Field Guide

Fishes

Showing 21 - 30 of 32 results
Hybrid striped bass, or wiper, side view photo with black background
Hybrid Striped Bass (Wiper; Whiterock Bass)
Morone chrysops x M. saxatilis
Hybrids between the striped bass and white bass are stocked by the MDC in select impoundments around the state. Also called "wipers," they attain a larger size than our native white bass.
Longnose gar side view photo with black background
Longnose Gar
Lepisosteus osseus
The longnose gar has a longer, narrower snout than our other three gars and is the most widely distributed gar in Missouri.
Brown trout female side view photo with black background
Brown Trout
Salmo trutta
Native to Europe, hatchery-raised brown trout are stocked into cold streams and lakes in Missouri. A favorite of anglers, this species can reach 37 inches and 26 pounds.
Walleye side view photo with black background
Walleye
Sander vitreus
MDC has been stocking walleye, a popular game fish, in lakes and reservoirs including Stockton, Lake of the Ozarks, Bull Shoals, and numerous other reservoirs.
Logperch side view photo with black background
Logperch
Percina caprodes
The logperch occurs in small- to medium-sized rivers and along gravel shorelines in reservoirs. Our largest darter has a distinctly conical snout that overhangs the mouth, and 15 to 20 vertical dark bars on a light background.
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.
Black buffalo side view photo with black background
Black Buffalo
Ictiobus niger
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.
Quillback side view photo with black background
Quillback
Carpiodes cyprinus
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.
White sucker side view photo with black background
White Sucker
Catostomus commersonii
The white sucker has fine scales and a short dorsal fin. The lips are covered with small bumps. A small-creek fish that occurs nearly statewide, but absent from the Bootheel lowlands and the southeastern Ozarks.
Highfin carpsucker breeding male side view photo with black background
Highfin Carpsucker
Carpiodes velifer
The highfin carpsucker is named for the remarkably long first principal ray of its dorsal fin. It is rare in Missouri and is a Species of Conservation Concern.
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.