathead chub is a slender, silvery minnow with small eyes, sickle-shaped pectoral fins, and wedge-shaped head with a pointed snout. Native to Missouri's big rivers and their tributaries, it is now state endangered.
Goldfish side view photo with black background
Goldfish
Carassius auratus
Goldfish are not native to North America. They often escape into the wild from bait buckets and other causes, but there are few self-sustaining populations in Missouri.
Grass carp side view photo with black background
Grass Carp
Ctenopharyngodon idella
Grass carp are large-bodied with a broad head and a terminal transverse mouth. The scales appear crosshatched. A native of east Asia, it is now widely distributed in the Missouri, Mississippi, and St. Francis rivers and in impoundments.
River carpsucker side view photo with black background
River Carpsucker
Carpiodes carpio
The river carpsucker has a silvery, deep, rather thick body, a long, sickle-shaped dorsal fin, and whitish lower fins. It is the most abundant and widely distributed carpsucker in Missouri.
White crappie male, side view photo with black background
Crappie, White
Pomoxis annularis
The white crappie, a popular panfish, has silver sides with 5 to 10 often faint vertical bars. The upper jaw reaches past the middle of the eye. It is more abundant and widespread than the black crappie.
See Also
Photo of a three-toed amphiuma in an aquarium.
Three-Toed Amphiuma
Amphiuma tridactylum
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.
Photo of researcher holding a gilled siren
Western Lesser Siren
Siren intermedia nettingi
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.