Black Crappie

Family: 
Centrarchidae (sunfishes) in the order Perciformes (perch-like fishes)
Description: 

Crappies are popular panfish that are deep bodied and strongly compressed laterally (slab-sided). The upper jaw is long, reaching well past the middle of eye. The two sections of the dorsal fin (spiny forepart and soft-rayed rear part) are broadly connected, without a notch between. The anal fin is nearly as long and large as the dorsal fin, and has 6 spines. The upper surface of the head and forward part of the back are strongly concave.

This species of crappie is silvery with a color pattern that is mainly irregularly arranged speckles and blotches (not vertical bars). The dorsal fin has 7 or 8 spines.

Similar species: White crappie have faint vertical bars instead of irregularly arranged speckles and blotches as the color pattern. They also have 6 dorsal fin spines instead of 7 or 8.

Size: 
Total length: 9-10 inches (seldom exceeds 14 inches); weight: to about 4 pounds.
Habitat and conservation: 
Like the white crappie, the black crappie occupies open water with submerged timber or aquatic vegetation in standing water bodies and slow-flowing backwaters of large rivers. However, the black crappie is less tolerant of turbid water and siltation.
Foods: 
Feeds primarily on small fish such as minnows and young shad, plus aquatic insects and small crustaceans.
Distribution in Missouri: 
Widespread but sporadic. Most prevalent in large Ozark reservoirs, upper Mississippi River navigation pools, and natural lakes and borrow pits of the Bootheel lowlands. Least abundant in extreme south-central Missouri.
Status: 
Common game species; less important than white crappie in most waters because it is generally not as abundant.
Life cycle: 
Female black crappie may spawn with several males and can produce eggs several times during the spawning period. The black crappie grows slower in length than the white crappie but is generally heavier at any given length. It usually lives 4 years; occasionally it will live 8 years or more.
Human connections: 
Crappie are feisty, tasty and a favorite of anglers.
Ecosystem connections: 
As a predator, this fish controls populations of prey species. As with all fish, eggs and young individuals are commonly eaten by many other species.