The names: bachelor, campbellite, white bass, camp lighter,

sac-a-lait, silver crappie, speckled bass, tinmouth, bar fish, Oswego bass, razorback, grassback, shiner, john demon,

calico bass, strawberry bass and "crap'pee," along with 10-20 others, all refer to two rather than one species

of fish. Most Maryland fishermen when applying these time honored names do not realize they are referring to two distinct species of fish. These species are the black crappie, Pornoxis nigromaculatus, and the white crappie, Pornoxis annulars. Contrary to common belief, the white

crappie does not change into a black crappie during parts of the year nor are these two fish just color phases of one species. Crappies are members of the freshwater sunfish family of fishes, Centrarchidae. (PDF contains 4 pages

Schwartz, Frank J.

English

Aquatic Commons

FRANK J. SCHWARTZ 
Chesapeake Bislogicnk Laboratory, 
Solomons, Maryland 
T HE NAMES bachelor, camp- bellite, white bass, camp light- 
er, sac-a-lait, silver crappie, speckled 
bass, tinmouth, bar fish, Oswego bass, 
razorback, grassback, shiner, john de- 
mon, calico bass, strawberry bass and 
"crap'pee," along with 10-20 others, 
ali refer to two rather than one spe- 
cies of fish. Most Maryland fisher- 
men when applying these time hon- 
ored names do not realize they are 
referring to two distinct species of 
fish. These species are the black crap- 
pie, Pornoxis nigromaculatus, and the 
white crappie, Pornoxis annular&. 
Contrary to common belief, the white 
crappie does not change into a black 
crappie during parts of the year nor 
are these two fish just color phases 
of one species. 
Crappies are members of the fresh- 
water sunfish family of fishes, Cen- 
trarchidae. This family encompasses 
an assemblage of deep-bodied fishes 
ranging from the familiar Iarge and 
smallmouth bass to the lesser known 
and recognized blue gill, pumpkin- 
seed, rock bass, yellow belly sunfish 
and crappie. In general, fishes which 
possess one dorsal fin within which 
both spines and soft pliable rays exist. 
Other families of fishes have either 
separated spines and rays or a sepa- 
rate fin for each, rays or spines. 
The white and black crappies are 
easily distinguished by a simple ex- 
amination of the dorsal fin. The 
black crappie has seven or eight dor- 
sal spines while the white crappie has 
only five or six. Likewise, note the 
highly arched back, deeper body and 
intense black coloring on the fins and 
body of the black crappie. The  whit^ 
crappie has a shallower slope to the 
back, lighter coloration and often a 
barred color pattern rather than 
blotches. A good secondary method 
of distinguishing between these two - 
fish is to take a stick or pair of di- 
viders and measure the length of the 
dorsal fin base forward. In the black 
crappie this distance will pass for- 
ward to the eye whereas in the white 
crappie the dorsal fin base length will 
end far behind the eye. 
The crappies originally occurred 
east of the Rocky Mountains, south 
of Canada to the Gulf States and 
north along the Atlantic Coast to 
North Carolina. Introductions have 
greatly expanded their range into al- 
most every state and province. 111 
Maryland, the black crappie may be 
found throughout the state; however, 
great concentrations occur as one 
- 
passes from west to east so that in 
the Coastal Plain the black crappie 
usually predominates. The white 
crappie is generally (only a few rec- 
ords exist for the mountainous re- 
gion of the state) found in the Pied- 
mont and Coastal Plain areas of the 
Educational Series Nth 42 
state west of Chesapeake Bay. Kent 
and Talbot Counties possess the only 
known records on the eastern shore. 
The  black crappie prefers clear, 
cool waters having hard bottoms and 
an abundance of aquatic vegetation. 
The  white crappie is more tolerant 
to turbid conditions and seems to do 
best in warm, sluggish waters having 
a mud bottona and vegetation. The  
distributions of these two species 
within the state follows rather closely 
stream conditions of the major prov- 
inces-clear mountainous streams in 
the west, slower, more turbid Pied- 
mont streams west oI a line from Eai- 
timore and Washington, D. C., and 
slow, brown intertidal streams east 
of this line. Only the preponderance 
of the black crappie in the Coastal 
Plain area upsets the ideal. When 
these two species occur together, in 
- man) instanceb the white crappie will 
rapidly overpopulate and/or replace 
the black crappie. This has been 
vividly denionstrated in drained lakes 
such as: St. Paul's Lake, Kent County, 
where in six years white crappies com- 
pletely replaced the black crappie and 
New Germany Lake, Garrett County, 
where white crappies replaced the 
black crappies in five years. 
The deep body shape of crappies, 
after their first summer, permits only 
large walleyes, pickerel, pike and bass 
to prey on these fish. The  record 
Maryland black crappie was a 17", 2 
lb. 11 oz., specimen taken in Avalon 
Pond, Baltimore County, in 1950. A 
19" white crappie captured in 1952 
in Loch Raven Reservoir is the long- 
est while a 13.4" fish that weighed 
1 Ib. 3 oz., captured in Back Creek 
Pond, Cecil County, in 1956 is the 
heaviest white crappie known in 
Maryland. The black crappie records 
cited for Maryland exceed the record 
length and weight of other states. 
The white crappie length records are 
conlparable to those of other states 
A: P a r t i a l  o u t l i n e  of White C r a p p i e  i l l u s t r a t i n g  d o r s a l  
f i n  b a s e  when m e a s u r e d  w i t h  d i v i d e r s  and p r o j e c t e d  
f o r w a r d  s e l d o m  r e a c h e s  e y e .  
I B: P a r t i a l  o u t l i n e  of  B l a c k  Crappie  i l l u s t r a t i n g  d o r s a l  
f i n  b a s e  when p r o j e c t e d  f o r w a r d  r e a c h e s  e y e  o r b e y o n d .  
KNOWN LOCALITIES OF BLACK AND WHITE CRAPPIES 
IN MARYLAND WATERS 
Black White 
........................................ ............. Allegheny Co. Potomac R. 
........................................ 
......... Anne Arundel Go. Kelly Pool 
""Lake Waterford ...................... .. ..... .. ... 
................................ Little Patuxent R. 
