White Crappie, Pomoxis annularis
White Crappie, Pomoxis annularis. Fish caught within the Horseshoe Lake Natural Preserve, Cairo, Illinois, July 2019. Length: 14 cm (5.5 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Chris Moore, Peoria, Arizona.
White Crappie, Pomoxis annularis. Fish caught from Rushmore Lake, Jenison, Michigan, July 2017. Length: 15 cm (5.9 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Marc Eberlein, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
White Crappie, Pomoxis annularis. Fish caught from the Green Lake, Caledonia, Michigan, June 2016. Length: 18 cm (7.1 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Josh Leisen (joshadventures.com), Gaylord, Michigan.
White Crappie, Pomoxis annularis. Fish caught from the Kaskaskia River, Shelbyville, Illinois, April 2016. Length: 18 cm (7.2 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, San Diego, California.
The White Crappie, Pomoxis annularis, is a member of the Sunfish or Centrarchidae Family, and is known in Mexico as mojarra blanca. Globally, there are two species in the genus Pomoxis, both of which are found in the streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds of Mexico’s freshwater systems.
The White Crappie has a heavy bass-like body that is a deep strongly compressed laterally with a depth that is 31% to 35% of standard length. The white crappie is dark green to silver-green dorsally transitioning to silvery-white ventrally with 5 to 10 dark vertical bars on their sides. Their scales have black spots and give the appearance of lines across the sides. The males are generally darker than the females. Breeding males have dark throats. The juveniles are less colorful than the adults, allowing them to blend into the vegetation for protection against predation. Their head has a prominent depression in the forehead and a large terminal mouth that has thin lips and is equipped with small conical teeth set in two rows. The forward part of the back is deeply concave. Their anal fin has 6 spines and 16 to 18 rays; their caudal fin has equal lobes and is slightly forked; their first dorsal fin has 5 or 6 spines; their second dorsal fin has 14 rays; and, their pectoral fins have 13 or 14 rays. Their anal and dorsal fins are symmetric and similar in shape. They are covered with ctenoid scales.
The White Crappie is found in the low-velocity areas of large rivers, reservoirs and lakes over sand and mud substrate. They are tolerant of turbid waters. They congregate in groups in open water during the evening and move closer to shore and close to heavy structure during the day to avoid predation. They reach a maximum of 53 cm (21 inches) in length and 2.35 kg (5 lbs 3 oz) in weight. As of April 30, 2022, the International Game Fish Association world record stood for length stood at 32 cm (13 inches) with the fish caught in Lake Granbury, Granbury, Texas in April 2022. The corresponding world record for weight is 2.35 kg (5 lbs 3 oz), with the fish caught at Enid Dam, Mississippi, in July 1957. They travel in large schools preferring water temperatures between 16oC (61oF) and 20oC (68oF). They can survive in waters with low oxygen content but are prone to massive kills if water temperature dip below 4oC (39oF). Young fish feed on plankton, but as they grow, their diet shifts to aquatic insects and insect larvae. Larger fish are active early morning feeders that consume small fish, insects and large invertebrates. In turn they are preyed up by Largemouth Bass, Micropterus salmoides. Reproduction is oviparous and polygynandrous (promiscuous) and occurs continually when spring water temperatures are in excess of 14oC (56oF). They form aggregates in shallow water during this period, males become highly territorial and very aggressive. They build large nests in colonies in very shallow sand or gravel substrates in close proximity to shoreline vegetation. Each female can hold as many as 232,000 eggs at any one time and deposits them into the nest in small batches of between 5,000 and 30,000 eggs 6 to 12 times a year. The eggs are adhesive and attach to the substrate. Fertilization is external and males remain on the nest for 2 or 3 days until the eggs hatch and for an additional 3 to 5 days until juveniles and swim and feed on their own. The young may remain attached to the nesting material for a few days before the fry scatter. At this point they are subject to a high level of predation or die from starvation. They regroup as fingerlings and form large schools in the central portions of the water within which they reside. Males will then try to attract another female to his nest. They have life spans of up to ten years.
The White Crappie is most likely and easily confused with the Black Crappie, Pomoxis nigromaculatus (deeper body, longer dorsal fin base, silvery body with bars on their sides, 7 or 8 dorsal spines). They differ from all other sunfish by having less than 10 dorsal spines.
The White Crappie is a native to eastern North America and has been widely introduced throughout the United States and in several foreign countries including Mexico. They were introduced to Mexico in the 1950s for aquaculture and as a food fish. Of late they have also become of interest as a recreational fish. Their introductions, due to their aggressive behavioral patterns and being highly adaptable, considered to be a habitat generalist that consume a wide variety of foods with high reproductive rates, they can quickly overpopulate the native ecosystems. They are now established in the major lakes and rivers in the States of Nuevo León and Tamaulipas. Being highly invasive, sooner than later they will be found in all freshwater systems of Mexico.
From a conservation perspective the White Crappie is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are known to be a highly invasive pest causing overcrowded conditions and destroying native populations and aquatic organisms. They are a popular recreational angler foe that can be caught year-round and generally do not have bag limits. They are considered to be an excellent human food fish and sold commercially. They are utilized by the aquarium trade at a modest level and are common in public aquariums.