Disclaimer:

The Nonindigenous Occurrences section of the NAS species profiles has a new structure. The section is now dynamically updated from the NAS database to ensure that it contains the most current and accurate information. Occurrences are summarized in Table 1, alphabetically by state, with years of earliest and most recent observations, and the tally and names of drainages where the species was observed. The table contains hyperlinks to collections tables of specimens based on the states, years, and drainages selected. References to specimens that were not obtained through sighting reports and personal communications are found through the hyperlink in the Table 1 caption or through the individual specimens linked in the collections tables.




Pomoxis nigromaculatus
Pomoxis nigromaculatus
(Black Crappie)
Fishes
Native Transplant

Copyright Info
Pomoxis nigromaculatus (Lesueur in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1829)

Common name: Black Crappie

Taxonomy: available through www.itis.govITIS logo

Identification: Moyle (1976a); Becker (1983); Page and Burr (1991); Etnier and Starnes (1993); Jenkins and Burkhead (1994).

Size: 49 cm.

Native Range: So widely introduced that native range is difficult to determine; presumably Atlantic Slope from Virginia to Florida, Gulf Slope west to Texas, St. Lawrence, Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins from Quebec to Manitoba south to the Gulf (Page and Burr 1991).

Native range data for this species provided in part by NatureServe NS logo
Hydrologic Unit Codes (HUCs) Explained
Interactive maps: Point Distribution Maps

Nonindigenous Occurrences:

Table 1. States with nonindigenous occurrences, the earliest and latest observations in each state, and the tally and names of HUCs with observations†. Names and dates are hyperlinked to their relevant specimen records. The list of references for all nonindigenous occurrences of Pomoxis nigromaculatus are found here.

