Bowfin
About the Bowfin: Millions of years ago the family Amiidae
contained many species and had nearly a global distribution. Gradually members
of this very ancient lineage became extinct until today only a single species,
Amia calva, remains. Amia's distribution is restricted to North America,
covering the majority of the Mississippi basin, extending east along the Gulf
Coast, covereing the entire peninsula of Florida and extending north up the
Atlantic Coast to the Pennsylvania/New Jersey section of the Delaware River. As
with many North American aquatics, Amia migrated east through the Great
Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River basin into Lake Champlain.
This interesting fish was introduced into the Connecticut River drainage of
Massachusetts in the 1980's when specimens began to appear in Lower Mill Pond
and Nashawannuck Pond in Easthampton, Massachusetts. Presumably some individuals
migrated down the Mahan River into the Oxbow of the Connecticut River.
Individuals were occasionally reported from the Oxbow of the Connecticut River
in the 1980's. In July, 1987, an adult specimen was caught in the Connecticut
River off the southern end of Second Island in Sunderland, Massachusetts. To
date this is the northern most record of Amia in the Connecticut River of
Massachusetts.
Amia is an easily recognized fish. It has a single continuous dorsal
fin that runs from the mid-body almost to the tail. Amia's tail has a
single lobe and appears to be nearly circular. There is frequently a black spot
at the base of the tail near the dorsal edge. Amia has a rather large
head with two barbels projecting anteriorly from its nose. Unlike most of the
other fish, Amia's swim bladder functions much like a lung, allowing this
fish to gulp air when dissolved oxygen levels become dangerously low in the weed
beds where it lives.
Bowfins seem to prefer slow, sluggish backwaters where they feed on other
fishes and invertebrates. In the spring, they breed in weed beds. Males build
circular nests from 15 in to about 3 ft in diameter. Unlike nests of sunfish or
bass where the male clears a circular depression in the sand, Amia males
often build nests in fibrous root mats, clearing away stems and leaves. One male
may breed with two or three females. After breeding he continues to guard the
nest until the young hatch eight to ten days after deposition. Baby Amia
swim in schools and are protected by the male. They retain this schooling
behavior until they are about 4 in long.