Locations

Fish species in Delaware

123 species have two or more US observation records in Delaware. Explore their habitats, families, and local records.

123 species have two or more US observation records in Delaware. ITIS calls 64 of them native to the United States, 55 native to part of the country and introduced elsewhere, and 4 introduced.

Species: 123
Freshwater: 85
Saltwater: 65
Survey list: 41

1state

Delaware in the United States.

Two counts, two questions. 123 is the number of species observed in Delaware and filed with GBIF, which includes lakes, the coast, and museum records. 41 is the number the USGS stream survey caught, which samples flowing fresh water only. Neither is the other, so the site never adds them.

The statute

The official state fish of Delaware

Weakfish

Cynoscion — the statute names the genus, not one species in it · named 1981

delcode.delaware.gov

A state fish is a statute, not a survey. It says which fish the legislature chose, not which fish is most common. The list above links each row to the state's own record.

Most recorded

The fish of Delaware

The species with the most observation records in the state. It is the closest the open data comes to naming the fish people meet.

Mummichog228 records

Fundulus heteroclitusFundulidaeNativeFreshSaltBrackish

Bluegill222 records

Lepomis macrochirusCentrarchidaeNative and introducedFresh

Atlantic Menhaden168 records

Brevoortia tyrannusClupeidaeNativeSaltBrackish

Redbreast Sunfish166 records

Lepomis auritusCentrarchidaeNative and introducedFresh

Spot154 records

Leiostomus xanthurusSciaenidaeNativeSaltBrackish

American Eel138 records

Anguilla rostrataAnguillidaeNativeFreshSaltBrackish

Pumpkinseed119 records

Lepomis gibbosusCentrarchidaeNative and introducedFreshBrackish

Tessellated Darter106 records

Etheostoma olmstediPercidaeNative and introducedFresh

Summer Flounder92 records

Paralichthys dentatusParalichthyidaeNativeSaltBrackish

Bluefish88 records

Pomatomus saltatrixPomatomidaeNativeSaltBrackish

Striped Killifish81 records

Fundulus majalisFundulidaeNativeSaltBrackish

White Perch75 records

Morone americanaMoronidaeNative and introducedFreshSaltBrackish

Groups

Types of fish in Delaware

Species

All 123 species, A–Z

A

B

C

D

Dusky Smooth-hound Mustelus canis

E

F

G

H

I

J

Jewsharp Drummer Menticirrhus americanus

L

M

N

O

Orange Filefish Aluterus schoepfii

P

R

S

T

W

Y

One record only

19 more with a single record

One observation can be a stray, an aquarium release, or a mis-keyed locality, so these are kept out of the count above and listed here instead. The first 19 are shown.