If you take keen interest in fishes, it is important that you know the different types of fish in Texas freshwater. Texas waters are such a huge haven for the aquatic creatures that it attracts large number of people for angling. An idea about the different types of fish in Texas would make that experience even better as you can recognize the type that you have caught.
The following are the major types of fish in Texas:
True basses are mostly silvery white in their color along with dark horizontal lines on their sides. These fish are spiny-rayed with strong spines in their dorsal, anal and pelvic fins. White bass, yellow bass and striped bass are the types of true basses.
Black bass are also found in Texas waters. These belong to the sunfish family and are not related to true basses despite the name. Common types found are spotted bass, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass and Guadalupe bass.
Crappies are also among the abundant types of fish in Texas. These are of two types: white crappie and black crappie. White crappies have silvery-white belly and silvery-green or dark-green belly along with several vertical lines on the sides. Black crappies are silvery-green in color and have irregular black blotches.
Texas water has blue catfish, channel catfish and flathead catfish. These whiskered fish do not have scales giving them a naked appearance. These mostly have long cylindrical body and are ray-finned. Blue catfish have slate blue back and white belly. Channel catfish range from olive-brown to slate-blue on their back and sides and silvery-white on the belly. Flathead catfish is named so after the shape of its head.
Two varieties of bullhead are among the other types of fish in Texas: black bullhead and yellow bullhead. Black bullheads are greenish-black on their backs and have grey-white bellies. In muddy water the back may appear yellowish-brown. Chin barbels are dark or black but never white. Yellow bullheads are olive-green to light yellow on the back and yellowish to white on the belly. The chin barbels are white.
Sunfishes form a large proportion of the various types of fish in Texas. These include: bluegill, longear sunfish, redear sunfish, green sunfish, redbreast sunfish and warmouth sunfish. The backs of bluegills are usually olive-green blending to copper and yellow or reddish-orange belly. Longear sunfish are named so because of their elongated opercle flap. Redear sunfish are marked with red or orange edge on the ‘ear’ flap. Green sunfish have dark green backs fading to white on the belly. There are faint vertical bars on the sides, sometimes with turquoise spots. Redbreast sunfish are one of the larger sunfish with yellow bellies that may have an orange or rusty tinge. Warmouth sunfish have a mottled brown coloration and are larger than green sunfish.
Carp and minnows
These are other major types of fish in Texas. These include: common carp, grass carp, Texas shiner, blacktail shiner, golden shiner, red shiner and fathead minnow. Common carps are heavy-bodied minnows with barbels on either side of their upper jaw. Color varies from brassy green to golden brown to silvery. Grass carp lack the golden hue of common carp and don’t have barbels. Texas shiners are marked by large eyes, black lips and a black vertical stripe along its side. Blacktail shiner is a slender minnow with a prominent black spot at the tail fin base. Red shiners have olive green backs and silvery sides and males are bluish while spawning. Flathead minnow has a rounded snout and short rounded fins.