Field Guide

Fishes

Showing 1 - 8 of 8 results
American eel side view photo with black background
American Eel
Anguilla rostrata
The American eel is considered an uncommon catch by Missouri sport anglers. This species is known to take natural baits and rarely takes artificial baits.
Muskellunge side view photo with black background
Muskellunge
Esox masquinongy
The muskellunge is long and slender, with a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. This big, nonnative pike is stocked in selected lakes in the Ozark region and near St. Louis.
Northern pike side view photo with black background
Northern Pike
Esox lucius
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.
Bowfin side view photo with black background
Eyetail Bowfin
Amia ocellicauda (formerly Amia calva)
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.
Striped bass side view photo with black background
Striped Bass
Morone saxatilis
Primarily a marine species native to the Atlantic Coast of North America, the striped bass has been successfully stocked into several reservoirs in the United States. A silvery, elongated fish with prominent dark, horizontal stripes along the sides.
Hybrid striped bass, or wiper, side view photo with black background
Hybrid Striped Bass (Wiper; Whiterock Bass)
Morone chrysops x M. saxatilis
Hybrids between the striped bass and white bass are stocked by the MDC in select impoundments around the state. Also called "wipers," they attain a larger size than our native white bass.
Southern redbelly dace male in spawning colors, side view photo with black background
Minnows
Notropis, Cyprinella, Hybognathus, Luxilus, and others
Minnows — including shiners, chubs, stonerollers, dace, and carp — are members of the minnow family, the Cyprinidae. It is the largest of all fish families, and Missouri has about 70 species.
Channel catfish side view photo with black background
Channel Catfish
Ictalurus punctatus
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.
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.