Fishes of Pennsylvania Introduction to the Nekton Fishes

Fishes of Pennsylvania Introduction to the Nekton

Fishes of Pennsylvania • • • Lampreys Sturgeons Paddlefish Gars Bowfin American Eel Herrings Minnows Suckers Catfishes • • • Pikes Rainbow Smelt Trout and Salmon Burbot Banded Killifish Threespine Stickleback Sculpin Temperate Basses Sunfishes Perches Freshwater Drum

Major Streams of Pennsylvania

Lampreys • American Brook Lamprey Lampetra appendix • Larvae filter feed • Adult does not feed. The Sea Lamprey (in Great Lakes) and the Ohio Lamprey (western PA) are parasitic. The three native PA Brook Lampreys are not parasitic.

Sturgeons • The Lake Sturgeon – Acipenser fulvescens- is the only freshwater sturgeon in PA. It is found in Lake Erie. • The Shortnose Sturgeon and the Atlantic Sturgeon are marine and tidal fish that may occur in the lower Delaware River. • All PA sturgeons are endangered

Paddlefish • Paddlefish –Polydon spathula- only living species. • Extirpated from former ranges in western PA and Lake Erie. • PA Fish and Boat Commission reintroduced them to the Ohio and Allegheny Rivers.

Gar • Two gar species occur in PA: The Spotted Gar and the Longnose Gar. • The Longnose Gar – Lepidosteus osseus- is in low numbers through the lower Great Lakes, western PA and extreme lower Susquehanna River.

Bowfin • Bowfin – Amia calvia • Found mainly around Presque Isle and in the lower parts of the major drainages. • Can tolerate very warm water and gulp air.

American Eel • The American Eel – Anguila americana – occurs in the Delaware River drainage. • Now attempts are being made to return the eel to the Susquehanna River

Herrings • This family includes Blueback Herring, Alewife, Gizzard Shad, Hickory Shad, and American Shad. • The American Shad –Alosa sapidissima- anadromous fish that enter mainstem of large rivers to spawn. • Attempts to support shad run in the Susquehanna River • In rivers, shad eat small crustaceans, zooplankton, worms, insects, and small fish

Minnows • PA has 39 species of minnows, including exotics like Carp and Goldfish. • The minnows of Pennsylvania include: – – – Bluntnose Minnow Cutlips Minnow Central Stoneroller Emerald Shiner Hornyhead Chub Grass Carp – – – Common Carp Common Shiner River Chub Golden Shiner Fathead Minnow Spotfin Shiner Rosyface Shiner Blacknose Dace Longnose Dace Creek Chub Fallfish

Cutlips Minnow • Cutlips Minnow (Exoglossum maxillingua) • Lower lip in three lobes, the center of which looks like a tongue • Stony pools of clean streams • Mainly feed on small mollusks, insects, and diatoms

Common Carp • The Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) • Native to Asia and eastern Europe; considered invasive in some watersheds • Found in many habitats, but prefer slow-moving water with a welldeveloped littoral zone

Common Shiner • Common Shiner (Notropis cornutus) • Moving water, warm to cold • Very common in North America, east of the Rocky Mountains and North of the Gulf states • Omnivore: plants and insects mainly at or near the surface

Spotfin Shiner • Spotfin Shiner (Cyprinella spiloptera) • Common in streams throughout the east • Omnivore: plants, insects, small fish near the surface

Longnose Dace • Longnose Dace (Rhinichthyes cataractae) • In streams with riffles and pools • Mainly staying near the bottom where they feed on insect larvae, particularly chironomids

Suckers • • Quillback Carpsucker White Sucker Northern Hog Sucker The Redhorses – River Redhorse – Shorthead Redhorse

Quillback Carpsucker • The Quillback Carpsucker (Carpoides cyprinus) • Body is deep and laterally compressed • They travel in schools in slow-moving rivers and backwaters with gravel bottoms. • Eat a wide variety of benthic macroinvertebrates

White Sucker • The White Sucker (Catostomus commersoni) • Cylindrical body with a rounded snout • Range from headwaters to warm, low oxygen water. • They are omnivores, feeding on plants, zooplankton, benthos

Northern Hog Sucker • The Northern Hogsucker (Hypentelium nigricans) • The body is cylindrical and darkly camouflaged • Found in clean streams • Overturn rock while scraping biofilm, and aquatic macroinvertebrates

Catfishes • • White Catfish Yellow Bullhead Brown Bullhead Channel Catfish Margined Madtom Stonecat Flathead Catfish

Brown Bullhead • Brown Bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus) • Cylindrical body with flattened head • Found in lakes, ponds and slow-moving rivers • Tolerate warm water and low oxygen • Omnivorous

Channel Catfish • Channel Catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) • Body cylindrical with spots on the sides • Habitats vary; fast-moving water to deep pools, reservoirs, lakes, and farm ponds • Young eat insects but change to fish and plants as they get larger

