Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater and fresh water together, as in estuaries, or it may occur in brackish fossil aquifers. The word comes from the Middle Dutch root brak. Certain human activities can produce brackish water, in particular civil engineering projects such as dikes and the flooding of coastal marshland to produce brackish water pools for freshwater prawn farming. Brackish water is also the primary waste product of the salinity gradient power process. Because brackish water is hostile to the growth of most terrestrial plant species, without appropriate management it is damaging to the environment.
The muskellunge, often shortened to muskie,musky, ski, or lunge, is a species of large freshwater predatory fish native to North America. It is the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae.
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.
The quillback, also known as the quillback carpsucker, is a type of freshwater fish of the sucker family widely distributed throughout North America. It is deeper-bodied than most suckers, leading to a carplike appearance. However, the quillback is not a carp. It can be distinguished from carp by the lack of barbels around the mouth. The quillback is long-lived, with age up to 30 years, 44 years, and 52 years documented across different studies.
The burbot, also known as bubbot, mariah, loche, cusk, freshwater cod, freshwater ling, freshwater cusk, the lawyer, coney-fish, lingcod, or eelpout, is a species of coldwater ray-finned fish native to the subarctic regions of the Northern hemisphere. It is the only member of the genus Lota, and is the only freshwater species of the order Gadiformes. The species is closely related to marine fish such as the common ling and cusk, all which belonging to the family Lotidae (rocklings).
The yellow perch, commonly referred to as perch, striped perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samuel Latham Mitchill from New York. It is closely related, and morphologically similar to the European perch ; and is sometimes considered a subspecies of its European counterpart.
Catostomus is a genus of fish belonging to the family Catostomidae, commonly known as suckers. This genus of fish usually lives in freshwater basins. Most members of the genus are native to North America, but C. catostomus is also found in Russia.
The black buffalo is a North American species of freshwater fish in the Catostomidae or sucker family. With a lifespan greater than 100 years it is among the longest-lived of freshwater fish species. Found in the Mississippi Basin and southern Great Lakes. It was first discovered in Canada in the western end of Lake Erie and has been reported from Boston Creek. The Tennessee distribution ranges from rivers and streams in the Cumberland Mountains, a few rivers in middle Tennessee, and in west Tennessee along the Mississippi River. The ecology of the species is quite similar to that of I. bubalus. I. niger has a ventrally positioned mouth, making the species’ diet benthic-oriented. It has a distinct shape that mocks I. bubalus and I. cyprinellus, considering it a hybrid between the two species.
The golden redhorse is a species of freshwater fish endemic to Ontario and Manitoba in Canada and the Midwestern, southern, and eastern United States. It lives in calm, often silty or sandy waters in streams, small to large rivers, and lakes.
The greater redhorse is a species of freshwater fish found in northeastern North America. It is the largest member of the genus Moxostoma, with a maximum length of 80 cm (31.5 in). The greater redhorse is long lived with a maximum reported age of 27 years.
The shorthead redhorse is a wide-ranging species in North America. The shorthead redhorse is native to central and eastern North America. However, its range has expanded to include areas like the Hudson estuary and Grayson County, Texas. It inhabits small to large rivers and lakes, and lives in the benthic zone. Shorthead redhorse feed on benthic invertebrates and can consume plant material from the benthic environment that it inhabits. When it spawns, shorthead redhorse move into more shallow streams and spawn over gravel or rocky shoals. They will also spawn in springs with swift moving water. The shorthead redhorse is important to humans because it is a game fish. It is also important to anglers because of its role in the ecosystem; it is prey for larger game fish such as northern pike and muskellunge.
The silver redhorse is a species of freshwater fish endemic to Canada and the United States. It is the longest-lived redhorse known, with a maximum reported age of 41 years. Sometimes called redhorse or sucker for short, it is in the family Catostomidae with other suckers. The species is distributed from Quebec to Alberta and is also in the Mississippi River, St. Lawrence River, Ohio River, and the Great Lakes basins. The current world record is 14 pounds, 14 ounces, caught by Chris Stephenson on Pickwick Lake in Alabama, April 1995 and certified by National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame. This species is of growing interest to rod-and-line anglers. The long-lived and late-maturing silver redhorse is also a sportfish pursued by kill-and-dump bowfishing, a 21st century unregulated sport that produces tons of wanton waste, and thus management and conservation are in need of updating.
The longnose dace is a freshwater minnow native to North America. Rhinicthys means snout fish and cataractae means of the cataract. Longnose dace are small, typically less than 100 mm and characterized by their fleshy snout that protrudes past the mouth. They are well adapted for living on the bottom of fast-flowing streams among stones. Longnose dace eat algae and aquatic insects and are important forage minnows for larger predatory fish.
The Yaqui sucker is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Catostomidae. It is found the Aridoamerica region of northern Mexico and south-western United States. Catostomus bernardini or Yaqui sucker belongs to the family Catostomidae. The Yaqui sucker is related to the Sonora sucker and could possibly be a subspecies of the Gila sucker.
The largescale sucker is a species of sucker, a type of freshwater fish, found in western North America.
The bluehead sucker is endemic to the intermountain Western US. A total of 23 members of the genus Catostomus has been found in North America. C. discobolus and C. yarrowi are two sister species that have very similar Arizona habitats.
The Sonora Sucker, Catostomus insignis, is a medium-sized catostomid fish with 16 other species in the genus scattered throughout North America. This species is remarkably similar in appearance to the Yaqui Sucker.
The desert sucker or Gila Mountain sucker, is a freshwater species of ray-finned fish in the sucker family, endemic to the Great Basin and the Colorado River Basin in the United States. It inhabits rapids and fast-flowing streams with gravelly bottoms. It is a bi-colored fish with the upper parts olive brown to dark green, and the underparts silvery-tan or yellowish. The head is cylindrical, tapering to a thick-lipped mouth on the underside. This fish can grow to 31 in (79 cm) in Arizona but is generally only about half this size elsewhere. There are three subspecies, found in different river basins, and some authorities allot this species its own genus Pantosteus.
The white sucker is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, but it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico. The fish is commonly known as a "sucker" due to its fleshy, papillose lips that suck up organic matter and aufwuchs from the bottom of rivers and streams.
The Tahoe sucker is a freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the Great Basin region of the Western United States.
