Fishes
Media
![Smallmouth buffalo side view photo with black background](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/field-guide/Smallmouth_Buffalo_Ictiobus_bubalus_7-18-13.jpg?itok=AnRxvvq0)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Ictiobus bulbalus
Description
The smallmouth buffalo is nearly as common and widespread in Missouri as the bigmouth buffalo. Identify it by its small, nearly horizontal mouth and the strongly keeled forward part of its back.
Media
![Black buffalo side view photo with black background](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/field-guide/Black_Buffalo_Ictiobus_niger_7-18-13.jpg?itok=lsIzQHmW)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Ictiobus niger
Description
Compared to Missouri’s other buffalofishes, the black buffalo is less abundant and widespread, and of the three, it occurs most often in places with strong currents.
Media
![Quillback side view photo with black background](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/field-guide/Quillback_Carpiodes_cyprinus_8-12-13.jpg?itok=XnO7wCRR)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Carpiodes cyprinus
Description
Like our other carpsuckers, the quillback has a deep, rather thick body and a long, sickle-shaped dorsal fin. This silvery, hump-backed fish is widely distributed in Missouri.
Media
![Orangethroat darter male in spawning colors, side view photo with black background](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/field-guide/Orangethroat_Darter_Etheostoma_spectabile_Spawning_Male_3-27-13.jpg?itok=1Bj6C4RS)
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
![Brown bullhead side view photo with black background](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/field-guide/Brown_Bullhead_Ameiurus_nebulosus_10-18-14.jpg?itok=7048WavS)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Ameiurus nebulosus
Description
In Missouri, the brown bullhead occurs in quiet, clear waters in wildlife refuges in southeast Missouri. Elsewhere in the state, it is stocked and possibly escapes. It has mottled sides and an elongated barbel at the corner of the mouth.
Media
![Flathead catfish side view photo with black background](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/field-guide/Flathead_Catfish_Pylodictis_olivaris_8-12-13.jpg?itok=ZiilcV2O)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Pylodictis olivaris
Description
The flathead catfish has a broad, flattened head with small eyes on top. The lower jaw projects beyond the upper jaw. It occurs in most of the large streams of Missouri, preferring places with a slow current.
Media
![Goldfish side view photo with black background](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/field-guide/Goldfish_Carassius_auratus_8-11-13.jpg?itok=wiy69mgx)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Carassius auratus
Description
Goldfish are not native to North America. They often escape into the wild from bait buckets and other causes, but there are few self-sustaining populations in Missouri.
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
![Southern redbelly dace male in spawning colors, side view photo with black background](/sites/default/files/styles/media_library/public/mo_nature/media/field-guide/Southern_Redbelly_Dace_Phoxinus_erythrogaster_Spawning_Male_St_Francois_Co_6-6-13.jpg?itok=qTWxCAIs)
Species Types
Scientific Name
Notropis, Cyprinella, Hybognathus, Luxilus, and others
Description
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.
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.