Freshwater
Page 7 of 9
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Codfishes are characterized by having a single barbel on the middle of the chin.
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Also known as “mossbunker” or simply “bunker.” Menhaden are important forage fish for large predatory fishes such as striped bass and bluefish.
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The state's only parasitic fish to enter freshwater, the sea lamprey gets a bad reputation. Learn more about this fascinating fish.
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The northern pike is Connecticut’s largest strictly freshwater gamefish.
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Introductions of green sunfish have been implicated with adverse impacts on other fish species.
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The brown bullhead is Connecticut’s most widely distributed and only native catfish species. They are good to eat, but are typically underutilized by anglers.
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They were first observed in Connecticut in the early 1980s at a few disjunct sites in the lower Housatonic and upper Quinebaug River drainages. Populations are expanding in both of these drainages, and individuals have recently been discovered in the Connecticut River drainage as well.
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Sculpins have a flattened head, large frog-like mouth and eyes, a scaleless body, and large fan-shaped pectoral fins.
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Sometimes bury themselves in the sand with only eyes and tail tips exposed. Can be easily captured with small-mesh dip net or seine.
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The banded sunfish is listed as a Connecticut State Threatened Species. Their small size makes them vulnerable to predation by bass and other large gamefish, so they thrive only in protected, backwater areas.
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A small family limited to marine waters of the Western Hemisphere.
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Sculpins are sensitive to environmental degradation, requiring good-quality, coldwater streams to survive.
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Learn about these huge, prehistoric fishes that are threatened and endangered in Connecticut.
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One of our most colorful freshwater fishes.
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White crappie are so similar in appearance to black crappie that most Connecticut anglers probably do not recognize them as a separate species.