Freshwater Fishes of Connecticut

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• Shortnose Sturgeon

  Learn about the shortnose sturgeon, a state and federally endangered species that call the CT River home.

• Grass Carp

  Native to China and Siberia, this gigantic freshwater fish has been widely stocked for weed control.

• Fourspine Stickleback

  True to their names, sticklebacks have very sharp spines, which can be locked in an upright position, causing these little fish to be very unpalatable for most predators.

• Perches and Darters

  Perches are distributed throughout temperate fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere. However, all of the many species of diminutive darters are native only to North America.

• Threespine Stickleback

  Freshwater populations exist as far south as Massachusetts, but none are known in Connecticut.

• Northern Pike

  The northern pike is Connecticut’s largest strictly freshwater gamefish.

• Redbreast Sunfish

  In Connecticut, the redbreast sunfish typically outnumbers other sunfish species only in river environments.

• Smallmouth Bass

  Due to their hard-fighting abilities, smallmouths are considered by many to be superior gamefish to largemouths.

• Hybrid Sunfish

  Hybrids are more common in unfished or lightly fished waters, most likely because they are easier to catch than the parent species and are thus removed more quickly from heavily fished waters.

• Black Crappie

  Also called “calico bass,” crappie grow quickly and are a popular food and sport fish.

• Largemouth Bass

  The most popular gamefish in the country, the largemouth bass is also the principal predator in most of our state’s lakes and ponds and thus plays a key role in the health of aquatic ecosystems.

• Blackspotted Stickleback

  Rarity and difficulty with identification cause the blackspotted stickleback’s whereabouts in Connecticut to be unclear.

• White Catfish

  Prefer backwaters and slow-moving areas of larger rivers and streams as well as lakes and ponds. They appear to be more tolerant of brackish water than channel catfish.

• Black Bullhead

  Black bullheads are very difficult to distinguish from brown bullheads. It is unclear whether the few individuals reported in Connecticut represent self-sustaining populations.

• Trouts and Salmons

  Five species (and one hybrid, the “tiger trout”) exist in Connecticut. Only the brook trout and Atlantic salmon are native; the rest were introduced as sport fish.