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TextFishes of Fairfax County
Distribution of these fish across the county can vary depending on the biology, tolerance of urbanization and habitat preference of the fish. For instance:
- The American eel is a type of fish that live in fresh water and breed in the ocean (also known as a catadromous fish) whose distribution in the county is limited by Great Falls on the Potomac River and by the dam at the Occoquan reservoir.
- The margined madtom is a small catfish species whose intolerance of urbanization has limited its distribution to parts of the county with less development and to the larger rivers where the effects of urbanization are lessened by the size of the stream.
- The eastern mudminnow lives in slow moving streams with muddy bottoms and dense vegetation. This habitat requirement is met mostly in the low gradient coastal plain streams along the southeast portion of the county along the Potomac River.
The fish listed below were collected by the staff of Fairfax County’s Stream Quality Assessment Program from 1999 -2010. The fish are listed by common and scientific names.
Anguillidae – Freshwater Eel Family
Catostomidae – Sucker Family
Centrarchidae – Sunfish Family
Channidae – Snakehead Family
Clupeidae – Herring Family
Cottidae – Sculpin Family
Cyprinidae – Minnow Family: blacknose dace through eastern silvery minnow
Cyprinidae – Minnow Family: fallfish through swallowtail shiner
Fundulidae – Killifish Family
Ictaluridae – Catfish Family
Moronidae – Temperate Bass Family
Percidae – Perch Family
Petromyzontidae – Lamprey Family
Poeciliidae – Livebearer Family
Umbridae – Mudminnow Family
For more information, please email the Stormwater Planning Division or call 703-324-5500, TTY 711.
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