**Magothy R. ....................................... 
Patuxent R. (N. of Eristol Landing). ............... 
........................... ............. Ealtimore Co. Loch Raven Reservoir ... 
Patapsco R. ........................................ 
........................................ ............... Calvert Co. Lore's Pond 
........................................ Patuxent R. 
.................................... .............. Caroline Co. Chambers Lake 
"*Garland Lake .................................... 
"Harmony Pond .................................... 
Linohester Pond ................................... 
Smithville Pond ............................... ... 
Williston Mill Pond ............................... 
Cecil Co. ................. Baek Creek Pond ................................... 
................... Susquehanna R./Conowingo Dam 
Northeast R. ...................................... 
....................... ............... Charles Co. "Hughesville Community Pond 
................................. ............ Dorchester Go. Kiggins IYIill Pond 
Frederick Co. ............. Catoctin Creek ..................................... 
.......................... Chesapeake & Ohio Canal 
...................................... Monocacy R. 
........................................ Potomac R. 
................................. Garrett Co. ............... Cunningham Lake 
.................................. Deep Creek Lake 
Herringtan Manor Lake ......................... .. 
"Lake Koshare ...................................... 
New Germany Lake ................................ 
Piney Dam ........................................ 
Potomac R. ........................................ 
.................................. Harford Co. .............. "Broad Creek Pond 
Conowingo Reservoir ....... ..:. ..................... 
Susquehanna R. .................................... 
..................................... Kent Co. .................. Frarier's Pond 
Sassafras R. (near Georgetown) .................... 
St. Paul's Lake .................................... 
....................................... Swan Creek 
..................................... Urieville Pond 
Montgomery Co. ........... Chesapeake & Ohio Canal .......................... 
Potomac R. ........................................ 
Seneca Creek ...................................... 
Prince Georges Co. ........ "Cash Lake ......................................... 
Greenbelt Lake ................................ ... 
Patuxent R. ....................................... 
Queen Anne Co. ......... .""Kimball's Pond .................................... 
Wye Mills Pond ................................... 
Talbot Co. ................ Patehetts Pond .................................... 
Washington Co. .......... Big Pool .......................................... 
Cascade Lake ...................................... 
*Indian Springs Community Pond ................... 
Little Pool ........................................ 
........................................ Potomac R. 
*Sharpsburg Community Pond ...................... 
Wieomico Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . .  Johnson's Lake .................................... 
Leonard's Pond .................................... 
Salisbury Lake .................................... 
Shad Point Pond .................................. 
Tonytank Pond .................... .. .......... .. 
Wieomico R. (below Shad Pt. Pond) ................ 
Worcester Co. ............ Boxiron Pond ...................................... 
Pocomoke R. ................... ! ................... 
District of Columbia.. ..... Anacostia R. ..................................... 
, . ~  
X Present 
I - Absent * Lake drained, both speoies absent. *"Not observed by creel census field man. *** Not found in  seining sample. 
but southern state weights far exceed ly lives nine years while the white 
Maryland specimens. Growth studies crappie lives only eight. In  Mary- 
on these two species from other areas land, a ten yeas old bllack crappie 
indicate that the black crappie usual- which was 14.1" long and weighed 
17.2 oz. has been captured on hook 
and line in Loch Raven Reservoir in 
June of 1950. Several seven year old 
black crappies have been taken in 
Wye Mills Pond and Deep Creek 
Lake, however, the usual age is four 
to five years old. The record 19" 
Loch Raven white crappie was eleven 
years old. Several seven year old 
white crappies have also been cap- 
Crappies are currently being stock- 
ed in shallow farm ponds. Their deep 
bodies and healthy reproductive ca- 
pacities limit their usefulness under 
these circumstances and are not rec- 
ommended if balanced fish popula- 
tions are desired. The crappies, 
whether you realize they are different, 
do make a hardy contribution to the 
fish fauna of the state. They supply 
White or black? Use the methods described here to identify this crappie. Answer below, right. 
tured. However, popufatioris are gen- 
erally three to four years old. Over- 
population of both species usually re- 
sults in stunted fish, thus Maryland 
crappies rarely exceed ten inches in 
length and a few ounces in weight. 
The life histoly of these two species 
follows fairly closely that of the sun- 
fishes. Guarded depression nests are 
built in late spring in sand, gravel, 
aquatic roots or near brush bottoms. 
Parental care of the young is com- 
mon. These fish are carnivorous and 
feed on crustaceans, insects and fishes. 
Over-population is common and rap- 
id (a ripe female may lay 200,000 
eggs during one spawning season). 
joy and pleasure to the fisherman by 
biting voraciously when other species 
don't. 
Probably every pond and stream 
in the state contains its share of crap 
pies. Additions to the known list of 
localities will be welcome. If you can 
authentically top existing Maryland 
length and weight records for these 
two fish, this will also be welcome. 
In any event, employ the two meth- 
ods cited and you should have little 
trouble identifying the two species of 
crappies. Q Q Q 
The fish above is a black crappie. (More ar- 
ticles aimed at helping the flsherman identify his 
coteh are planned for future issuer.) 


The Crappies

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