Field Guide

The lake sturgeon is Missouri’s largest sturgeon and is rare and endangered in our state. Note its conical (not shovel-nosed) snout. Despite its name, in Missouri this fish is almost always found in big rivers, not lakes.

The fathead minnow has a blunt, rounded snout, rounded fins, a dusky stripe along the side, and a spot at the base of the tail fin. It is most abundant in pools of small prairie creeks because it tolerates rather high temperatures, extreme turbidity, and low oxygen.

The spring cavefish is the only cavefish in our state that has eyes, however small, and whose body is yellowish brown or brown; our other cavefishes lack eyes entirely and are pale and nearly colorless.

The grotto sculpin is a rare fish adapted cave conditions. It has recently been designated an endangered species under the Federal Endangered Species Act. It's found only in Perry County, Missouri.

The northern brook lamprey is a great example of a nonparasitic lamprey. While lampreys as a group are famous for being fish parasites, brook lampreys are essentially bottom feeders.

The chestnut lamprey is an eel-like fish that many people find interesting because it's a vampire to other fish. Adults have a well-developed, rasplike oral disc, seven porelike gill openings, no paired fins, and a single nostril.

The northern studfish is common and widely distributed in every principal Ozark stream system except the Neosho. Males in spawning coloration are some of our prettiest topminnows.