Field Guide

Fishes

Showing 1 - 10 of 16 results
Orangethroat darter male in spawning colors, side view photo with black background
Darters
Etheostoma, Percina, Ammocrypta, and Crystallaria spp.
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.
Golden shiner male, side view photo with black background
Golden Shiner
Notemigonus crysoleucas
The golden shiner is a deep-bodied minnow with a greenish-olive back and a faint dusky stripe along the midline. It has a fleshy keel along the midline of the belly. It is widespread in Missouri.
Chestnut lamprey side view photo with black background
Chestnut Lamprey
Ichthyomyzon castaneus
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.
Gizzard shad side view photo with black background
Gizzard Shad
Dorosoma cepedianum
The gizzard shad is one of the most common and abundant fish in Missouri. In Missouri, this schooling fish occurs in every major stream system and is most abundant in reservoirs and large rivers.
Threadfin shad side view photo with black background
Threadfin Shad
Dorosoma petenense
The threadfin shad occurs in the Mississippi River and its tributaries. It also occurs in mainstem reservoirs of the White River Basin and in Montrose Lake and the South Grand River in Henry County.
Redfin pickerel side view photo with black background
Grass Pickerel
Esox americanus vermiculatus
The grass pickerel is the most common and widely distributed pike in Missouri. It is also the smallest, seldom exceeding 10 or 12 inches in length.
Goldfish side view photo with black background
Goldfish
Carassius auratus
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.
Common carp side view photo with black background
Common Carp
Cyprinus carpio
The common carp is a "whopper" member of the minnow family. Originally from Asia, it was actively stocked in America in the 1800s and was firmly established in Missouri by 1895.
Green sunfish male, side view photo with black background
Green Sunfish
Lepomis cyanellus
The green sunfish is thick-bodied with a large mouth. The upper jaw extends to about the middle of the eye. It may occur in just about any pond, lake, or stream that is capable of supporting fish life.
Black crappie, male in spawning colors, side view photo with black background
Crappie, Black
Pomoxis nigromaculatus
The black crappie is a popular panfish. It is deep bodied and slab sided. The sides are silver with an irregular pattern of dark speckles. The upper jaw is long, reaching past the middle of the eye.
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.