Name:
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- Pomoxis, from the Greek, "sharp opercle
(cheek)"
- nigromaculatus, from the Latin, "black
spotted"
- Common name
- Other common names include: Bream, Calico
Bass, Crawpie, Freckle, Grass Bass, Mason Perch, Moonfish, Slab, Speckled
Bass, Speckled Crappie, Speckled Perch, Specks, Strawberry Bass, marigane
noire, sac-a-lait
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Taxonomy:
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- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata,
- Subphylum Vertebrata,
- Superclass Osteichthyes, bony fishes
- Class Actinopterygii, ray-finned and spiny rayed fishes
- Subclass Neopterygii
- Infraclass Teleostei
- Superorder Acanthopterygii,
- Order Perciformes, the perch-like fishes
- Suborder Percoidei
- Family Centrarchidae, the Sunfishes
- Genus Pomoxis, the Crappies
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Description:
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- A large, deep-bodied sunfish
- Length 8"-12"
- Weight occasionally very large, up to 2-4 lbs
- Coloration
- back dark olive, metallic green to golden brown with silver or blue cast
- sides silvery with green or blackish mottling
- dorsal, tail, and anal fins strongly reticulated with black giving the
appearance of a dark-colored fin with many whitish spots.
- Body
- "hump-backed", deep-bodied, slab-sided, somewhat deeper in proportion to
its length
- dorsal fin of 7-8 spines
- spiny dorsal and soft dorsal fins broadly connected without being notched
- length of dorsal fin base equals distance from eye to front of dorsal fin
- anal fin nearly as long and as large as dorsal fin, with 6 spines
- complete lateral line of 36-44 scales
- Head
- large mouth
- upper jaw extends well past middle of eye when mouth is closed
- Lifespan 8-10 years.
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Identification:
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- Identifiable as a sunfish from its body shape and size.
- Distinguished from other sunfish by
- connected dorsal fins without notch
- dorsal fin of 7-8 spines
- large anal fin, nearly as large as dorsal, of 6 spines
- Similar White Crappie (Pomoxis annularis) does not occur in the
North Country.
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Distribution:
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- Southern Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec, south through eastern and midwestern
US to Gulf Coast. Absent from Atlantic coast.
- Near the northern edge of its range in the BWCA.
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Habitat:
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- Clear waters of large streams and medium-sized lakes, and aquatic vegetation
over bottom of sand, muck, or aquatic debris. Intolerant of turbid
waters.
- Inhabits heavily vegetated, shallow waters in spring, moving in summer
to roam or suspend over deep water.
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Food:
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- Initial diet zooplankton, supplemented with insects toward the end of first
year.
- Insects and their larvae remain an important food item throughout life,
but feeds on small fish and minnows from second.
- Adults continue to feed on plankton but usually eat plenty of small fish. Large adults are mostly piscivorous, and efficient predators of small fish.
- May compete with Walleye to some degree because of similar habits. Both
travel open water in schools, feeding on similar foods at night, dawn,
and dusk.
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History:
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- U.S. Record: 6 lb. 0 oz, from the Westwego Canal, LA (11/28/89)
- Minnesota Record: 5lbs, 0oz, from the Vermilion River (Dakota County)
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Uses:
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- Considered an excellent game fish when taken on light tackle.
- Perhaps Minnesota's second most commonly caught game fish, behind
the Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus).
- Flesh is flaky, white, and considered very tasty.
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Reproduction:
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- Spawns in May and June, in 3'-8' of water, with water temperatures 58 º-64
º F.
- Male sweeps out a nest in sand or fine gravel in colony. Female lays 20,000
to 60,000 eggs, occasionally up to 150,000. Male guards nest and
defends young until they start to feed.
- Young grow to 2"-3" in first year and mature during second or third year.
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Comments:
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Links:
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Last updated on 13 November 1999
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