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Fishes in Kansas

Second Edition, Revised

Frank B. Cross and Joseph T. Collins

Color artwork by Joseph R. Tomelleri

Color photography by Garold Sneegas and Suzanne L. Collins

336 pages, 133 color photographs and drawings,
175 black-and-white illustrations, 135 maps, 6 x 9
Paper ISBN 978-0-89338-049-6, $19.95

Book Cover ImageFemale American Eels spend years traversing the 3,000 miles from the site of their Atlantic Ocean inception to the freshwaters of Kansas. Upon reaching the coast, they leave their male counterparts behind and make the last leg of the journey alone. Eventually swimming back, they rendezvous with the males, head out to sea, spawn, and die.

Although most fishes found in Kansas aren't as well traveled as the Eel--some probably never venture more than a few thousand feet in their lives--they each have their own characteristics that make them a unique and important influence on their environment.

Featuring full-color drawings and photographs for the first time, this revised guide describes and illustrates the 135 common and not-so-common, native and introduced fishes found in Kansas. It provides a wealth of information on appearance, size, habitat, reproduction, food, and unusual or interesting traits and behaviors. Standardized common and scientific names, black-and-white drawings for each species, identification keys, and maps showing species location by county are included.

Fishes in Kansas spotlights the petite and the stout, the brightly colored and the transparent, the toothed and the toothless, the survivor and the vanquished. The Least Dart, we find, is only 1-3/4 inches at its maximum length while the largest known Kansas flathead catfish measured in at 5-foot-3 and 90 pounds. The channel catfish is found in all large Kansas streams and many lakes and ponds while only four Pugnose Minnow have been recorded in the state, back in 1931. The Rudd females produce as many as 232,000 eggs in their lifetimes. The Neosho Madtom is classified as federally threatened.

This guide also helps clear up common misconceptions--The Walleye is commonly called "Walleyed Pike" but is really a perch while the Sunfish, commonly called a perch, isn't--and notes the affect of human activities on the population and distribution of fishes. Providing the most complete and up-to-date information available, Fishes in Kansas is essential for anyone interested in the state's aquatic environment.

FRANK B. CROSS is curator emeritus of fishes at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum.

JOSEPH T. COLLINS is author or coauthor or numerous books, including Amphibians and Reptiles in Kansas, Natural Kansas and the Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians of Eastern and Central North America.

Distributed by the University Press of Kansas. Published by the University of Kansas Natural History Museum in cooperation with Western Resources, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, and the Kansas Biological Survey.