StateFirst ObservedLast ObservedTotal HUCs with observations†HUCs with observations†
AZ1934202418Agua Fria; Bill Williams; Canyon Diablo; Imperial Reservoir; Lake Mead; Lower Colorado Region; Lower Gila; Lower Gila-Painted Rock Reservoir; Lower Lake Powell; Lower Salt; Lower Verde; Middle Gila; Rio De Bavispe; San Bernardino Valley; Tonto; Upper Gila-San Carlos Reservoir; Upper Salt; Upper Santa Cruz
CA1891202459Aliso-San Onofre; Antelope-Fremont Valleys; Butte; California Region; Carrizo Plain; Central California Coastal; Central Coastal; Cottonwood Creek; Cuyama; Estrella; Honey-Eagle Lakes; Imperial Reservoir; Indian Wells-Searles Valleys; Los Angeles; Lost; Lower Pit; Lower Sacramento; McCloud; Middle San Joaquin-Lower Chowchilla; Mojave; Monterey Bay; Owens Lake; Pajaro; Russian; Sacramento Headwaters; Sacramento-Stone Corral; Salinas; Salmon; San Antonio; San Diego; San Joaquin; San Joaquin Delta; Santa Ana; Santa Barbara Coastal; Santa Clara; Santa Margarita; Santa Maria; Santa Monica Bay; Santa Ynez; Scott; Seal Beach; Shasta; Smith; South Fork Kern; South Fork Trinity; Suisun Bay; Trinity; Tulare Lake Bed; Upper Bear; Upper Cache; Upper Calaveras California; Upper Dry; Upper Kern; Upper King; Upper Klamath; Upper Mokelumne; Upper Pit; Upper Stony; Upper Yuba
CO1882201822Big Sandy; Big Thompson; Cache La Poudre; Colorado Headwaters; Colorado Headwaters-Plateau; Fountain; Huerfano; Lower Gunnison; Lower White; Middle South Platte-Cherry Creek; Middle South Platte-Sterling; Piedra; Republican; San Luis; South Platte; St. Vrain; Upper Arkansas; Upper Arkansas-John Martin Reservoir; Upper Arkansas-Lake Meredith; Upper Gunnison; Upper South Platte; Upper Yampa
CT194020209Farmington River; Housatonic; New England Region; Outlet Connecticut River; Quinebaug River; Quinnipiac; Saugatuck; Shetucket River; Thames
DE197020206Brandywine-Christina; Broadkill-Smyrna; Delaware Bay; Mid Atlantic Region; Nanticoke; Upper Chesapeake
ID1892201127American Falls; Beaver-Camas; Brownlee Reservoir; C.J. Strike Reservoir; Clearwater; Coeur d'Alene Lake; Idaho Falls; Kootenai; Lake Walcott; Lower Bear; Lower Bear-Malad; Lower Boise; Lower Kootenai; Lower Snake-Tucannon; Middle Bear; Middle Snake-Payette; Middle Snake-Succor; Pacific Northwest Region; Palouse; Payette; Pend Oreille Lake; Priest; Salmon Falls; Spokane; St. Joe; Upper Snake-Rock; Weiser
IL198919891Lake Michigan
KS1894202145Arkansas-White-Red Region; Big; Big Nemaha; Buckner; Caney; Chikaskia; Cow; Delaware; Elk; Fall; Little Arkansas; Lower Big Blue; Lower Cottonwood; Lower Kansas, Kansas; Lower Marais Des Cygnes; Lower Smoky Hill; Lower Walnut Creek; Medicine Lodge; Middle Arkansas-Lake McKinney; Middle Arkansas-Slate; Middle Kansas; Middle Neosho; Middle Republican; Middle Smoky Hill; Neosho Headwaters; North Fork Ninnescah; Pawnee; Prairie Dog; Rattlesnake; Republican; Smoky Hill; Solomon; South Fork Big Nemaha; South Fork Ninnescah; South Fork Republican; Upper Cimarron-Bluff; Upper Cottonwood; Upper Marais Des Cygnes; Upper Neosho; Upper North Fork Solomon; Upper Saline; Upper Smoky Hill; Upper South Fork Solomon; Upper Verdigris; Upper Walnut River
KY198619861Upper Cumberland
ME195220209Kennebec; Lower Androscoggin River; Lower Kennebec River; Maine Coastal; Penobscot River; Piscataquis River; Presumpscot; Saco River; St. George-Sheepscot
MD1947202415Chester-Sassafras; Choptank; Conococheague-Opequon; Gunpowder-Patapsco; Lower Potomac; Lower Susquehanna; Mid Atlantic Region; Middle Potomac-Anacostia-Occoquan; Middle Potomac-Catoctin; Monocacy; Patuxent; Pokomoke-Western Lower Delmarva; Severn; Tangier; Upper Chesapeake
MA1952202314Ashuelot River-Connecticut River; Blackstone River; Cape Cod; Charles; Chicopee River; Concord River; Housatonic; Merrimack River; Millers River; Narragansett; Nashua River; New England Region; Quinebaug River; Winnipesaukee River
MN200820081Lake Superior
MO187118711Independence-Sugar
MT1948201249Arrow; Battle; Beaver; Beaver; Big Horn; Big Horn Lake; Big Muddy; Big Sandy; Box Elder; Boxelder; Brush Lake Closed Basin; Bullwhacker-Dog; Charlie-Little Muddy; Clarks Fork Yellowstone; Cottonwood; Fort Peck Reservoir; Frenchman; Jefferson; Lodge; Lower Bighorn; Lower Clark Fork; Lower Milk; Lower Musselshell; Lower Tongue; Lower Yellowstone; Lower Yellowstone-Sunday; Marias; Middle Milk; Middle Musselshell; Missouri Headwaters; Musselshell; O'Fallon; Peoples; Poplar; Porcupine; Prairie Elk-Wolf; Redwater; Rock; Sage; Stillwater; Upper Milk; Upper Missouri; Upper Missouri-Dearborn; Upper Musselshell; Upper Tongue; Upper Yellowstone; Upper Yellowstone-Lake Basin; Upper Yellowstone-Pompeys Pillar; Whitewater
NE1928201815Cedar; Lower Elkhorn; Lower Lodgepole; Lower Middle Loup; Lower Niobrara; Lower Platte; Lower South Platte; Medicine; Middle Platte-Buffalo; Missouri Region; Turkey; Upper Elkhorn; Upper Niobrara; Upper Republican; Wood
