Fishes
Media
![Northern snakehead side view illustration with black background](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/field-guide/Northern_Snakehead_Channa_argus_11-18-19.jpg?itok=sr5U6Fpu)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Channa argus and other Channa and Parachanna spp.
Description
Snakeheads are native to Asia and invasive in America. They resemble bowfins and can live in similar habitats. Note the extended anal fin and the pelvic fins located close to the pectoral fins and gills.
Media
![Channel catfish side view photo with black background](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/field-guide/Channel_Catfish_Ictalurus_punctatus_7-11-13.jpg?itok=kGkOAycv)
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.
See Also
Media
![Photo of a three-toed amphiuma in an aquarium.](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2015/01/three-toed_amphiuma_1-2-15.jpg?itok=kKqHJCWO)
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](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/images/2011/05/siren_gills_05-15-11.jpg?itok=AGi1e2l8)
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.