Black crappie, Pomoxis nigromaculatus, male in spawning coloration
Lance Merry
Black Crappie
Pomoxis nigromaculatus
Family:
Centrarchidae (sunfishes) in the order Perciformes (perch-like fishes)
Description:
The black crappie is silvery with a color pattern that is mainly irregularly arranged speckles and blotches (not vertical bars). The dorsal fin has 7 or 8 spines. Crappies, as a group, are popular panfish that are deep bodied and strongly compressed laterally (slab sided). The upper jaw is long, reaching well past the middle of eye. The two sections of the dorsal fin (spiny forepart and soft-rayed rear part) are broadly connected, without a notch between. The anal fin is nearly as long and large as the dorsal fin, and it has 6 spines. The upper surface of the head and forward part of the back are strongly concave.
Similar species: White crappie have faint vertical bars instead of irregularly arranged speckles and blotches as the color pattern. They also have 6 dorsal fin spines instead of 7 or 8.
Size:
Total length: 9-10 inches (seldom exceeds 14 inches); weight: to about 4 pounds.
Habitat and conservation:
Like the white crappie, the black crappie occupies open water with submerged timber or aquatic vegetation in standing water bodies and slow-flowing backwaters of large rivers. However, the black crappie is less tolerant of turbid water and siltation.
Foods:
Feeds primarily on small fish such as minnows and young shad, plus aquatic insects and small crustaceans.
Distribution in Missouri:
Widespread but sporadic. Most prevalent in large Ozark reservoirs, upper Mississippi River navigation pools, and natural lakes and borrow pits of the Bootheel lowlands. Least abundant in extreme south-central Missouri.
Status:
Common game species; less important than white crappie in most waters because it is generally not as abundant.
Life cycle:
In Missouri, black crappie spawn from about mid-April to early June, when water temperatures exceed 56 F. They spawn in coves protected from wave action and require silt-free substrates.Female black crappie may spawn with several males and can produce eggs several times during the spawning period. The black crappie grows more slowly in length than the white crappie, but it is generally heavier at any given length. It usually lives 4 years; occasionally it will live 8 years or more.
Human connections:
Crappie are feisty, tasty, and a favorite of anglers.
Ecosystem connections:
As a predator, this fish controls populations of prey species. As with all fish, eggs and young individuals are commonly eaten by many other species.
Similar Species
White Crappie
Pomoxis annularis
Bluegill
Lepomis macrochirus
Flier
Centrarchus macropterus
Green Sunfish
Lepomis cyanellus
Northern Rock Bass
Ambloplites rupestris
Warmouth
Lepomis gulosus
Striped Bass
Morone saxatilis
Sauger
Sander canadensis
Pirate Perch
Aphredoderus sayanus
Smallmouth Bass
Micropterus dolomieu
Great Places to See Black Crappie
About Fishes in Missouri
Missouri has more than 200 kinds of fish, more than are found in most neighboring states. Fishes live in water, breathe with gills, and have fins instead of legs. Most are covered with scales. Most fish in Missouri “look” like fish and could never be confused with anything else. True, lampreys and eels have snakelike bodies — but they also have fins and smooth, slimy skin, which snakes do not.