NV192420016Havasu-Mohave Lakes; Imperial Reservoir; Lake Mead; Middle Carson; Middle Humboldt; Muddy
NH1973202011Ashuelot River-Connecticut River; Black River-Connecticut River; Contoocook River; Headwaters Connecticut River; Merrimack River; Millers River; Pemigewasset River; Piscataqua-Salmon Falls; Saco River; West River-Connecticut River; Winnipesaukee River
NJ1873202311Cohansey-Maurice; Crosswicks-Neshaminy; Great Egg Harbor; Hackensack-Passaic; Lower Delaware; Lower Hudson; Mid-Atlantic Region; Middle Delaware-Musconetcong; Mullica-Toms; Raritan; Sandy Hook-Staten Island
NM1957200010Caballo; Conchas; Elephant Butte Reservoir; Pecos Headwaters; Rio Chama; Rio Grande-Santa Fe; Upper Canadian; Upper Canadian-Ute Reservoir; Upper Pecos-Black; Upper San Juan
NY1954202217Chemung; Chenango; Housatonic; Hudson-Hoosic; Hudson-Wappinger; Lake Champlain; Lower Hudson; Middle Delaware-Mongaup-Brodhead; Middle Hudson; Mohawk; Owego-Wappasening; Rondout; Sacandaga; Southern Long Island; Tioga; Upper Hudson; Upper Susquehanna
NC196120083Coastal Carolina; Upper New; White Oak River
ND198020054Grand Marais-Red; Middle Little Missouri; Painted Woods-Square Butte; Upper Lake Oahe
OK1948202013Arkansas-White-Red Region; Clear Boggy; Deep Fork; Kaw Lake; Lake O' The Cherokees; Lower Cimarron; Lower Cimarron-Skeleton; Lower Salt Fork Arkansas; Lower Washita; Middle North Canadian; Middle Washita; Muddy Boggy; Upper Washita
OR1892201341Alsea; Applegate; Brownlee Reservoir; Burnt; Coos; Goose Lake; Illinois; Lost; Lower Columbia; Lower Columbia-Clatskanie; Lower Columbia-Sandy; Lower Deschutes; Lower John Day; Lower Owyhee; Lower Rogue; Lower Willamette; Middle Columbia-Hood; Middle Columbia-Lake Wallula; Middle Rogue; Middle Willamette; Molalla-Pudding; Necanicum; North Umpqua; Pacific Northwest; Pacific Northwest Region; Powder; Siletz-Yaquina; Siltcoos; South Umpqua; Tualatin; Umatilla; Umpqua; Upper Deschutes; Upper Grande Ronde; Upper Klamath; Upper Rogue; Upper Willamette; Warner Lakes; Willow; Wilson-Trusk-Nestuccu; Yamhill
PA1892202313Brandywine-Christina; Chemung; Crosswicks-Neshaminy; Lehigh; Lower Susquehanna; Lower Susquehanna-Swatara; Middle Delaware-Mongaup-Brodhead; Middle Delaware-Musconetcong; Schuylkill; Susquehanna; Upper Susquehanna; Upper Susquehanna-Lackawanna; Upper West Branch Susquehanna
RI199120243Narragansett; New England Region; Pawcatuck River
SD1934202015Grand; James; Keya Paha; Lewis and Clark Lake; Lower James; Lower Lake Oahe; Medicine Knoll; Middle Cheyenne-Spring; Middle James; Snake; Turtle; Upper James; Upper Lake Oahe; Upper Moreau; Vermillion
TN194819481Obey
TX1959201620Cedar; Chambers; Cibolo; East Fork Trinity; East Galveston Bay; Hondo; Hubbard; Jim Ned; Llano; Lower Guadalupe; Lower Trinity-Tehuacana; Middle Canadian-Spring; Middle Guadalupe; Navidad; San Ambrosia-Santa Isabel; San Marcos; South Laguna Madre; Upper Guadalupe; Upper San Antonio; Wichita
UT1890202212Little Bear-Logan; Lower Bear-Malad; Lower Dolores; Lower Lake Powell; Lower San Juan; Lower Weber; Upper Bear; Upper Colorado-Kane Springs; Upper Lake Powell; Upper Virgin; Utah Lake; Westwater Canyon
VT196220206Ashuelot River-Connecticut River; Hudson-Hoosic; Lake Champlain; Mettawee River; Richelieu River; Winooski River
VA1888202125Albemarle; Big Sandy; Lower Chesapeake Bay; Lower Potomac; Lower Rappahannock; Mattaponi; Maury; Middle James-Buffalo; Middle James-Willis; Middle New; Middle Potomac-Anacostia-Occoquan; Middle Potomac-Catoctin; North Fork Holston; Pamunkey; Potomac; Rapidan-Upper Rappahannock; Rivanna; Shenandoah; South Fork Shenandoah; Upper Chesapeake; Upper James; Upper Levisa; Upper New; Upper Roanoke; York
WA1891200651Banks Lake; Chief Joseph; Colville; Deschutes; Duwamish; Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake; Grays Harbor; Hangman; Hood Canal; Kettle; Lake Chelan; Lake Washington; Lewis; Little Spokane; Lower Columbia; Lower Columbia-Clatskanie; Lower Columbia-Sandy; Lower Cowlitz; Lower Crab; Lower Skagit; Lower Snake; Lower Snake-Tucannon; Lower Spokane; Lower Yakima; Methow; Middle Columbia-Hood; Middle Columbia-Lake Wallula; Nisqually; Nooksack; Okanogan; Pacific Northwest Region; Palouse; Pend Oreille; Puget Sound; Puyallup; Rock; Similkameen; Skykomish; Snohomish; Stillaguamish; Strait of Georgia; Upper Chehalis; Upper Columbia-Entiat; Upper Columbia-Priest Rapids; Upper Crab; Upper Spokane; Upper Yakima; Walla Walla; Wenatchee; Willapa Bay; Yakima
WV199319968Conococheague-Opequon; Greenbrier; Lower Kanawha; Lower New; Middle New; North Branch Potomac; Potomac; Upper James
WI198319831Lake Michigan
WY1946199916Badwater; Big Horn; Big Horn Lake; Cheyenne; Clear; Crow; Glendo Reservoir; Little Powder; Little Wind; Lower Wind; North Platte; Powder; Shoshone; South Platte; Sweetwater; Upper Laramie

