Class "Agnatha" - jawless fish (lampreys, hagfishes)
*Family Petromyzontidae - lampreys
- anadromous or fresh water, eel-shaped jawless fishes
- large, circular surrounding mouth, adapted for sucking, and by their
single "nostril" on the top of their head. Parasitic species
use sucker to attach themselves on fish
- lacks scales, jaws, gill covers and paired fins
- seven gill clefts openings extend behind eyes
-.always spawn and lay eggs in brooks and rivers
- ammnocete (larva) most of their lives (3-7 years), undergo a metamorphose
to become an adult
- adults either carnivorous (usually invertebrates) and/or parasitic (suck
blood of other fishes), or nonfeeding
- some species are anadromous, move to sea for 1-2 years until mature,
then return to rivers to reproduce and generally die
- many species sensitive to water pollution
Class Osteichthyes - bony fishes
Order Lepisosteiformes (gars)
Family Lepisosteidae - gars
- long cigar-shaped fishes,
olive above, gray below
- thick, ganoid (diamond-shaped)
scales
- beak-like jaws with sharp,
pointed teeth
- can use atmospheric oxygen,
and may bask on the surface
- habitat: large streams
and rivers, backwaters, also shallow, weedy lakes;
usually near vegetation
- food: predators
Order Amiiformes (bowfins)
Family Amiidae - bowfins
- primitive fish, retains
rounded heterocercal tail
- lunglike gas bladder
- underside of head with
large, bony gular plate
- one living species (Amia
calva) of formerly diverse group
- habitat: sluggish waters,
such as lakes, swamps, sloughs, pools, and backwaters of lowland streams,
usually near vegetation
- reproduction: in spring,
male builds circular nests among weeds, guards eggs and young
- food: fishes, crayfish
Order Clupeiformes (herring-like fishes)
*Family Salmonidae - trouts and salmon
- fishes with long body with
many small cycloid scales
- with adipose fin
- large fishes, important
sport and commercial fishes
- many species migratory
(anadromous), often spawning in same streams where they were hatched
- habitat: cool to cold,
well-oxygenated streams and lakes (often cooler than 21C)
- food: insects, plankton,
and bottom organisms
Family Umbridae - mudminnows
- small, red-brown fishes
with oblong body, with faint vertical bars
- blunt snout, scaled head,
and rounded tail with dark bar at its base
- no lateral line, no adipose
fin
- burrow into mud when alarmed,
resistant to adverse conditions (even freezing)
- habitat: soft-bottomed
sluggish or stagnant water
- food: insects, crustaceans,
some vegetation
*Family Esocidae - pikes
- large, distinctive long
cylindrical body, with forked caudal fin
- duck-billed snout, sharp
teeth
- many cycloid scales
- dorsal and anal fins located
far back on body, opposite each other
- no adipose fin
- habitat: vegetated waters
of pools or sluggish sections of streams, also lakes and swamps
- food: fish and frogs,
voracious predators and fighting behavior make them popular sport fishes
Order Cypriniformes - minnows, suckers, catfishes
*Family Cyprinidae - minnows and carps
- largest family of freshwater
fishes
- usually small in size
- no adipose fin
- generally have thin lips
(stonerollers (Campostoma) has horny edge extending to edge of lower lip,
used to scrape algae, but different in shape from that of suckers (Catostomatidae))
- lack teeth in mouth, but
have 1-3 rows of teeth on comb-like row in throat
- habitat: widespread in
lentic and lotic waters
- food: usually carnivores
on small crustaceans and insects; some are herbivores
*Family Catostomatidae - suckers
- suckers in mouth, usually
behind point of the snout
- thick and large lips,
protrusible premaxillae, used to �vacuum� and ingest invertebrates
- no adipose fin
- teeth located in throat
in single comb-like row
- spawn in spring
- individuals often move
in large schools
- habitat: rivers, lake
beds; because of large size and abundance, suckers often account for a
large amount of biomass in streams and lakes
- food: insects and other
invertebrates on bottom
*Family Ictaluridae - catfishes, madtoms
- small to large fishes
- 4 pairs of barbels (�whiskers�)
around the mouth
- no scales
- adipose fin
- stout spines at dorsal
and pectoral fin origins; glandular cells in skin surrounding fin spines
of madtoms are venomous, resulting in painful reaction
- usually bottom feeders
and active at night
- some species of commercial
food and aquaculture value
- spawning usually in spring
and summer
Order Perciformes - perches, sunfishes, sculpins
*Family Percidae - perches and darters
- second most diverse family
(after Cyprinidae) of North American freshwater fishes
- all but several species
are darters, which are some of our most colorful fishes
- small in size (about 10
cm), several (walleye, logperch) are large (over 0.5 m) and are popular
sport fishes
- 2 dorsal fins, separate
or slightly joined
- ctenoid scales
- most have lost gas bladder,
dart about bottoms of streams and lakes
- habitats: most darters
found in clean sand and gravel runs of streams and small rivers; others
in rivers and lakes
- food: small crustaceans
and insects
*Family Centrarchidae - sunfishes and bass
- thin, oblong or circular
bodies
- dorsal fins are completely
joined
- no adipose fin
- males make shallow depression
for nest, guard eggs and fry
- food: macroinvertebrates
and fish
- habitat: lentic and lotic
waters, usually of warmer temperatures
- colorful and popular game
fishes
*Family Cottidae - sculpin
- largely a marine group,
a few freshwater species, dark and drab color
- small fish with large
mouth, wide body that tapers to slender, compressed caudal peduncle
- large fanlike pectoral
fins
- 1-4 preopercular spines
(at front of gill cover)
- thoracic pelvic fins with
1 hidden spine and 3-4 rays
- no or few (ctenoid) scales
- 2 dorsal fins, 1 long
spineless anal fin
- habitat: streams and lakes,
often rocky substrates
Family Gasterosteidae - sticklebacks
- unique for their separate
dorsal spines followed by normal dorsal fin
- scaleless
- extremely narrow caudal
peduncle
- males build elaborate
nests of plants and sticks held together by kidney secretion, guard eggs
and young
- habitat: shallow vegetated
areas of lakes, ponds, and mud-bottomed substrates of sluggish streams,
also creeks and small rivers over sand or mud
- food: small insects and
crustaceans