Margined Madtom • Margined Madtom (Noturus insignis) • Small, tubular fish; have poison glands associated with pectoral spines • Found in rocks in riffles • Feed on benthic macroinvertebrates

Pikes • • • Redfin Pickerel Grass Pickerel Northern Pike Tiger Muskellunge Chain Pickerel

Muskellunge • The Muskellunge (Esox masquinongy) • Tubular fish, nearly 1. 5 M long • Found in large clean rivers with submerged vegetation • Ambush predator

Chain Pickerel • The Chain Pickerel (Esox niger) • Tubular body • Can be found in backwaters and in brown-water habitats; but can be found in deep lakes among weeds and stumps • Ambush predators

Rainbow Smelt • The Rainbow Smelt (Osmerus mordax) • Like a minnow with strong teeth • Anadromous fish introduced to the Great Lakes • Feed on insects and fish fry

Trout and Salmon • • • Coho Salmon Chinook Salmon Pink Salmon Rainbow Trout Steelhead • • • Golden Rainbow Trout Brown Trout Brook trout Lake trout Atlantic Salmon

Brook Trout • The Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) • Official State Fish of PA • Only stream trout native to PA • Low order cold, clean streams • Feed on aquatic and terrestrial insects, crustaceans, small fish

Rainbow Trout • Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) • Introduced species • Lighter than the Brook and has a red lateral line • In fastwater streams • Feed on aquatic and terrestrial insects, crustaceans, and small fish

Burbot • Burbot (Lota lota) • Endangered native and member of the Cod family • Found in the Great Lakes and Allegheny River; requires cold, clean water • Feed on invertebrates and fishes

Banded Killifish • The Banded Killifish (Fundulus diaphanus) • Established in most drainages in PA • Called topminnnow, but feed at all levels of slowmoving parts of streams • Eat macroinvertebrates, mainly insects and crustacea. Will take small fish.

Threespine Stickleback • The Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteous aculeatus) • Endangered native • Fish are small, schooling fish with bony plates on their sides • Require clean, clear water in slow-moving parts of streams • Eat fish fry and eggs; insects and crustaceans

Sculpins • There are two species of sculpins in PA waters: Mottled Sculpin (Cottus bairdi) and Slimy Sculpin (C. cognatus) • Freshwater members of a mostly marine family • Often found together with Brook Trout; require clean, clear, cold low order streams

Temperate Basses • This family includes White Perch (Morone americana), White Bass (M. chrysops), and Striped Bass (M. saxatilis) • Fish of large rivers and lakes; introduced into reservoirs • Travel in schools and feed on fish

Sunfishes • • • Redear Sunfish Banded Sunfish Blackbanded Sunfish Bluespotted Sunfish Warmouth Mud Sunfish Longear Sunfish Rock Bass Redbreast Sunfish • • Green Sunfish Pumpkinseed Bluegill Smallmouth Bass Spotted Bass Largemouth Bass White Crappie Black Crappie

Bluegill • Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) • Oval deep body that is laterally-flattened • In lakes, ponds, and slowmoving parts of streams with submerged plants • Eat aquatic macroinvertebrates, small fish, and, occasionally, plants

Smallmouth Bass • The Smallmouth Bass (Micropterus dolomieui) • Native to Great Lakes and Ohio Valley; distributed elsewhere • Require rocky habitats, usually in, but not restricted to, moving water • Feed on crustaceans and fish

Largemouth Bass • Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides) • Native to Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, now distributed throughout PA • Prefer warm water habitats; ponds and small lakes with submerged aquatics • They eat almost any animal that they can fit into their mouths

Perches • • Greenside Darter Banded Darter Rainbow Darter Bluebreast Darter Johnny Darter Tesselated Darter Gilt Darter Spotted Darter • • Longhead Darter Eastern Sand Darter Tippecanoe Darter Yellow Perch Logperch Sauger Saugeye Walleye

Tesselated Darter • The Tesselated Darter (Etheostoma olmstedi) • Tubular body with large pectoral fins • Sandy or rock bottom in flowing water • Eat small insects and crustaceans

Yellow Perch • Yellow Perch (Perca flavescens) • Throughout the northern US • In warm to cool lakes, ponds, and slow-moving parts of streams • Adults eat mainly small fish

Walleye • Walleye (Sander vitreus) • Native to the Great Lakes and the Ohio Valley, they have been introduced as a sport fish to appropriate habitats in PA • In large lakes and rivers • Usually the top predator

Freshwater Drum • The Freshwater Drum (Aplodinotus grunniens) • Called croakers; mainly from a marine family • In the Great Lakes and the western rivers of PA • Feeds on mollusks, insects, and crustaceans

Fishes Classified According to Habitat • • Littoral Zone Limnetic Zone Benthic Zone Streams – Upper Reaches – Middle Reaches – Lower reaches

Fishes Classified According to Ecological Conditions • • Temperature Light Water Movement Food Social Factors Population Density Population Structure