Freshwater Fish Identification Chart: 33 Common Species with Pictures

Freshwater fish identification chart with pictures

Species are grouped roughly by family: black bass and sunfish, salmon and trout, pike, carp and minnows, catfish, perch and pike-perch, then the "living fossils" (sturgeon, gar, bowfin) that anglers most often cannot name. Sizes are typical adult ranges; record fish run larger.

Photo	Species	Size Range	Key ID Traits	Where Found
	Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides	25–75 cm	Dark lateral stripe; jaw extends past rear of eye	N. America (introduced worldwide)
	Chinook Salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha	60–150 cm	Black spots on back and both tail lobes; black gum line	N. Pacific, introduced elsewhere
	Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus mykiss	20–120 cm	Pink lateral stripe; black spots on body and fins	N. America, introduced worldwide
	Northern Pike Esox lucius	40–150 cm	Long body; duck-like snout; light bean-shaped spots on dark green	N. America, Europe, Asia
	Common Carp Cyprinus carpio	30–120 cm	Bronzy-gold; two pairs of barbels; large scales; dorsal spine	Worldwide (introduced)
	Walleye Sander vitreus	35–90 cm	Glassy opaque eyes (tapetum lucidum); olive-gold; white tail tip	N. America
	Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus	10–30 cm	Deep blue-black ear flap; vertical bars; orange breast in males	N. America (introduced elsewhere)
	Channel Catfish Ictalurus punctatus	30–100 cm	Deeply forked tail; scattered dark spots; long barbels	N. America
	Murray Cod Maccullochella peelii	50–180 cm	Green with dark blotches; large mouth; Australia's largest freshwater fish	SE Australia
	Peacock Bass Cichla ocellaris	30–75 cm	Gold-green with three dark vertical bars; distinctive ocellus (eye-spot) at tail	S. America (introduced Florida)
	Brown Trout Salmo trutta	25–100 cm	Brown with black and red spots; red spots often with pale halos	Europe (introduced worldwide)
	Bream (Abramis) Abramis brama	20–60 cm	Deep, laterally compressed; bronze-silver; long anal fin	Europe
	Tigerfish Hydrocynus vittatus	40–100 cm	Silver with dark horizontal stripes; large, interlocking fang-like teeth	Sub-Saharan Africa
	Arapaima Arapaima gigas	100–300 cm	Massive; dark grey-green with red-orange accents near tail; must breathe air	Amazon basin
	Barramundi Lates calcarifer	40–180 cm	Silver-white; large concave tail; steep head profile; red eye	Australia, SE Asia
	Smallmouth Bass Micropterus dolomieu	20–60 cm	Bronze-brown with vertical bars; jaw does not extend past the eye (largemouth's does); red-tinged eye	E. North America, rocky rivers and lakes
	Black Crappie Pomoxis nigromaculatus	15–35 cm	Deep, laterally compressed; silver with irregular black speckles; 7–8 dorsal spines	North America, still water and weed beds
	Muskellunge Esox masquinongy	70–150 cm	Pike-shaped but with dark bars or spots on a light body (pike is light spots on dark); pointed tail lobes	Great Lakes and St Lawrence region
	Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis	20–60 cm	Worm-like (vermiculate) markings on the back; red spots with blue halos; white leading edge on lower fins	E. North America, cold clear streams
	Yellow Perch Perca flavescens	15–35 cm	Golden-yellow with 6–8 dark vertical bars; two separate dorsal fins; orange lower fins	North America, lakes and slow rivers
	European Perch Perca fluviatilis	20–50 cm	Green-olive with 5–9 dark bars; spiny first dorsal with a black spot at the rear; bright red-orange pelvic and anal fins	Europe and N. Asia
	Zander Sander lucioperca	40–100 cm	Elongated pike-perch; faint bars; large glassy eye; canine teeth; two dorsal fins	Europe and W. Asia, turbid lakes and rivers
	Tench Tinca tinca	30–70 cm	Olive-green, thick-set; very small scales; red-orange eye; two small barbels; rounded fins	Europe and W. Asia, still weedy water
	Roach Rutilus rutilus	15–40 cm	Silver with red-orange fins and a red iris; dorsal fin starts above the pelvic fins (rudd's starts behind)	Europe and W. Asia
	Oscar Astronotus ocellatus	25–45 cm	Oval, thick-lipped cichlid; dark body with orange blotches; black eye-spot ringed in orange at the tail base	Amazon and Orinoco basins; popular aquarium fish
	Nile Tilapia Oreochromis niloticus	30–60 cm	Deep-bodied, grey-silver; regular vertical bars on the tail fin; long continuous dorsal fin	Africa; farmed and introduced worldwide
	Goldfish Carassius auratus	10–40 cm	Orange, red, white or wild olive; no barbels (a carp has two pairs); deep body and forked tail	E. Asia; introduced globally, ponds and lakes
	Flathead Catfish Pylodictis olivaris	40–120 cm	Flat, wide head; protruding lower jaw; mottled yellow-brown; tail only slightly notched, not forked	Mississippi and Gulf drainages
	Lake Sturgeon Acipenser fulvescens	90–200 cm	Rows of bony plates (scutes) instead of scales; shark-like (heterocercal) tail; four barbels before a sucker mouth	Great Lakes, Mississippi and Hudson Bay drainages
	Alligator Gar Atractosteus spatula	150–250 cm	Broad alligator-like snout with two rows of upper teeth; armour of diamond-shaped ganoid scales; dorsal and anal fins set far back	S. United States, Gulf coast rivers
	Bowfin Amia calva	40–80 cm	Long dorsal fin running most of the back; rounded tail; bony gular plate under the chin; males have a black tail spot	E. North America, swamps and backwaters
	Grass Carp Ctenopharyngodon idella	60–130 cm	Torpedo-shaped, olive-silver; large scales with dark edges; no barbels; terminal mouth	E. Asia; stocked worldwide for weed control
	Atlantic Salmon Salmo salar	60–120 cm	Silver at sea, bronze in rivers; X-shaped black spots above the lateral line, few below; slender tail wrist	N. Atlantic rivers of Europe and N. America

