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Freshwater Gamefish
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The Freshwater Drum
Description
Aplodinotus is Greek for "single back", and grunniens is Latin for "grunting", referring to the fact that the species may be observed (or felt) making "grunting" sounds. Except for color, freshwater drum resembles its marine relative the red drum. The fish is deep-bodied and equipped with a long dorsal fin divided into two sections. The dorsal fin usually has 10 spines and 29-32 rays. Freshwater drum are silvery in color and lack the distinctive tail fin spot of red drum.
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Life History
Spawning seems to occur in open water. The eggs float until they hatch. Freshwater drum appear to be basically benthic, spending most of their time at or near the bottom. They feed primarily on fish, crayfish, and immature insects, often by rooting around in the substrate or moving rocks to dislodge their prey. The presence of heavy throat-teeth also allows them to consume mollusks to a certain extent. In Lake Erie, they have been found feeding on zebra mussels (although not nearly enough to control the zebra mussel population).
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Distribution
Freshwater drum occurs in a variety of habitats, and is one of the most wide ranging fish latitudinally in North America. Populations can be found from Hudson Bay in the north to Guatemala in the south. East to west, the species ranges from the western slopes of the Appalachians to the eastern slopes of the Rockies.
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The Shovelnose Sturgeon
Description
Shovelnose sturgeon are smaller than pallid sturgeon a large Shovelnose sturgion would only weigh 5-10 pounds. Unlike their long-lived relative the lake sturgeon, shovelnose sturgeons only live to be about 12 years of age, and reach weights of only five to ten pounds. Lake sturgeons can reach weights of 300 pounds and live for more than 100 years.
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Life History
The shovelnose sturgeon is a freshwater species that was historically found throughout most of the Mississippi and Missouri river basins, from Montana south to Louisiana, and from Pennsylvania west to New Mexico. This sturgeon species presently has a more limited range due to anthropogenic impacts. While the shovelnose has not experienced the range reduction of some of the larger Mississippi River Valley sturgeons (e.g., lake and pallid), it is no longer found in Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and large parts of Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee and other States where it was once abundant (National Paddlefish and Sturgeon Steering Committee 1992).
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Habitat
Smallest of the sturgeon species in North America, shovelnose sturgeon can tolerate high turbidities and are usually found in the strong currents of main river channels. They are often found over sand and gravel substrates feeding on aquatic insects, mussels, worms, and crustaceans. Spawning normally occurs from April through early July with mature shovelnose migrating upriver to spawn over rocky substrates in flowing water between l9-21 C. Individuals mature after 5 to 7 years of age, at approximately 500 mm and 630 mm (TL) for males and females, respectively. Their weight at this age ranges 0.9-1.3 kg (National Paddlefish and Sturgeon Steering Committee 1992). The largest recorded shovelnose was approximately 1062 mm (TL) and weighed 8.17 kg.
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Distribution
The alteration of large rivers and construction of locks and dams for navigation purposes has contributed significantly to the decline of this species by blocking access to ancestral spawning grounds and by eliminating its requisite lotic habitat. While its roe is used as an acceptable caviar, overharvest has not been a major detriment to this species. This may be due to its relatively small size in comparison to the other two sturgeon species found historically throughout its range (i.e., lake and pallid). Shovelnose are locally abundant in some areas where large river habitat is still fairly intact. Modest commercial fisheries occur in a few states where some acceptable riverine habitat still exists; for example, in Arkansas (14,500 kg were harvested annually from the White River in the 1980's), in Missouri (9,956 kg were harvested commercially from the Mississippi and Missouri rivers in 1991) and Iowa (7,000 kg were harvested from the Mississippi River in 1990) (National Paddlefish and Sturgeon Steering Committee 1992).
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The Lake Sturgeon
Description
Length:3 to 5 feet -
Weight:10 to 80 pounds -
Coloring:olive-brown to grey on back and sides, with white belly
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Life History
The lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) is a North American temperate freshwater fish, one of about 20 species of sturgeon. Like other sturgeons, this species is an evolutionarily ancient bottomfeeder with a partly cartilaginous skeleton and skin bearing rows of bony plates. The fish uses its elongated, spadelike snout to stir up the sand and silt on the beds of rivers and lakes while feeding. Barbels surrounding the mouth help it sense and manipulate food. The lake sturgeon can grow to a mass of over 100 kilograms (200 lb) and a length of 2 meters (6 feet) over its long lifetime. It can reach well over 100 years of age and usually does not reach sexual maturity until its third decade of life.