Table last updated 10/31/2024

† Populations may not be currently present.


Means of Introduction: Its popularity as a sport fish has led to stockings throughout the west and northeast. Intentional stocking for sportfishing.

Status: Established in most or all states where it has been introduced.

Impact of Introduction: Black Crappie prey on threatened and endangered juvenile salmon that spawn in rivers of the Northwest United States and may further contribute to salmon decline through habitat alteration, though the extent of those impacts are unknown (Sanderson et al. 2009). Nonnative predators, including crappie, have been shown to reduce the abundance and diversity of native prey species in several Pacific Northwest rivers (Hughes and Herlihy 2012).

Remarks: Tyus et al. (1982) gave a distribution map of the this species in the upper Colorado basin.

References: (click for full references)

Anonymous 2001. Oregon's Warm Water Fishing with Public Access. [online]. URL at http://www.dfw.state.or.us/warm_water_fishing/index.asp.

Becker, G.C. 1983. Fishes of Wisconsin. University of Madison Press, Madison, WI.

Bradley W. G. and J. E. Deacon. 1967. The biotic communities of southern Nevada. Nevada State Museum Anthropological Papers No. 13, Part 4. 201-273.

Cross, F.B., and J.T. Collins. 1995. Fishes in Kansas. University of Kansas Natural History Museum, Lawrence, KS. 316 pp.

Etnier, D.A., and W.C. Starnes. 1993. The fishes of Tenneessee. University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, TN.

Hocutt, C.H., R.E. Jenkins, and J.R. Stauffer, Jr. 1986. Zoogeography of the fishes of the central Appalachians and central Atlantic Coastal Plain. 161-212 in C.H. Hocutt and E.O. Wiley, eds. The zoogeography of North American freshwater fishes. John Wiley and Sons, New York, NY.

Hughes, R.M. and A.T. Herlihy. 2012. Patterns in catch per unit effort of native prey fish and alien piscivorous fish in 7 Pacific Northwest USA rivers. Fisheries 37(5):201-211.

Insider Viewpoint. 2001. Fishing Records – Nevada. Insider Viewpoint Magazine. 3 pp.

