List of freshwater fish in California

Last updated May 12, 2024

An extensive list of the freshwater fish found in California, including both native and introduced species.^[1]

Common Name	Scientific Name	Native	Non-Native
Pacific Lamprey	Lampetra tridentata	Y
River Lamprey	Lampetra ayresl	Y
Pit-Klamath Brook Lamprey	Lampetra lethophaga	Y
Klamath River Lamprey	Lampetra simiiis	Y
Kern Brook Lamprey	Lampetra hubbsi	Y
Western Brook Lamprey	Lampetra ricchardsoni	Y
White Sturgeon	Acipenser transmontanus	Y
Green Sturgeon	Acipenser medirostris	Y
American Shad	Alosa sapidissima		Y
Threadfin Shad	Dorosoma petenense		Y
Coho Salmon or Silver Salmon	Oncorhynchus kisutch	Y
Chinook Salmon or King Salmon	Oncorhynchus tshawytscha	Y
Kokanee Salmon or Sockeye Salmon	Oncorhynchus nerka	Y	Y
Pink Salmon	Oncorhynchus gorbuscha	Y
Chum Salmon	Oncorhynchus keta	Y
Rainbow Trout	Oncorhynchus mykiss	Y
Coastal Rainbow Trout or Steelhead Trout	Oncorhyncus mykiss irideus	Y
California Golden Trout	Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita	Y
Little Kern Golden Trout	Oncorhynchus mykiss whitel	Y
Kern River Rainbow Trout	Oncorhynchus mykiss gilberti	Y
Sacramento Redband Trout	Oncorhynchus mykiss stonei	Y
Eagle Lake Rainbow Trout	Oncorhynchus mykiss aquilarum	Y
Cutthroat Trout	Oncorhynchus clarkii	Y
Coastal Cutthroat Trout	Oncorhynchus clarkii clarkii	Y
Lahontan Cutthroat Trout	Oncorhynchus clarkii henshawl	Y
Paiute Cutthroat Trout	Oncorhynchus clarkii seleniris	Y
Bull Trout	Salvelinus confluentus	Y
Brook Trout	Salvelinus fontinalls		Y
Brown Trout	Salmo trutta		Y
Lake Trout or Mackinaw Trout	Salvelinus namaycush		Y
Mountain Whitefish	Prosoplum williamsoni	Y
Delta Smelt	Hypomesus transpacificus	Y
Wakasagi	Hypomesus nipponensis		Y
Longfin Smelt	Spirinchus thalechthys	Y
Eulachon	Thaleichthys pacificus	Y
California Roach	Lavinia symmetricus	Y
Hitch	Lavinia exilicauda	Y
Lahontan Redside	Richarsonius egregius	Y
Speckled Dace	Rhinichthys osculus	Y
Tui Chub	Siphateles bicolor	Y
Mojave Tui Chub	Siphateles bicolor mohavensis	Y
Owens Tui Chub	Siphateles bicolor snyderi	Y
Blue Chub	Gila coerulea	Y
Arroyo Chub	Gila orcutti	Y
Thicktail Chub	Gila crassicauda	Y
Bonytail	Gila elegans	Y
Sacramento Splittail	Pogonichthys macrolepidotus	Y
Clear Lake Splittail	Pogonichthys ciscoldes	Y
Hardhead	Mylopharodon conocephalus	Y
Sacramento Blackfish	Orthodon microlepidotus	Y
Sacramento Pikeminnow	Ptychochellus grandis	Y
Colorado Pikeminnow	Ptychochellus luclus	Y
Common Carp	Cyprinus carpio		Y
Goldfish	Carassius auratus		Y
Golden Shiner	Notemigonus crysoleucas		Y
Red Shiner	Cyprinella lutrensis		Y
Fathead Minnow	Pimephales promelas		Y
Tench	Tinca tinca		Y
Grass Carp	Ctenopharyngodon idella		Y
Sacramento Sucker	Catostomus occidentalls	Y
Goose Lake Sucker	Catostomus occidentalis lacusanserinus	Y
Tahoe Sucker	Catostomus tahoensis	Y
Owens Sucker	Catostomus fumelventris	Y
Lost River Sucker	Catostomus luxatus	Y
Klamath Largescale Sucker	Catostomus snyderi	Y
Klamath Smallscale Sucker	Catostomus rimiculus	Y
Modoc Sucker	Catostomus microps	Y
Santa Ana Sucker	Catostomus santaanae	Y
Razorback Sucker	Xyrauchen texanus	Y
Shortnose Sucker	Chasmistes brevirostris	Y
Brown Bullhead	Amelurus nebulosus		Y
Mountain Sucker	Catostomus platyrhynchus	Y
Black Bullhead	Amelurus melas		Y
Yellow Bullhead	Amelurus natalls		Y
Channel Catfish	Ictalurus puctatus		Y
Blue Catfish	Ictalurus furcatus		Y
White Catfish	Ameriurus catus		Y
Flathead Catfish	Plyodictis olivaris		Y
Amargosa Pupfish	Cyprinodon nevadensis	Y
Desert Pupfish	Cyprinodon macularius	Y
Salt Creek Pupfish	Cyprinodon salinus	Y
Owens Pupfish	Cyprinodon radiosus	Y
California Killifish	Fundulus parvipinnis	Y
Rainwater Killifish	Lucania parva		Y
Western Mosquitofish	Gambusia affinis		Y
Sailfin Molly	Poecilla latipinna		Y
Porthole Livebearer	Poecillopsis gracilis		Y
Inland Silverside	Menidia beryllina		Y
Threespine Stickleback	Gasterosteus aculeatus	Y
Brook Stickleback	Culaea inconstans		Y
Striped Bass	Morone saxatilis		Y
White Bass	Morone chrysops		Y
Sacramento Perch	Archoplites interruptus	Y
Bluegill	Lepomis macrochirus		Y
Redear Sunfish	Lepomis microlophus		Y
Pumpkinseed	Lepomis gibbosus		Y
Green Sunfish	Lepomis cyanellus		Y
Warmouth	Lepomis gulosus		Y
White Crappie	Pomoxis annularis		Y
Black Crappie	Pomoxis nigromaculatus		Y
Largemouth Bass	Micropterus salmoides		Y
Smallmouth Bass	Micropterus dolomieu		Y
Spotted Bass	Micropterus punctulatus		Y
Redeye Bass	Micropterus coosae		Y
Yellow Perch	Perca flavescens		Y
Bigscale Logperch	Percina macrolepida		Y
Mozambique Tilapia	Oreochromis mossambicus		Y
Redbelly Tilapia	Tilapia zillii		Y
Blue Tilapia	Oreochromis aureus		Y
Nile Tilapia	Oreochromis niloticus		Y
Tuleperch	Hysterocarpus traski	Y
Shiner Perch	Cymatogaster aggregata	Y
Striped Mullet	Mugil cephalus	Y
Yellowfin Goby	Acanthogoblus flavimanus		Y
Shimofuri Goby	Tridentiger bifasclatus		Y
Tidewater Goby	Eucyclogoblus newberryi	Y
Prickly Sculpin	Cottus asper	Y
Riffle Sculpin	Cottus gulosus	Y
Pit Sculpin	Cottus pitensis	Y
Coastrange Sculpin	Cottus aleuticus	Y
Reticulate Sculpin	Cottus perplexus	Y
Marbled Sculpin	Cottus klamathensis	Y
Rough Sculpin	Cottus asperrimus	Y
Paiute Sculpin	Cottus beldingi	Y
Pacific Staghorn Sculpin	Leptocottus armatus	Y
Starry Flounder	Platichthys stellatus	Y
Northern Pike	Esox lucius		Y

