Pomoxis nigromaculatus
Identification Tips:
• Deep, laterally compressed body form
• Mouth pointed slightly upward.
• Body has pale background colour with irregular black splotches on flanks.
• Fins have light coloured mark on dark background.
• Dorsal fin: longer than head; 7 or 8 well-developed spines followed by soft rays.
• Anal fin: 6 spines followed by soft rays.
• May reach 25 cm length in Fraser Valley
Conservation Status:
| British Columbia | Canada | Natureserve | |
| COSEWIC | Species at Risk Act | ||
| Introduced Species | Not Assessed | None | G5 |
Information Source: BC Conservation Data Centre: http://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/
Life History:
• Forms schools.
• May live more than 7 years.
• Eat range of aquatic invertebrates. Larger individuals consume small fish, including salmon fry.
• Males construct saucer shaped nest in late spring or early summer in shallow water over sand or small gravel, usually near or among aquatic plants
• Males defend their nest newly hatched fry for several days.
Habitat:
• Found in lakes, ponds, sloughs, and backwaters and pools of streams, usually among vegetation and over mud or sand.
• Most common in clear water.
Range:
British Columbia
• Introduced species.
• Common in western Fraser Valley (rare east of Abbotsford)
• Also found in south Okanagan and south Kootenays.
Global:
•Native to eastern North America from Quebec to Manitoba and south to Florida and Texas.
•Widely introduced as a sports fish to western United States.
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Primary Information Source:
McPhail, J.D. 2007. The Freshwater Fishes of British Columbia. University of Alberta Press. Edmonton, Alberta.