Jenkins, R.E., and N.M. Burkhead. 1994. Freshwater Fishes of Virginia. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, MD.

Lee, D.S., C.R. Gilbert, C.H. Hocutt, R.E. Jenkins, D.E. McAllister, and J.R. Stauffer, Jr. 1980. Atlas of North American freshwater fishes. North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, NC.

Linder, A. D. 1963. Idaho's Alien Fishes. TEBIWA, 6(2), 12-15.

Madison, D. 2003. Outlaw Introductions. Montana Outdoors. July/August: 26-35.

Matern, S.A., P.B. Moyle, and L.C. Pierce. 2002. Native and alien fishes in a California estuarine marsh: twenty-one years of changing assemblages. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. 131: 797-816.

Miller, R.R. and C.H. Lowe. 1967. Part 2. Fishes of Arizona, p 133-151, In: C.H. Lowe, ed. The Vertebrates of Arizona. University of Arizona Press. Tucson.

Moyle, P.B. and J. Randall. 1999. Distribution maps of fishes in California. [on-line] Available URL at http://ice.ucdavis.edu/aquadiv/fishcovs/fishmaps.html.

Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr. 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. The Peterson Guide Series, vol. 42. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA.

Red River Authority of Texas. 2001. Red and Canadian Basins Fish Inventory: Grayson County. Red River Authority of Texas.

Red River Authority of Texas. 2001. Red and Canadian Basins Fish Inventory: Red River County. Red River Authority of Texas.

Sanderson, B.L., K.A. Barnas, and A.M.W. Rub. 2009. Nonindigenous species of the Pacific Northwest: an overlooked risk to endangered salmon? BioScience 59(3): 245-256.

Sigler, F.F. and R.R. Miller. 1963. Fishes of Utah. Utah Department of Fish and Game. Salt Lake City, Utah. 203 pp.

Simon, J.R.  1946. Wyoming Fishes. Wyoming Game and Fish Dept., Bull. No. 4. 1-129+ pp.

Sommer, T, B. Harrell, M. Nobriga, R. Brown, P. Moyle, W. Kimmerer, and L. Schemel. 2001. California's Yolo Bypass: Evidence that flood control can be compatible with fisheries, wetlands, wildlife, and agriculture. Fisheries. American Fisheries Society. 26 (8): 6-16.

Starnes, W.C., J. Odenkirk, and M.J. Ashton. 2011. Update and analysis of fish occurrences in the lower Potomac River drainage in the vicinity of Plummers Island, Maryland—Contribution XXXI to the natural history of Plummers Island, Maryland. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 124(4):280-309.

State of Oregon. 2000. Warm Water Game Fish Records. 7 pp.

Tilmant, J.T. 1999. Management of nonindigenous aquatic fish in the U.S. National Park System. National Park Service. 50 pp.

Urbain, B. 2001. Personal communication.

Other Resources:
FishBase Summary

Author: Pam Fuller, Matt Cannister, and Matt Neilson

Revision Date: 8/28/2019

Peer Review Date: 5/29/2012

Citation Information:
Pam Fuller, Matt Cannister, and Matt Neilson, 2024, Pomoxis nigromaculatus (Lesueur in Cuvier and Valenciennes, 1829): U.S. Geological Survey, Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL, https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/FactSheet.aspx?SpeciesID=409, Revision Date: 8/28/2019, Peer Review Date: 5/29/2012, Access Date: 10/31/2024

This information is preliminary or provisional and is subject to revision. It is being provided to meet the need for timely best science. The information has not received final approval by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and is provided on the condition that neither the USGS nor the U.S. Government shall be held liable for any damages resulting from the authorized or unauthorized use of the information.

Disclaimer:

The data represented on this site vary in accuracy, scale, completeness, extent of coverage and origin. It is the user's responsibility to use these data consistent with their intended purpose and within stated limitations. We highly recommend reviewing metadata files prior to interpreting these data.

Citation information: U.S. Geological Survey. [2024]. Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database. Gainesville, Florida. Accessed [10/31/2024].

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For general information and questions about the database, contact Wesley Daniel. For problems and technical issues, contact Matthew Neilson.