Fishes
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Noturus nocturnus
Description
The freckled madtom looks similar to the tadpole madtom and shares much of its range, but its upper jaw projects beyond the lower jaw, and the underside of the head and body are sprinkled with dark speckles.
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Species Types
Scientific Name
Noturus flavus
Description
The stonecat is the most common madtom in the large streams in the northern Ozarks and Prairie region. Its body and fins are nearly plain, its upper jaw projects beyond the lower jaw, and its lower lip and chin lack dark pigment.
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Scientific Name
Noturus gyrinus
Description
The tadpole madtom occurs in the Bootheel lowlands and in a broad zone from southwest Missouri to northeast Missouri. This small, chubby catfish is most common in the Bootheel lowlands and in northeastern Missouri.
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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.
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Scientific Name
Etheostoma nigrum
Description
The Johnny darter occurs primarily in pools and slow-moving riffles in sandy streams. It's common in prairie streams of northeastern and central Missouri.
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Scientific Name
Etheostoma whipplei
Description
The redfin darter is one of Missouri's rarest darters and is endangered in our state. It is part of a highly distinctive fish community living in the lower Spring River and its North Fork, in Jasper and Barton counties.
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Scientific Name
Fundulus olivaceus
Description
The blackspotted topminnow is a sleek, swift little fish that lives in quiet, clear sections of rivers mostly south of the Missouri River. Topminnows have a habit of skimming along just beneath the surface of the water.
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Scientific Name
Lepisosteus platostomus
Description
The shortnose gar is named for its relatively short, broad snout. Like other gars, it's a long, cylindrical fish with a long snout and numerous prominent teeth. The body is covered with hard, diamond-shaped scales.
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Scientific Name
Platygobio gracilis
Description
The flathead chub is a slender, silvery minnow with small eyes, sickle-shaped pectoral fins, and wedge-shaped head with a pointed snout. Native to Missouri's big rivers and their tributaries, it is now state endangered.
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Scientific Name
Notemigonus crysoleucas
Description
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.
See Also
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Scientific Name
Amphiuma tridactylum
Description
The three-toed amphiuma is an eel-like, completely aquatic salamander. It has very small fore- and hind limbs, each with three very small toes. In Missouri it’s found only in the Bootheel region.
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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.