Rafinesque, 1818; CENTRARCHIDAE FAMILY; also called papermouth, bachelor perch

Native to the eastern half of the U.S. and southern Ontario west of the Appalachians, this species has also been introduced throughout the continental United Stares. It is missing from most of peninsular Florida and from some north, central and midwestern states.

The white crappie and black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus) are two of the most distinctive members of the sunfish and black bass family. Crappies closely resemble the sunfish with their deep, roundish (in profile), greatly compressed bodies and small heads. The crappies can be identified even at a distance by their lighter colored bodies (olive to black above, with silvery sides) generously covered with black spots (though the spots are often more vague in the white crappie), and by their almost identical dorsal and anal fins.

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