Freshwater Fishes of Connecticut

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• Blacknose Dace

  Blacknose dace are a native minnow that prefer the pools and rocky riffles of small headwater streams.

• Sunfishes and Freshwater Basses

  There are eleven sunfish species in Connecticut, only three of which are native.

• Temperate Basses

  All North American members of the family are important gamefish, and some support significant commercial fisheries.

• Swamp Darter

  Swamp darters are very small, camouflaged and secretive. Primarily for this reason, their distribution in Connecticut is not fully defined, nor is it clear whether their range has changed over time.

• Spottail Shiner

  Typically the most abundant fish species in larger rivers, the spottail shiner is a very important forage fish.

• Burbot

  The burbot is the only completely freshwater member of the cod family. Little is known of its life history in Connecticut.

• Fish Descriptions and Distribution Maps Explained

  Learn how to interpret the fish descriptions and distribution maps used to describe the freshwater fishes of Connecticut!

• 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.

• Tessellated Darter

  Sometimes bury themselves in the sand with only eyes and tail tips exposed. Can be easily captured with small-mesh dip net or seine.

• 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.