Book Description

Since the original publication of George C. Becker's landmark Fishes of Wisconsin in 1983, many changes have occurred in the Wisconsin fish fauna. Currently, 147 native species are recognized, one more than in Becker (1983). Two additional native species, southern brook lamprey (Ichthyomyzon gagei) and channel shiner (Notropis wickliffi), have been found in the state, and one former native species, longjaw cisco (Coregonus alpenae), is now considered merely a distinctive form of shortjaw cisco (Coregonus zenithicus). Hybrid northern redbelly X finescale dace (Phoxinus eos X Phoxinus neogaeus) may represent an additional unisexual clonal species, but genetic analyses of Wisconsin populations are required for confirmation. Six native species - ghost shiner (Notropis buchanani), ironcolor shiner (Notropis chalybaeus), creek chubsucker (Erimyzon oblongus), deepwater cisco (Coregonus johannae), blackfin cisco (Coregonus nigripinnis), and shortnose cisco (Coregonus reighardi) - are extirpated from the state. Two species thought by Becker (1983) to be extirpated, skipjack herring (Alosa chrysochloris) and black redhorse (Moxostoma duquesnei), have been rediscovered but are rare. Three endangered species, striped shiner (Luxilus (formerly Notropis) chrysocephalus), pallid shiner (Notropis amnis), and slender madtom (Noturus exilis), have declined greatly in distribution and abundance and are now nearly extirpated. Fourteen non-native species are currently established in the state, with kokanee salmon (Onchorhynchus nerka), threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), white perch (Morone americana), ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernuus), and round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) newly reported since Becker's (1983) book. At least 19 additional non-native species have been reported from state waters but are not currently established; 2 of these, red shiner (Cyprinella (formerly Notropis) lutrensis) and pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) had been tentatively considered by Becker (1983) to be established. The scientific names of 16 native and 2 non-native Wisconsin fishes have been changed, and several others may be changed in the future.