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Largemouth bass</span> Species of black bass

The largemouth bass is a carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fish in the Centrarchidae (sunfish) family, native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico. It is known by a variety of regional names, such as the widemouth bass, bigmouth bass, black bass, bucketmouth, largie, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, bucketmouth bass, green trout, Gilsdorf bass, Oswego bass, LMB, and southern largemouth and northern largemouth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gadiformes</span> Order of fishes

Gadiformes, also called the Anacanthini, are an order of ray-finned fish that include the cod, hakes, pollock, haddock, burbot, rocklings and moras, many of which are food fish of major commercial value. They are mostly marine fish found throughout the world and the vast majority are found in temperate or colder regions while a few species may enter brackish estuaries. Pacific tomcods, one of the two species that makes up the genus Microgadus, are able to enter freshwater, but there is no evidence that they breed there. Some populations of landlocked Atlantic tomcod on the other hand, complete their entire life cycle in freshwater. Yet only one species, the burbot, is a true freshwater fish.

In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants. More in general, the word can be used for any low-lying and seasonally waterlogged terrain. In Europe and in agricultural literature low-lying meadows that require draining and embanked polderlands are also referred to as marshes or marshland.

The rainbow trout is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coastal rainbow trout(O. m. irideus) or Columbia River redband trout (O. m. gairdneri) that usually returns to freshwater to spawn after living two to three years in the ocean. Freshwater forms that have been introduced into the Great Lakes and migrate into tributaries to spawn are also called steelhead.

Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus) or Columbia River redband trout. Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia and North America. Like other sea-run (anadromous) trout and salmon, steelhead spawn in freshwater, smolts migrate to the ocean to forage for several years and adults return to their natal streams to spawn. Steelhead are iteroparous, although survival is approximately 10–20%.

The Chinook salmon is the largest and most valuable species of Pacific salmon. Its common name is derived from the Chinookan peoples. Other vernacular names for the species include king salmon, Quinnat salmon, Tsumen, spring salmon, chrome hog, Blackmouth, and Tyee salmon. The scientific species name is based on the Russian common name chavycha (чавыча).

