Overview
Adult crappie are found in freshwater lakes, reservoirs, ponds, sloughs, backwaters pools, and streams. Crappie prefer cover, such as such as vegetation, fallen trees or boulders. They often form in large groups, called schools, in clear water among vegetation over mud or sand.
Scientific Name
Identification Numbers
Characteristics
Physical Characteristics
The common length for black crappie is 10.8 inches and the maximum reported length for a black crappie is 19.3 inches.
The heaviest published weight for a black crappie is 6 pounds.
Black crappie often form schools and feed early in the morning. They inhabit quiet, warm temperate waters; usually associated with abundant aquatic vegetation and sandy to muddy bottoms. Black crappie may compete with walleye when found in the same habitat and because the feeding habits of these species are very similar. Larger individuals of the species are basically piscivorous and feed primarily on small ?sh.
The easiest way to determine the di?erence between a black crappie and a white crappie is to count the number of spines in the dorsal ?n. They also have seven to eight spines in their dorsal ?n and white crappie have six. Black crappie have irregularly arranged speckles and blotches in their color pattern as opposed to the faint vertical bars of the white crappie.
Life Cycle
The oldest reported age for black crappie is 15 years however, a normal age is usually around 7 years.
In the spring during spawning season, male crappie begin building nests by clearing sand, mud or gravel from the water bottom in preparation for the egg laying females to arrive. Upon their arrival, female crappie may spawn with di?erent males in more than one nest. Spawning involves the simultaneous release of eggs by the females and milt (sperm) by the males in the nests, which were previously prepared by the males before the female crappie had arrived at the spawning habitat. After spawning, male crappie guard the nest for approximately 5 days or until the juvenile crappie begin to emerge from their eggs and begin to feed.
Habitat
Black crappie are a freshwater species. They often form schools and feed early in the morning. Black crappie inhabit quiet, warm temperate waters; usually associated with abundant aquatic vegetation and sandy to muddy bottoms. These fish may compete with walleye when found in the same habitat and because the feeding habits of these species are very similar.
The black crappie is a common host fish for freshwater mussels. The crappie provides the mussel with a place to live (usually on their gills) for the first part of its life.
Behavior
Black crappie, up to 6.3 inches, feed on planktonic crustaceans and free swimming, nocturnal larvae. Larger individuals are basically piscivorous and feed primarily on small ?sh.
Geography
The native range for black crappie in North America extends from Virginia to Florida along the Atlantic coast and southwest along the Gulf of Mexico from the western panhandle of Florida across to Texas. Black Crappie also can be found within the St. Lawrence River, the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basins.