Illinois Fishes: Volume 1

              Species List Species are not shown in proportion to actual size.
Kingdom Animalia Phylum Chordata
This poster was made possible by:
Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Education Section
Division of Fisheries
Illinois Wildlife Preservation Fund
Funding for this poster was made possible
in part by contributions to the Illinois Wildlife
Preservation Fund.
Approximately 22,000 fish species inhabit the
earth, with about 790 species found in the fresh
waters of the United States and Canada. More than
200 fish species are known from Illinois’ aquatic habi-tats.
The large variety of species means that fishes
occupy almost all available aquatic habitats and have
many strategies for doing so. This poster depicts 22
species from the eight families that are considered the
most primitive fish representatives in the state.
Although labeled “primitive” these vertebrates have
complex life cycles with some living only in fresh
water, some living in fresh water but migrating to salt
water to reproduce and others living in salt water but
traveling to fresh water to spawn. Numerous adapta-tions
help them to meet the challenges of living in
water. Fishes are vital components of aquatic ecosys-tems
and their associated food webs.
threadfin shad Dorosoma petenense
American eel Anguilla rostrata
northern brook lamprey Ichthyomyzon fossor
spotted gar Lepisosteus oculatus
pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus
Family chestnut lamprey Ichthyomyzon castaneus
Petromyzontidae northern brook lamprey Ichthyomyzon fossor
silver lamprey Ichthyomyzon unicuspis
least brook lamprey Lampetra aepyptera
American brook lamprey Lampetra lamottei
sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus
Family lake sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens
Acipenseridae pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus
shovelnose sturgeon Scaphirhynchus platorynchus
Family paddlefish Polyodon spathula
Polyodontidae
Family spotted gar Lepisosteus oculatus
Lepisosteidae longnose gar Lepisosteus osseus
shortnose gar Lepisosteus platostomus
I l l i n o i s
V o l u m e I
Photo © 2010, Philip Willink/The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago
Photo © 2010, Uland Thomas
gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum
Photo © 2010, Shedd Aquarium
goldeye Hiodon alosoides
Photo © 2010, Shedd Aquarium
Photo © 2010, Uland Thomas
Photo © 2010, Philip Willink/The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago
Photo © 2010, Engbretson Underwater Photography
Photo © 2010, NEBRASKAland Magazine/Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
longnose gar Lepisosteus osseus
Photo © 2010, Engbretson Underwater Photography
least brook lamprey Lampetra aepyptera
sea lamprey attached to lake trout Salvelinus namaycush Petromyzon marinus
Photo © 2010, Julie Zimmerman
silver lamprey Ichthyomyzon unicuspis
Photo © 2010, Shedd Aquarium
detail of silver lamprey's oral disc
detail of sea lamprey's oral disc
alewife Alosa pseudoharengus
Photo © 2010, Engbretson Underwater Photography
mooneye Hiodon tergisus
Photos © 2010, Uland Thomas
detail of mooneye teeth
lake sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens
Photo © 2010, Engbretson Underwater Photography
paddlefish Polyodon spathula
Photo © 2010, Engbretson Underwater Photography
American brook lamprey Lampetra lamottei
Photo © 2010, Philip Willink/The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago
Alabama shad Alosa alabamae
Photo © 2010, Patrick O’Neil, Geological Survey of Alabama
Photo © 2010, Great Lakes Fishery Commission
shovelnose sturgeon Scaphirhynchus platorynchus
shortnose gar Lepisosteus platostomus
Photo © 2010, Shedd Aquarium
Photo © 2010, Uland Thomas
bowfin Amia calva
skipjack herring Alosa chrysochloris
Photo © 2010, Engbretson Underwater Photography
Photo © 2010, Patrick O’Neil, Geological Survey of Alabama
chestnut lamprey Ichthyomyzon castaneus
Fishes
Family bowfin Amia calva
Amiidae
Family goldeye Hiodon alosoides
Hiodontidae mooneye Hiodon tergisus
Family American eel Anguilla rostrata
Anguillidae
Family Alabama shad Alosa alabamae
Clupeidae skipjack herring Alosa chrysochloris
alewife Alosa pseudoharengus
gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum
threadfin shad Dorosoma petenense
Photo © 2010, T. Lawrence,
Great Lakes Fishery Commission