#percidae

Banded Darter (Etheostoma zonale) male, family Percidae, order Perciformes, OH, USA

Rainbow Darter (Etheostoma caeruleum), family Percidae, order Perciformes, found in freshwater streams throughout the Great Lakes and Ohio River Valley region

Pacific Spiny Lumpsucker (Eumicrotremus orbis), family Cyclopteridae, order Percidae, coastal Alaska

Bluemask Darter (Etheostoma akatulo), male, family Percidae, order Perciformes, Tennessee, USA

ENDANGERED.

Rainbow Darter (Etheostoma caeruleum), family Percidae, order Perciformes, found in freshwater streams throughout the Great Lakes and Ohio River Valley region

* This individual was caught as part of a scientific survey, and was released after being photographed. 

photograph by Dwight Baker

Finland's National Fish. First described in 1730 by the Swedish naturalist Peter Artedi (considered the Father of Icthyology) and named by Carl Linnaeus in 1758.

Yet another fish introduced to New Zealand as a game fish, although while it originates in Europe the ones in New Zealand were collected from Tasmania. And just like the Brown Trout and Brook Char, have become an absolute menace to native species since their introduction. Even more galling, despite them being in NZ waters since the 1870s, they were mostly ignored for the next 120 years by anglers who preferred to target the Salmonids anyway.

A declared noxious species in New South Wales, but apparently quite edible. In some parts of New Zealand fishermen are encouraged to catch and eat as many as they can. Rarely over 2kg as an adult, although the world record was near 4.

Candy Darter (Etheostoma osburni), family Percidae, order Perciformes, found in the Kanawha River system in Virginia and West Virginia, USA

ENDANGERED.