Animals -> Fish -> Freshwater Fish -> Bowfin

Bowfin

Faunal remains found at the Bloody Hill Site of Onondaga suggest that the Onondaga Iroquois consumed bowfin [1].

Reference

1.         Tuck JA: Onondaga Iroquois PreHistory: A Study in Settlement Archaeology, vol. 1st edition. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press; 1971.

The bowfin (Amia calva) is a freshwater fish found mainly in the south-east United States, but extending into the upper St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes. The French common name for the bowfin is le poisson-castor. Bowfins have a long spine-less dorsal fin, almost reaching a fan-shaped tail fin, and a broad large head with barbel-like nostrils. Together with the longnose gar (Lepisosteus osseus), bowfins are considered to be among the most primitive of North American ray-finned fishes. Bowfins thrive in areas where most other fish cannot survive, such as stagnant, warm waters.

Reference

Wooding FH: Lake, river and sea-run fishes of Canada. Madeira Park, BC, Canada: Harbour Publishing; 1997.

 

Images provided below were obtained from: Encyclopedia of Life. Available from http://www.eol.org.
Bowfin
Supplier: Wikimedia Commons
Photographer: Duane Raver/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
This map is based on occurrence records available through the GBIF network