Fishes of Idaho
How are your identification skills? Do you know which are native and which were introduced? To see photos and descriptions, and learn more about Idaho fish, check out our Fishes of Idaho online database.
There are around 20,000 species of fish in the world. About 58% of these are marine (saltwater) fish, 41% are freshwater fish, and 1% are both. We have around 100 species in Idaho, and the list keeps growing as more non-native fish are released into Idaho waters. There are only 39 species of fish native to Idaho. The rest were introduced--some by accident, but most on purpose.
(Clupeidae)
(Salmonoids)
- Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus)
- Bear Lake whitefish (Prosopium abyssicola)
- Bonneville cisco (Prosopium gemmiferu)
- Bonneville whitefish (Prosopium spilonotus)
- Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis)
- Brown trout (Salmo trutta)
- Bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus)
- Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
- Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch)
- Cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki)
- Golden trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss aquabonita)
- Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush)
- Lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis)
- Mountain whitefish (Prosopium williamsoni)
- Pygmy whitefish (Prosopium coulterii)
- Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
- Sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka)
- Steelhead ()
(Cichlidae)
- Convict cichlid (Archocentrus nigrofasciatus)
- Mozambique tilapia (Tilapia mossambica)
- Redbelly tilapia (Tilapia zilli)
(Poecilliidae)
- Eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki)
- Green swordtail (Xiphophorus hellerii)
- Guppy (Poecilia reticulata)
- Western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis)
Catfishes (Ictalurids)
- Black bullhead (Ameiurus melas)
- Blue catfish (Ictalurus furcatus)
- Brown bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus)
- Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus)
- Flathead catfish (Pylodictis olivaris)
- Tadpole madtom (Notorus gyrinus)
Codfishes (Gadids)
Lampreys (Petromyzonids)
Minnows (Cyprinids)
- Chiselmouth (Acrocheilus alutaceus)
- Common carp (Cyprinus carpio)
- Fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas)
- Goldfish (Carassius auratus)
- Grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)
- Lake chub (Couesius plumbeus)
- Leatherside chub (Snyderichthys copei)
- Leopard dace (Rhinichthys falcatus)
- Longnose dace (Rhinichthys cataractae)
- Northern pikeminnow (Ptychocheilus oregonensis)
- Peamouth chub (Mylocheilus)
- Redside shiner (Richardsonius balteatus)
- Speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus)
- Spottail shiner (Notropis hudsonius)
- Tench (Tinca tinca)
- Tui chub (Gila bicolor)
- Utah chub (Gila atraria)
Perches (Perchids)
Pikes (Esocids)
- Muskellunge (Esox masquinongy)
- Northern pike (Esox lucius)
- Tiger muskie (Esox lucius x E. masquinongy)
Sculpins (Cottids)
- Bear Lake sculpin (Cottus extensus)
- Mottled sculpin (Cottus bairdii)
- Paiute sculpin (Cottus beldingii)
- Shorthead sculpin (Cottus confusus)
- Shoshone sculpin (Cottus greenei)
- Slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus Richardson)
- Torrent sculpin (Cottus rhotheus)
- Wood River sculpin (Cottus leiopomus)
Sturgeons (Acipenserids)
Suckers (Catostomids)
- Bluehead sucker (Catostomus discobolus)
- Bridgelip sucker (Catostomus columbianus)
- Largescale sucker (Catostomus macrocheilus)
- Longnose sucker (Catostomus catostomus)
- Mountain sucker (Catostomus platyrhynchus)
- Utah sucker (Catostomous ardens)
Sunfishes (Centrarchids)
- Black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus)
- Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus)
- Green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus)
- Largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides)
- Pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus)
- Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu)
- White crappie (Pomoxis annularis)