<i>Ceratonova shasta</i> Species of marine parasite

Ceratonova shasta is a myxosporean parasite that infects salmonid fish on the Pacific coast of North America. It was first observed at the Crystal Lake Hatchery, Shasta County, California, and has now been reported from Idaho, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska.

Pink salmon or humpback salmon is a species of euryhaline ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the type species of the genus Oncorhynchus, and is the smallest and most abundant of the seven officially recognized species of salmon. The species' scientific name is based on the Russian common name for this species gorbúša (горбуша), which literally means humpie.

The coho salmon is a species of anadromous fish in the salmon family and one of the five Pacific salmon species. Coho salmon are also known as silver salmon or "silvers". The scientific species name is based on the Russian common name kizhuch (кижуч).

The Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge of the United States on the border between California and Oregon. It is operated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The refuge was designated a National Historic Landmark on October 16, 1965.

A fish is an aquatic, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fins and a hard skull, but lacking limbs with digits. Fish can be grouped into the more basal jawless fish and the more common jawed fish, the latter including all living cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as the extinct placoderms and acanthodians. Most fish are cold-blooded, their body temperature varying with the surrounding water, though some large active swimmers like white shark and tuna can hold a higher core temperature. Many fish can communicate acoustically with each other, such as during courtship displays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freshwater fish</span> Fish that mostly live in freshwater

Freshwater fish are fish species that spend some or all of their lives in bodies of fresh water such as rivers, lakes and inland wetlands, where the salinity is less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine habitats in many ways, especially the difference in levels of osmolarity. To survive in fresh water, fish need a range of physiological adaptations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freshwater whitefish</span> Subfamily of fishes

The freshwater whitefish are fishes of the subfamily Coregoninae, which contains whitefishes and ciscoes, and is one of three subfamilies in the salmon family Salmonidae. Apart from the subfamily Coregoninae, the family Salmonidae includes the salmon, trout, and char species of the subfamily Salmoninae, and grayling species of the subfamily Thymallinae. Freshwater whitefish are distributed mainly in relatively cool waters throughout the northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere.

<i>Syncaris pacifica</i> Species of crustacean

Syncaris pacifica is an endangered species of freshwater shrimp in the family Atyidae that occurs only in a limited range within the northern San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA. Specifically, this species occurs only in 17 stream segments within Sonoma, Napa and Marin Counties. This species is often translucent to transparent, with both sexes capable of considerable coloration altering, as a sophisticated form of camouflage. This decapod is commonly known as California freshwater shrimp, and is the only extant decapod shrimp in California that occurs in non-saline waters.

Unionida is a monophyletic order of freshwater mussels, aquatic bivalve molluscs. The order includes most of the larger freshwater mussels, including the freshwater pearl mussels. The most common families are the Unionidae and the Margaritiferidae. All have in common a larval stage that is temporarily parasitic on fish, nacreous shells, high in organic matter, that may crack upon drying out, and siphons too short to permit the animal to live deeply buried in sediment.

Aquarium Fish International (AFI) was a North American monthly magazine, published by BowTie Inc. of Irvine, California, and dedicated to freshwater and saltwater fishkeeping and the aquarium/fishkeeping hobby in general.

The Gobiiformes are an order of fish that includes the gobies and their relatives. The order, which was previously considered a suborder of Perciformes, is made up of about 2,211 species that are divided between seven families. Phylogenetic relationships of the Gobiiformes have been elucidated using molecular data. Gobiiforms are primarily small species that live in marine water, but roughly 10% of these species inhabit fresh water. This order is composed chiefly of benthic or burrowing species; like many other benthic fishes, most gobiiforms do not have a gas bladder or any other means of controlling their buoyancy in water, so they must spend most of their time on or near the bottom. Gobiiformes means "goby-like".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batiquitos Lagoon</span> Coastal wetland in California

The Batiquitos Lagoon is a coastal wetland and estuary located between southern Carlsbad and Encinitas, in the North County region of San Diego County, California. The lagoon itself consists of 610 acres with a drainage basin of about 55,000 acres. Its primary freshwater tributaries being San Marcos Creek from the east and Encinitas Creek which flows north along Green Valley, entering the lagoon under El Camino Real and La Costa Avenue, respectively. It is one of the few remaining tidal wetlands on the southern California coast.

The Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge is located in the Imperial Valley of California, 40 miles (64 km) north of the Mexican border. Situated at the southern end of the Salton Sea, the refuge protects one of the most important nesting sites and stopovers along the Pacific Flyway. Despite its location in the Colorado Desert, a subdivision of the larger Sonoran Desert, the refuge contains marine, freshwater, wetland, and agricultural habitats which provide sanctuary for hundreds of birds and wetland species, including several that have been listed as endangered or sensitive by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Tyson Royal Roberts is an American ichthyologist. He has been described as "the world's foremost authority on Regalecus".

References

↑ McGinnis, Samuel (2006). Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes of California . University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California. pp. 123–369.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] McGinnis, Samuel (2006). Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes of California . University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California. pp. 123–369.

[1]