Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection
Fishing
Page 15 of 18
-
Sculpins are sensitive to environmental degradation, requiring good-quality, coldwater streams to survive.
-
Due to their small size, spotfin killifish are difficult to identify and often mistaken for young mummichog.
-
Typically the most abundant fish species in larger rivers, the spottail shiner is a very important forage fish.
-
Four native stickleback species are found predominantly in marine and sometimes fresh waters of Connecticut. The males build and guard nests made out of aquatic vegetation, and they become darker and/or more brightly colored during the spawning season.
-
This is the largest killifish species in Connecticut and the least tolerant of fresh water.
-
Two estuarine/marine species of silversides exist in Connecticut. Both are schooling fish that occasionally enter freshwater areas of coastal rivers and streams.
-
Relatively small, silvery fishes with a very slender, cylindrical shape.
-
Smelt are important forage fish for large pelagic predators such as striped bass in estuaries and brown trout in lakes.
-
Rainbow trout seldom survive the summer in Connecticut and natural reproduction is rare.
-
Where numerous, rainwater killifish are thought to be an effective control of mosquito larvae.
-
Striped mullet support important commercial fisheries in Southern states. Smaller fish are sold as bait.
-
As with hybrids between many fish species, tiger trout tend to be more aggressive and faster-growing than either parent species.
-
Although relatively feeble fighters on rod and reel, walleye are an esteemed game and food fish throughout their range.
-
An esteemed food and sport fish in Europe, it's unclear how the tench will affect Connecticut's freshwater ecosystems.
-
Freshwater populations exist as far south as Massachusetts, but none are known in Connecticut.