What IS this fish??

[pi-eyed]

Mr. catfish is right.
Spawning males develop blue-green mouths when they're ready to spawn.

X3 totally agree..Bowfin for sure. Here in michigan they are considered garbage fish like carp. Many people here in michigan catch these fish and toss them on the bank to die ... I caught one when I was younger that had several steel leaders still in his mouth from breaking lines... They are tough ancient fish for sure!!!!!

----Chris

 

[FLESHY]

Unfortunately Chris I think this fish is abused all over the place.

Sad to see...awesome fish.

 

[Steveo McNello]

X3 totally agree..Bowfin for sure. Here in michigan they are considered garbage fish like carp. Many people here in michigan catch these fish and toss them on the bank to die ... I caught one when I was younger that had several steel leaders still in his mouth from breaking lines... They are tough ancient fish for sure!!!!!

----Chris

All of my aunts neighbors on her lake in Michigan think they are garbage. Which is unfortunate because they are from from it. They all mistake them for snakeheads or asian carp or some sort of intrusive species...

 

[MN_Rebel]

All of my aunts neighbors on her lake in Michigan think they are garbage. Which is unfortunate because they are from from it. They all mistake them for snakeheads or asian carp or some sort of intrusive species...

The problem with this: most fisherman have treated bowfin like garbage way long before the snakehead/asian carp made to the news. I have seen some dead bowfin washed up on the shore, that their stomache has been splited up from gutted by the fisherman then throw them in the water. I once saw an injured bowfin that has bottom jaw being missing.

 

[MN_Rebel]

On other hand, this is spawning male bowfin. I have seen some spawning male bowfin with bright blue/green few times.

 

[Owain4]

amazing fish they are, its just a shame people treat them the way they do. here people treat northern pike and burbot like that, they think they are garbage (pike has too many bones apparently..... ) so they will just kill them. i can see how the snakehead mistake can be made but you'd atleast think if someone was fishing they would know the difference

 

[fish_sauce]

All fish have their place in nature, except these hideous manmade hybrids, ie., flowerhorns and parrot fish. Even the lowly carp. It was first imported into the US as a food fish. People in Europe and Asia fish for them and consider them a delicacy. I've had carp in some restaurant here a couple years back ago. It was realy delicious. They deep fried it, then covered it in some tasty sauce. I'm a very good cook and can make all sorts of yummy food, but I cannot do what these people did with the carp. No fish in their natural habitat should be treated like trash and left to die. That's horrible.

 

[MN_Rebel]

All fish have their place in nature, except these hideous manmade hybrids, ie., flowerhorns and parrot fish. Even the lowly carp. It was first imported into the US as a food fish. People in Europe and Asia fish for them and consider them a delicacy. I've had carp in some restaurant here a couple years back ago. It was realy delicious. They deep fried it, then covered it in some tasty sauce. I'm a very good cook and can make all sorts of yummy food, but I cannot do what these people did with the carp. No fish in their natural habitat should be treated like trash and left to die. That's horrible.

Except carps should be culled. They don't deserve to live in the Americas. The carps do not have their place in the Americas....they are destorying the environment, upset the balance of nature as well as ruined few water bodies. I'm sorry but I do not have a soft heart for the carps, especially the Asian carps. You do not feel sorry for this specific fish. Bowfin on other hand, are excellent predator of stunted sunfish populations.

 

[Steveo McNello]

Well yeah I'm just saying the average not so hardcore fisherman has no idea what it is and probably mistakes it for something intrusive and kills it. Very sad.

 

[screaminleeman]

Very sad indeed.