1. Fish 101 – Biology and Habitat
Lisa McShane
Management Biologist
Kemptville District, OMNRF

2. Fish Anatomy
Placement of mouth – idea of what they might eat and where they might live
Soft rayed vs spiny rayed = 1 vs 2 dorsal fins
Colouration – gives an idea as to where the fish lives (stripes camouflage for weeds), varies dependent on waterbody, substrate, waterquality, mineral composition, tannins
Scales, otoliths, spines and fin rays are useful for aging (cliethrum for pike)
Lateral line – sensory organs – modfied epithelial of hair cells – sense vibrations and changes in water pressure
Submandibular pores – sensory
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3. Common Fish of the Area Centrachidae – sunfish family ID of each fish
Spawning Spring spawners, males dig nests and guard eggs, fanning with tail – guard young until dispersal
Warmwater species – optimal temps mid to high 20’s and low 30’s
Largemouth wide dark horizontal stripe and cape, smallmouth vertical stripes

4. Common Fish of the Area Percidae – perch family ID features
Walleye (dore in french means golden) - Walleye milky eyes (tapetum licidium) eyeshine – reflects light into retina, white tips on fins
Perch bright orange fins (pectoral, pelvic and anal fins)
Spawning Early spring spawners, walleye spawn in fast well oxygenated waters – eggs are sticky and stick to rocks to hold them in place
Perch spawn in back bays or tributaries – accordion like gelatinous tubes of eggs (up to 7 feet long)
Coolwater – low to mid 20s

5. Common Fish of the Area Esocidae – pike family
ID features- torpedo shaped body, soft rayedPike have kidney bean shaped white spots and muskie have dark vertical stripes
Long torpedo shaped fish – ambush predator
Will eat anything, fish, frogs, small mammals, birds
Sit still and then have a sudden high energy burst when prey comes by – sight hunters
Spring spawners, early spring ~ice out
Coolwater species low to mid 20s

6. Common Fish of the Area Salmonidae – salmon and trout family
ID features – soft rayed, adipose, colourful when spawning, kype
Spawning – fall spawners, except rainbow
Coldwater species – below 20
Lake trout lakes (Big Rideau, Charleston, Bob’s, Buck)
Clean clear waters (generally speaking)
Brown trout native to Europe and western Asia - stocking in Ontario began in 1913
Rainbow trout - native to west coast – Ontario 1903

7. Common Fish of the Area Ictaluridae – catfish family ID features
Spawning - summer
Warmwater, low oxygen, warm water spawner
Sharp dorsal and pectoral spines
Keen senses of smell and taste – olfactory receptors in nostrils and taste buds over its entire body and especially concentrated in barbels
Can find food in dark, muddy or stained water
Can produce sound (drumming) and chemical communication, body odour changes to demonstrate territory (communicate to other fish in vicinity)

8. Common Fish of the Area Forage Fish
People call them minnows – only a fraction are in minnow family (cyprinidae) others are shiners, daces, darters (perch family) etc)
Brook stickleback, golden shiner, redbelly dace, spottail shiner
Blacknose dace, johnny darter, longnose dae, brook silverside, emerald shiner, common shiner, fathead minnow, central mudminnow …
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9. Habitat Different habitat for different life stages and seasons
Spawning
Nursery
Adult
Seasonal

10. Habitat Limnology – study of inland waters
Littoral zone – nearshore area where sunlight penetrates
Limnetic Zone – sunlight penetrates open surface waters
Profundal zone –deep zone, below range of light penetration
Benthic Zone – bottom includes sediment surface and some subsurface layers
Easier to divide the lake into similar regions
Areas to hide
Structure, plants,
Sunlight = warm and photosythesis, access to cover, productive zone

12. Habitat
Fishing weedline – because many fish like to hide in the weeds, perch have lateral bands that help camouflage them in weeds
Predators know this – northern pike are ambush predators – torpedo shape and will hide motionless in weedy bays ready to shoot at potential prey
Rock bass often found around rocks – aptly named

13. Spawning Habitat
Bass Spawning Habitat

14. Spawning Habitat Walleye Spawning Males move in first and then females
Early spring, just after ice out
Well oxygenated waters – cold and mixed
Coarse gravel shoals of lakes

15. Spawning Habitat Lake Trout Brook Trout
Lake trout spawn in the fall (when the tamaracks are golden) on shoals
Brook trout – spawn over springs/upwellings

16. Seasonal Habitat
Winter – bass aggregate near bottom, very inactive and feed little
Summer – trout stay near the bottom in cooler water with more oxygen
Adult trout will move up to thermocline at night for food
Fall turnover – winds and rain cause lakes to mix and in the winter the warmest water is found at the bottom

17. Fish Information

18. All pictures of fish are from Cornell University website and are artwork produced by Ellen Edmondson which was sponsored by the New York Department of Conservation unless otherwise noted.