n.
A primitive bony freshwater fish (Amia calva) of central and eastern North America, with a long spineless dorsal fin. Also called dogfish, mudfish.
bowfin
Dictionary:
bow·fin (bō'fĭn')  |
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bowfin, primitive freshwater fish found in the Mississippi basin, the Great Lakes, and E to Vermont. The bowfin has a light covering of rounded, overlapping scales, a large mouth, and sharp teeth. Its swim bladder is capable of functioning as a lung, and the bowfin can survive out of water for a day. It prefers sluggish water and surfaces occasionally to gulp air. The female, up to 2 ft (60 cm) long, lays eggs. The smaller male builds the nest and guards the young after they hatch. Bowfins are also called freshwater dogfish; they are voracious and destructive feeders on fish and invertebrates and are sometimes cannibalistic. As game fish they are good fighters, but they are not regarded as food fish in most parts of the United States. Bowfins are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Osteichthyes, order Amiiformes, family Amiidae.
| WordNet: bowfin |
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.
The noun has one meaning:
Meaning #1:
primitive long-bodies carnivorous freshwater fish with a very long dorsal fin; found in sluggish waters of North America
Synonyms: grindle, dogfish, Amia calva
| Wikipedia: Bowfin |
For the Balao class submarine, see USS Bowfin (SS-287)
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| Amia calva Linnaeus, 1766 |
Bowfins are an order (Amiiformes, pronounced /əˌmaɪ.ɨˈfɔrmiːz/) of primitive ray-finned fish. Only one species, the bowfin Amia calva, family Amiidae, survives today, although additional species in six families are known from Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Eocene fossils. The bowfin, the gar, and the sturgeons are among the few extant freshwater fish that were contemporaries of the dinosaurs.
Bowfins are found throughout eastern North America, typically in slow-moving backwaters and ox-bow lakes. When the oxygen level is low (as often happens in still waters), the bowfin can rise to the surface and gulp air into its swim bladder, which is lined with blood vessels and can serve as a lung.
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Description and biology
The most distinctive characteristic of the bowfin is its very long dorsal fin consisting of 145 to 250 rays, and running from mid-back to the base of the tail. The caudal fin is a single lobe, though heterocercal[1]. They can grow up to 109 centimetres (43 in) in length, and weigh 9.75 kilograms (21.5 lb).[2] Other noticeable features are the black "eye spot" usually found high on the caudal peduncle, and the presence of a gular plate. The gular plate is a bony plate located on the exterior of the lower jaw, between the two sides of the lower jaw bone.
The bowfin is an indiscriminate predator that readily preys on a broad variety of arthropod and vertebrate prey, from insects and crawfish to other fish and frogs.
Males are said to turn "bluish" when breeding [1]. The male bowfin exhibits extensive parental care. The male clears an area in the mud for the female to lay eggs in, and then fertilizes them. He hovers nearby and aggressively protects the eggs and the fry after they emerge.[3]
Fishing
Bowfin are not considered a good food fish compared to more popular freshwater gamefish species, such as pike or trout. They are generally considered "trash" fish by sportsmen, and are scorned for their voracious appetite for more desirable species. They will occasionally strike - and sometimes ruin with their powerful jaws - artificial lures, but they generally strike on live or cut fishes. They also naturally consume copious numbers of live crayfishes in many rivers. When hooked, Bowfin battle powerfully, offering a tremendous fight to the angler. Bowfin should be handled carefully, as they have very sharp teeth. They will continue to struggle even when pulled out of the water, and will attempt to bite anyone who is handling them.
The list of local and alternate names the bowfin is known by is lengthy, but common ones include "dogfish", "mudfish", "grindle" (or "grinnel"),"swamp muskie", cottonfish and "lawyer". In parts of S. Louisiana they are called "tchoupique" or "choupique".
Gallery
 Calamopleurus cylindricus fossil |
 Bowfin from the Coosa River near Wetumpka, Alabama(Released) |
References
- ^ Nelson, Joseph S. (2006). Fishes of the World. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ISBN 0471250317
- ^ "Amiidae". FishBase. Ed. Rainer Froese and Daniel Pauly. January 2009 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2009.
- ^ Berra, Tim M. (2001). Freshwater Fish Distribution. San Diego: Academic Press. ISBN 0-12-093156-7
External links
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Wikispecies has information related to: Amia calva |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Amia calva |
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more |
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| WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Bowfin". Read more |