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Habitat
Found in Lakes:Michigan, Huron, Ontario, Erie and Superior
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Distribution
The lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) is a North American temperate freshwater fish, one of about 20 species of sturgeon. Like other sturgeons, this species is an evolutionarily ancient bottomfeeder with a partly cartilaginous skeleton and skin bearing rows of bony plates. The fish uses its elongated, spadelike snout to stir up the sand and silt on the beds of rivers and lakes while feeding. Barbels surrounding the mouth help it sense and manipulate food. The lake sturgeon can grow to a mass of over 100 kilograms (200 lb) and a length of 2 meters (6 feet) over its long lifetime. It can reach well over 100 years of age and usually does not reach sexual maturity until its third decade of life.
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The Pallid Sturgeon
Description
The Pallid Sturgeon is closely related to the Shovelnose sturgeon however the Pallid is much larger. Evolving during the Cretaceous period 70 million years ago, the Pallid sturgeon is one of the largest fish found in the Mississippi drainage. The larger specimens that have been caught are over 60 inches (152 cm) in length and weigh 85 pounds (39 kg). Pallid Sturgeons are extremely long lived fish, with estimates of their lifespan in the wild averaging 60 years. The Pallid has a shovel nosed snout, toothless mouth, bony plates and a tail that is reptilian in appearance. In color they are usually light brown with a white underside. From the dorsal fin to the tail fin, the Pallid sturgeon has an armored backside of cartilage and a soft fleshy underside and nowhere on the fish are scales as are found in more modern species. The Pallid is a relic of the dinosaur era and has been called the "ugliest fish in North America".
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Life History
The Pallid usually takes a decade to mature and become able to reproduce. The fish spawns between the months of June and August and can produce thousands of eggs. In 2005, nine specimens in a fish hatchery (6 males and 3 females) produced 400,000 eggs. However, the eggs produced in the wild are considered to be uncommon and are heavily subject to predation and other forces of nature.
The Pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) is an endangered species of fish that exists in the waters of the Mississippi and Missouri River and numerous tributaries. In 1990, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service placed the species on the endangered species list, as very few young sturgeon had been found in recent years, and also due to the fact that all sightings of the fish had lessened in the preceding decade.
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Distribution
Efforts to restore the endangered fish have yet to yield positive results. Capturing a young Pallid has become a rare event since the 1980's. With the major alterations to natural spawning areas that have occurred throughout their native habitat, restoration of spawning areas throughout the Mississippi drainage basin will be mandatory if the species is to be expected to survive in the wild. Active efforts using fish hatcheries for spawning may help to ensure the species continues to exist, but this existence is heavily dependent on human assistance. In at least one situation, researchers have implanted sonic transmitters in sturgeons, making it easier to track their movements and help identify possible spawning areas.
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The Shortnose Gar
Description
Lepisosteus is Greek, meaning "bony scale", and platostomus is also Greek, meaning "broad mouth." Shortnose gar may be distinguished from other Texas species in that they lack the double row of teeth in the upper jaw of the alligator gar, the long snout of the longnose gar, and the spots of the spotted gar.
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Life History
Shortnose gar spawning activity may occur from May into July. Females are often accompanied by more than one male. Yellow eggs are scattered in vegetation and other submerged structures, usually hatching within eight days of spawning. The fry remain in the yolk-sac phase for another week, at which time they begin to feed on insect larvae and small crustaceans. At little over an inch in length, fish appear in the diet. Sexual maturity is usually achieved when fish reach about 15 inches in length. Shortnose gar are more tolerant of high turbidity than other gar species.
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Habitat
They inhabit large rivers and their backwaters, as well as oxbow lakes and large pools.
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Distribution
Shortnose gar are present in the Mississippi River drainage from the Gulf Coast as far north as Montana in the west, and the Ohio River in the east.
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The Longnose Gar
Description
Lepisosteus is Greek, meaning "bony scale", and osseus is Latin, meaning "of bone." Longnose gar are distinguished from other gar species found in Texas by the long snout whose length is at least 10 times the minimum width.
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Life History
Spawning activity occurs as early as April, in shallow riffle areas. Females, typically the larger sex, may be accompanied by one or many males. Although nests are not prepared, gravel is swept somewhat by the spawning action itself. Each female may deposit a portion of her eggs at several different locations. The adhesive eggs are mixed in the gravel, hatching in six to eight days. Yolk-sac fry have an adhesive disc on their snouts by which they attach themselves to submerged objects until the yolk sac is absorbed. Fry feed primarily on insect larvae and small crustaceans such as water fleas. Fish appear in the diet very early.
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Habitat
Longnose gar are typically associated with backwaters, low inflow pools and moderately clear streams. They often do very well in man-made impoundments.
