Field Guide

Fishes

Showing 1 - 10 of 15 results
Media
Orangethroat darter male in spawning colors, side view photo with black background
Species Types
Scientific Name
Etheostoma, Percina, Ammocrypta, and Crystallaria spp.
Description
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.
Media
Golden shiner male, side view photo with black background
Species Types
Scientific Name
Notemigonus crysoleucas
Description
The golden shiner is a deep-bodied minnow with a greenish-olive back and a faint dusky stripe along the midline. It has a fleshy keel along the midline of the belly. It is widespread in Missouri.
Media
Brook silverside side view photo with black background
Species Types
Scientific Name
Labidesthes sicculus
Description
The brook silverside is a little fish that is very active in the daytime and on bright, moonlit nights.
Media
Threadfin shad side view photo with black background
Species Types
Scientific Name
Dorosoma petenense
Description
The threadfin shad occurs in the Mississippi River and its tributaries. It also occurs in mainstem reservoirs of the White River Basin and in Montrose Lake and the South Grand River in Henry County.
Media
Mooneye side view photo with black background
Species Types
Scientific Name
Hiodon tergisus
Description
Mooneyes are silvery, flat-sided fishes with large eyes and prominent teeth on the jaws, roof of the mouth, and tongue. A fleshy keel runs along the midline of the belly. The eye is silvery and larger than the goldeye’s.
Media
Channel catfish side view photo with black background
Species Types
Scientific Name
Ictalurus punctatus
Description
The channel catfish is the official Missouri state fish. It is pale with dark spots and is found statewide in a variety of habitats, preferring large, rather turbid streams with low or moderate gradients.
Media
Northern pike side view photo with black background
Species Types
Scientific Name
Esox lucius
Description
The largest pike native to Missouri, the northern pike can be more than 4 feet long and weigh more than 40 pounds. Missouri is on the southern edge of the range of this species. Because of its rarity here, it is of little importance as a game fish.
Media
Bowfin side view photo with black background
Species Types
Scientific Name
Amia ocellicauda (formerly Amia calva)
Description
The eyetail bowfin is a stout-bodied, nearly cylindrical fish. It is most abundant in the Mississippi Lowlands, though it occurs along the entire length of the Mississippi River.
Media
Green sunfish male, side view photo with black background
Species Types
Scientific Name
Lepomis cyanellus
Description
The green sunfish is thick-bodied with a large mouth. The upper jaw extends to about the middle of the eye. It may occur in just about any pond, lake, or stream that is capable of supporting fish life.
Media
White crappie male, side view photo with black background
Species Types
Scientific Name
Pomoxis annularis
Description
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
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.