Field Guide

Fishes

Showing 41 - 44 of 44 results
Redear sunfish side view photo with black background
Redear Sunfish
Lepomis microlophus
The redear sunfish is deep and slab-sided, with a small mouth, with the upper jaw not reaching past the front of the eye. In natural waters, it is confined to the southern half of Missouri, but it is widely stocked in small reservoirs and ponds.
Warmouth male in spawning colors, side view photo with black background
Warmouth
Lepomis gulosus
The warmouth is a thick-bodied, large-mouthed sunfish that occurs widely over the southern and eastern parts of Missouri. Note the 4 or 5 reddish-brown streaks radiating from the red eye across the side of the head.
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.
Yellow perch side view photo with black background
Yellow Perch
Perca flavescens
The yellow perch is rare in Missouri’s natural waters. Most of the time, they are collected in or near the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. They also occur in artificial lakes.
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.