Freshwater Fishes of Connecticut

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• Brown Bullhead

  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.

• Ninespine Stickleback

  Ninespine stickleback males build little tunnel-shaped nests out of bits of vegetation.

• Bluegill

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

• Rock Bass

  Rock bass have relatively large mouths, so are commonly caught by anglers seeking larger gamefish.

• Rainbow Trout

  Rainbow trout seldom survive the summer in Connecticut and natural reproduction is rare.

• Codfishes

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

• Atlantic Sturgeon

  Damn building, overfishing and pollution all likely contributed to the demise of Atlantic sturgeon in Connecticut.

• Creek Chub

  Closely related to fallfish, creek chubs build long ridges of gravel for nests.

• Pupfishes

  The pupfishes and killifishes are very similar and were once included in the same family.

• Sheepshead Minnow

  The sheepshead minnow is a standard for use in many laboratory toxicity and genetics studies.

• Spotfin Killifish

  Due to their small size, spotfin killifish are difficult to identify and often mistaken for young mummichog.

• Striped Killifish

  This is the largest killifish species in Connecticut and the least tolerant of fresh water.

• Banded Killifish

  Prefer shallow, still areas of lakes and ponds and slow-flow areas of larger rivers and streams.

• Longnose Sucker

  Recent attempts to find longnose suckers in Connecticut have failed.

• Silversides

  Two estuarine/marine species of silversides exist in Connecticut. Both are schooling fish that occasionally enter freshwater areas of coastal rivers and streams.