White crappie

The white crappie (Pomoxis annularis) is a freshwater fish found in North America, one of the two crappies. Former common names include goldring and silver perch. The USS Goldring is named for the fish.

Description

White crappies are very similar in appearance to black crappies. They have 5–10 vertical bars along their body, rather than the randomly scattered spots like the black crappie. It has a silvery color with green or brown shades along its back, with dark lateral bars along its side and a white belly. The dorsal fin of the white crappie starts further back on the body than that of the black crappie. White crappies are also slightly more elongated than black crappie. The species is a deep-bodied fish with a flattened body. It has spinous rays and ctenoid scales. Both species of crappie have a terminal mouth with many small conical teeth. The teeth occur in two rows along the mouth and are called cardiform, because they resemble a tool used for wool carding. White crappie belong to the Infraclass Teleostei, which is one of three infraclasses in the class Actinopterygii.

Crappie

The crappies (/ˈkræpiː/ or /ˈkrɒpiː/) are a genus, Pomoxis, of North American freshwater fish in the sunfish family Centrarchidae. Both species in this genus are popular game fish.

Etymology

The genus name Pomoxis derives from the Greek πώμα (cover, plug, operculum) and οξύς (sharp). The common name (also spelled croppie or crappé), derives from the Canadian French crapet, which refers to many different fishes of the sunfish family. Other names for crappie are papermouths, strawberry bass, speckled bass or specks (especially in Michigan), speckled perch, crappie bass, calico bass, (throughout the Middle Atlantic states, and New England),sac-a-lait (in southern Louisiana, lit. "milk bag", an alteration by folk etymology from Choctaw sakli) and Oswego bass.

Species

The currently recognized species in this genus are:

Biology

Both species of crappie as adults feed predominantly on smaller species, including the young of their own predators (which include the northern pike, muskellunge, and walleye). They have diverse diets, however, including zooplankton, insects, and crustaceans. By day, crappie tend to be less active and will concentrate around weed beds or submerged objects, such as logs and boulders. They feed during dawn and dusk, by moving into open water or approaching the shore.