Freshwater

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• Central Mudminnow

  Although central mudminnows look superficially like minnows or killifish, they are actually more closely related to pickerel and pike.

• Codfishes

  Codfishes are characterized by having a single barbel on the middle of the chin.

• Cutlip Minnow

  Cutlip minnows are known to sometimes knock out and eat the eyes of other fishes.

• Creek Chubsucker

  Creek chubsucker populations have reportedly declined in streams that are subject to siltation.

• Common Shiner

  With no obvious and distinctive characteristics, the common shiner is one of the most difficult fish to identify.

• Bluegill

  Bluegills often inhabit shallow areas and are very easy to catch on a variety of small lures or baits (especially worms).

• Blueback Herring

  Blueback herring and alewives are so similar that the color of the gut lining (peritoneum) is the only sure way to tell them apart.

• Bluntnose Minnow

  It is unclear how or when bluntnose minnows arrived in Connecticut.

• Bowfin

  Often confused with the snakehead, the bowfin is an introduced fish that has grown rapidly in abundance since 2003.

• Bowfins

  This primitive family has a diverse fossil record, but only one species still exists.

• Table of Contents

  This pictorial guide contains interesting and useful information about all of Connecticut's fascinating freshwater fishes.

• Fallfish

  Our largest minnow species, the fallfish, is misidentified by many as trout or "dace".

• Hogchoker

  Apparently during Colonial times, “hogchokers” fed to pigs proved difficult to swallow.

• Families of Connecticut Freshwater Fishes

  Learn the defining characteristics of Connecticut's freshwater fish families!

• Hickory Shad

  The summer/fall recreational fishery for hickory shad is gaining in popularity.