State Fishes
US Official State Fishes
Official State Fish Designations of the 50 US States
All fish share two traits: they live in water and they have a backbone—they are vertebrates. Fish are the gill-bearing aquatic craniate animals that lack limbs with digits. They form a sister group to the tunicates, together forming the olfactores
Separately from these likenesses, however, many of the species in this group differ noticeably from one another. Fin fish like salmon have gills, are covered in scales, and produce young by laying eggs. Eels, by contrast, have worm-like bodies and very slimy skin. Lungfish gulp air. Whale sharks, the largest fish, give birth to live young and eat only tiny fish, squid, and plankton.
Awarding ribbons in the Official State Fish symbol category was not difficult when we didn't pay too much attention to conflicting popular and scientific names. Of course four states have no official state fish at all: Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, and Ohio. Iowa has an un-official state fish. Other states have designated two Official State Fish, distinguishing them with labels such as Warm water, Coldwater, Saltwater or Marine, Sport, and Commercial. Some states have managed to walk away with two ribbons in the competition, picking two of the most popular official state fish.