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Distribution
Longnose gar range widely throughout the eastern US and north into southern Quebec. The species is especially common in the Mississippi River drainage and in the Carolinas. It may be found as far south and west as the Rio Grande drainage in Mexico, Texas and New Mexico.
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The Paddlefish
Description
Paddlefish grow up to 87 inches (221 cm) long - that's over 7 feet long! They can weigh as much as 200 pounds, but most are usually between 10-15 pounds. Paddlefish have a gray, shark-like body with a deeply forked tail, and a long, flat blade-like snout (looks like a kitchen spatula) almost one third of its body's entire length. It opens its huge mouth when feeding. Paddlefish resemble sharks not only by shape, but by their skeletons as well. Both paddlefish and sharks have skeletons made of cartilage, not bone. Paddlefish have no scales. Their gill cover is long and comes to a point, and they have tiny eyes.
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Life History
Paddlefish have no teeth and eat by swimming through the water with its mouth held wide open, scooping up tiny plants and animals in the water called plankton. They filter out the food with their gill rakers. The underside of the paddlefish's "paddle" is covered with taste buds (like the ones on your tongue) and probably helps it to find places where plankton is the most abundant.
Male paddlefish are old enough to spawn when they are four to nine years. Females spawn when they are 6-12 years old. Spawning season is from March through June, when spring rains raise the water levels of rivers and water temperatures reach 50-60 degrees. Males and females gather in schools and release their eggs over gravel or sandbars. This is called "broadcast spawning." By the end of their first year, baby paddlefish grow about 10 to 12 inches. They can live up to 30 years.
Paddlefish are sometimes called a spoonbill, spoonbill cat, or shovelnose cat because some have mistaken the paddlefish as a member of the Catfish family. It is one of only four cartilaginous fish native to Texas. The chestnut lamprey, brook lamprey and shovelnose sturgeon are the others. Paddlefish were first seen by Europeans in the 16th century, when Hernando De Soto explored the Mississippi River.
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Habitat
Paddlefish like to live in slow moving water of large rivers or reservoirs, usually in water deeper than four feet (130cm).
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Distribution
The native range of paddlefish includes the Mississippi River basin from New York to Montana and south to the Gulf of Mexico.
Paddlefish are the oldest surviving animal species in North America. Fossil records indicate that it is older than dinosaurs (300 million years). Females may spawn only once every 4 to 7 years. The paddlefish has only one other relative in the world, another paddlefish that lives in China. Polyodon is Greek for "many teeth" and refers to the paddlefish's gill rakers, even though they have no teeth at all. The word spathula is Latin for "spatula" or "blade."
The eggs of paddlefish can be used to make palatable caviar. When caviar becomes difficult, and expensive, to get from Russia paddlefish are often taken illegally (or poached) for their dark, edible eggs.
Paddlefish seldom bite a baited hook, but on occasion are "snagged" accidentally by anglers using treble hooks. Most often paddlefish are caught by using illegal nets, such as gill nets.
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The Bowfin
Description
Amia is a Greek name for an unidentified fish, probably the bonito, and calva is Latin meaning "smooth," referring perhaps to the fish's scaleless head. The bowfin has a large mouth equipped with many sharp teeth. Its large head has no scales. The dorsal fin is long, extending more than half the length of the back, and contains more than 45 rays. None of the fins have spines. The tail is rounded, and the backbone extends part way into it. There is a barbel-like flap associated with each nostril. The back is mottled olive green shading to lighter green on the belly. There is a difference in color among the fins. The dorsal is dark green, while all others are light green (coinciding perhaps with overall body color changes). Young fish have a distinctive black spot near the base of the upper portions of the tail fin. The spot is usually margined with yellow or orange. Although it persists in adult fish, it is less prominent in females.
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Life History
Bowfins spawn in the late spring. Nests are constructed by males in shallow, weedy areas. Vegetation and silt are removed from the nest by males and the adhesive eggs attach to any hard structure that is left, such as roots, gravel, wood, etc. Eggs hatch in 8-10 days. Males guard both incubating eggs and fry which may remain in the nest for about nine days after hatching. Initially, bowfin young feed on small invertebrates such as cladocerans (water fleas). By the time they reach about four inches in length they are primarily piscivorous, although crayfish can make up a substantial proportion of the diet, and frogs are also consumed. Young fish may grow as much as 12-14 inches during their first year. Bowfins tend to be found in deeper water during the day, and migrate into shallower areas used to feed at night. Their swim bladder is used as a lung and they may be seen surfacing to renew their air supply from time to time. In general, the average size in Texas is six to eight pounds.
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Distribution
With the exception of the Appalachian Mountains, the bowfin is native to the eastern US, ranging from extreme southeastern Canada to the Gulf Coast.
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