Biodiversity: Fishes

Crown Darter

The crown darter is a small freshwater, ray-finned fish first discovered in 1992. It is found only in the Cypress Creek system. While its range makes it a rare species to all outside of north Alabama, the darter is found in large numbers of cobble pools and nearby riffles of smaller streams here in Cypress Creek.

The darter's second dorsal fin has a golden edge and knob that resemble a crown, lending to its name. Adults are typically 1.5-3 inches in length.

This fish spawns on the underside of rocks, mating from late March to early June. Little else is known about this rare fish.

Golden Redhorse

The golden redhorse is a migratory sucker native to eastern North America, found in almost all aquatic environments of Alabama, including rivers, reservoirs, and creeks of all sizes. It prefers pools and creeks with clear, gravelly or rocky bottoms with a fast enough current to prevent accumulation of silt, where it feeds mostly on invertebrates and small mollusks. In the Tennessee River drainage, it frequently is found with spotted suckers and black, silver, shorthead, and river redhorses.

The redhorse derives its name from its light-yellow to bronze coloring. It is coarse-scaled and slightly chubby, typically ranging from 12-18 inches long and 1-2 pounds, although it can reach 26 inches in length and 5 pounds in weight.

The golden redhorse migrates into small or midsize streams to spawn in April and early May, then leaves these areas afterward. While intolerant of turbidity, siltation, and pollutants, it can live in streams with considerable pollution because of its migratory nature.

Longear sunfish

The longear sunfish is a small, freshwater fish distributed mostly in the eastern United States, west of the Appalachians. It is found throughout most of Alabama, though it is less common in some river systems due to competition with the redbreast sunfish. The Longear sunfish is common in small to moderate flowing streams, rivers, reservoirs, and oxbow lakes -- stillwater, u-shaped lakes that were previously part of a river or creek. You might see this carnivorous fish feeding on aquatic invertebrates, small crustaceans, young bass, or young sunfish near the surface of Cypress Creek.

The longear sunfish is colorful, with an olive-brown back, bright orange belly, and blue-green bars on the sides of its head. This species derives its name from its operculum flap -- a bony flap that protects the gills and aids a fish's respiration-- giving the appearance of a "long ear" on the side of its head.

Northern Hogsucker

The northern hogsucker is a freshwater, ray-finned sucker native to the United States and Canada. It is found in clear, fast-flowing streams and rivers, where it forages along gravel bottoms on algae, detritus (dead matter), crustaceans, mollusks, and aquatic invertebrates. As it feeds, it overturns stones and loosens organic debris, which other fish benefit from and feed on downstream.

The hogsucker is an indicator species of good stream health, as it prefers clean water. While it is not a threatened species, it has benefited from management efforts to conserve other fish populations, which tackle threats like sedimentation, pollution, stream channelization, and dam construction.

Redbreast sunfish

The redbreast sunfish is a freshwater game fish native to the eastern United States and Canada, and the Coosa and Tallapoosa river systems in Alabama, though it is also found here in Cypress Creek. As it is less common in the Tennessee River drainage than its native habitats, it is likely an introduced species to our creek. The species prefers vegetated and rocky pools and streams around banks where branches overhang to provide shade and shelter from predators. Its prey, mostly aquatic invertebrates, also prefer this type of habitat.

The redbreast sunfish, named for its red breast area, reaches a maximum recorded length of about 12 inches. Its back and head are olive colored, with bright blue-green stripes from its mouth to its black ear flap. Females are less colorful, having a light orange to yellowish underside.

This sunfish is a popular panfish among anglers and is also commonly kept as an aquarium fish for its beautiful coloring.

Rock bass

The rock bass is a freshwater game fish native to the northeast-central regions of the United States, but also found in the northernmost portions of Alabama. Its favorite habitats have some vegetation with rocky bottoms and cool to warm waters. You can typically find the rock bass near rocky shorelines of the creek in groups with other sunfish.

This bass is similar in appearance to the smallmouth bass, but smaller, typically ranging from 6-10 inches in length and weighing less than a pound. Some of the rock bass' defining features include its red eyes and rows of dark dots on its sides. Its body color ranges from golden brown to olive with a white to silver colored belly. The rock bass boasts the ability to rapidly change its color to match its surroundings, protecting it from predators and improving its ability to feed on smaller bass, yellow perch, minnows, invertebrates, and crustaceans.

Slackwater Darter

This fish is endangered, and you can read more about it on the Endangered Species page.

Spotted Gar

The spotted gar is a freshwater fish native to the United States, prevalent in the southeast and less common in the northeast of the country. It is found in clear, slow-moving, shallow waters of creeks, rivers, and lakes, preferring canopied banks in these areas. Although fish typically prefer fast-moving waters because slows waters have poor oxygen levels, the spotted gar has a specialized swim bladder, which functions as a primitive lung, allowing it to gulp air at the surface and survive in these habitats.

You can identify a spotted gar by the dark spots that cover its dart-like body, fins, and head. Its upper body is brown to olive, with a silver to white belly and sides. Its coloring and spots serve to camouflage the gar. If looking down into the water, a predator or prey species might identify the gar's upper coloring as sediment and vegetation. Similarly, a gar's brighter, lighter underside is comparable to light from the surface.

This fish also has an elongated mouth with many needle-like teeth to catch other fish, crustaceans, and invertebrates. Of these invertebrates, the gar's tendency to eat water-dwelling mosquito larvae may be the most beneficial to humans, helping to keep mosquito populations under control.

Habitat destruction and pollution are the spotted gar's two biggest threats. Gar is almost never eaten in the central and northern United States, due to the high levels of mercury that often accumulate in the species. Pollution is absorbed and stored in vegetation, working its way up the food chain to build up in high volumes in predators like the gar. Throwing away our trash in proper places is a great way to improve the health of our waters and their inhabitants, and make fish like the spotted gar edible.