Locations

Fish species in Massachusetts

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

147 species have two or more US observation records in Massachusetts. ITIS calls 83 of them native to the United States, 59 native to part of the country and introduced elsewhere, and 5 introduced.

Species: 147
Freshwater: 92
Saltwater: 93
Survey list: 54

1state

Massachusetts in the United States.

Two counts, two questions. 147 is the number of species observed in Massachusetts and filed with GBIF, which includes lakes, the coast, and museum records. 54 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 Massachusetts

Cod

Gadus morhua · named 1974

ITIS files no US record under Gadus morhua, so this site has no page for it.

mass.gov · sec.state.ma.us

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 Massachusetts

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

Bluegill1,074 records

Lepomis macrochirusCentrarchidaeNative and introducedFresh

Pumpkinseed607 records

Lepomis gibbosusCentrarchidaeNative and introducedFreshBrackish

Mummichog587 records

Fundulus heteroclitusFundulidaeNativeFreshSaltBrackish

Tessellated Darter574 records

Etheostoma olmstediPercidaeNative and introducedFresh

Striped Bass475 records

Morone saxatilisMoronidaeNative and introducedFreshSaltBrackish

Chain Pickerel445 records

Esox nigerEsocidaeNative and introducedFresh

American Eel418 records

Anguilla rostrataAnguillidaeNativeFreshSaltBrackish

Yellow Perch412 records

Perca flavescensPercidaeNative and introducedFreshBrackish

Striped Killifish389 records

Fundulus majalisFundulidaeNativeSaltBrackish

Winter Flounder377 records

Pseudopleuronectes americanusPleuronectidaeNativeSalt

Atlantic Silverside376 records

Menidia menidiaAtherinopsidaeNativeSaltBrackish

Golden Shiner350 records

Notemigonus crysoleucasLeuciscidaeNative and introducedFreshBrackish

Groups

Types of fish in Massachusetts

Species

All 147 species, A–Z

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

Inland Silverside Menidia beryllina

J

Johnny Darter Etheostoma nigrum

L

M

N

O

P

R

T

W

Y

One record only

43 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 40 are shown.