Species photos are CC-licensed or public-domain images from Wikimedia Commons; see the full image credits for each file and its licence. For saltwater and reef species, see the master fish identification chart.

Freshwater fish identification by body shape

Body shape is the fastest first filter when the chart does not give an instant match, because it reflects how the fish feeds and where it lives:

• Fusiform (streamlined): trout, salmon, bass, pike. Built for speed in open water or current.
• Laterally compressed (deep-bodied): sunfish, crappie, bluegill, perch, bream. Manoeuvrable in weedy or structured habitat.
• Depressed (flattened top-to-bottom): catfish, sturgeon. Bottom-dwelling; mouth usually positioned below the snout.
• Elongated (eel-like or pike-like): gar, bowfin, pike, muskellunge. Ambush predators in slow or shallow water.
• Oval, thick-lipped (cichlid): oscar, tilapia, peacock bass. Long single dorsal fin, often with an eye-spot near the tail.

Freshwater fish identification by fins

Common freshwater species by region

Freshwater fish identification FAQ

How do I tell a largemouth bass from a smallmouth bass?

Close the mouth and look at the upper jaw. On a largemouth it reaches past the rear edge of the eye; on a smallmouth it stops below the eye. Smallmouth also show vertical bars and a bronze tone, while largemouth carry a dark horizontal stripe.

How do I tell a northern pike from a muskellunge?

Pike have light spots on a dark body; muskie have dark bars or spots on a light body. Pike tails are rounded at the lobe tips, muskie tails are pointed, and the muskie has fewer than six pores under each side of the jaw versus more on a pike.

Carp or goldfish?

Common carp have two pairs of barbels at the mouth; goldfish have none. Large wild goldfish are olive-bronze and are regularly mistaken for carp on that basis alone.

What if my fish is not on this chart?

Upload a clear side-on photo to the AI fish identifier. It is trained on 866 freshwater and saltwater species and returns the top matches with a confidence score, which is the fastest way to name a species that is regional or rarely caught.