Fauna of West Virginia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Life zone

The Life Zone concept was developed by C. Hart Merriam in 1889 as a means of describing areas with similar plant and animal communities. Merriam observed that the changes in these communities with an increase in latitude at a constant elevation are similar to the changes seen with an increase in...

s of West Virginia

West Virginia

West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...

allow for a diversity of habitats for fauna

Fauna

Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...

(animal life), varying from large lowland farming valleys bordered with forest and meadow to highland ridge flats and heavy forestland, some with rocky ridge-line peaks. The "Mountain State" harbors at least 56 species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

and subspecies of mammal

Mammal

Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...

s. The state has more than 300 types of birds and more than 100 species of fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

. Many common insects of the Eastern United States

Eastern United States

The Eastern United States, the American East, or simply the East is traditionally defined as the states east of the Mississippi River. The first two tiers of states west of the Mississippi have traditionally been considered part of the West, but can be included in the East today; usually in...

can be found in West Virginia; 15 species of beetle

Insect

Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

s, more than 70 species of Odonate, 12 species of stonefly, and about 17 moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...

species. Other invertebrate

Invertebrate

An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...

s include some 18 species of spider

Spider

Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...

and a little over seven dozen species of cave

Cave

A cave or cavern is a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter. The term applies to natural cavities some part of which is in total darkness. The word cave also includes smaller spaces like rock shelters, sea caves, and grottos.Speleology is the science of exploration and study...

-dwellers. The West Virginia Division of Wildlife (WVDNR) uses hunting and fishing license fees for wildlife habitat conservation

Habitat conservation

Habitat conservation is a land management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore, habitat areas for wild plants and animals, especially conservation reliant species, and prevent their extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range...

. The state has guidelines for persons applying for West Virginia scientific collecting permits.

Diversity, mountain & low land

As with West Virginia's remote mountain forests, the farms and lands with meadows and woodlots near urban areas also hold whitetail deer, chipmunks, raccoons, skunks, groundhogs, opossums, weasels, field mice, flying squirrels, cotton-tail rabbits, gray foxes, red foxes, gray squirrels, red squirrels and a cave bat to name a few. Bobcats, snowshoe hares, wild boars and black bears are not strictly found in deepest forests and parks of West Virginia. But, the mink

Mink

There are two living species referred to as "mink": the European Mink and the American Mink. The extinct Sea Mink is related to the American Mink, but was much larger. All three species are dark-colored, semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammals of the family Mustelidae, which also includes the weasels and...

, beaver

Beaver

The beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...

and eastern cougar (Puma concolor couguar) have become very rarely seen near farms, even the farthest from towns.

Deep in the heart of the state's mountains is a unique natural botanical treasure. Along with very rare boreal

Boreal ecosystem

The term boreal is usually applied to ecosystems localized in subarctic and subantarctic zones, although Austral is also used for the latter....

plants, several species of orchids and carnivorous plants are found at Cranberry Glades Botanical Area

Cranberry Glades Botanical Area

Cranberry Glades — also known simply as The Glades — are a cluster of five small, boreal-type bogs in southwestern Pocahontas County, West Virginia, USA. This area, high in the Allegheny Mountains at about , is protected as the Cranberry Glades Botanical Area, part of the Monongahela National Forest...

. It provides a chance for the public to see mink, beavers, snowshoe hare, black bear with its unique flora and other fauna. Cranberry Glades is the southern-most breeding pocket for some northern breeding species of birds like the purple finch

Purple Finch

The Purple Finch, Carpodacus purpureus, is a bird in the finch family Fringillidae.-Taxonomy:The Purple Finch is one of 24 birds in the genus Carpodacus and is included in the finch...

and the northern waterthrush

Northern Waterthrush

The Northern Waterthrush is one of the larger New World warblers. It breeds in the northern part of North America in Canada, and in the northern United States, . This bird is migratory, wintering in Central America, the West Indies, and Florida; also Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador...

. West Virginia's western valley contrasts the mountains with another natural treasure, the Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge

Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge

The Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge in non-contiguous sites consisting of islands along of the Ohio River, primarily in the U.S. state of West Virginia. There are also a couple of islands upstream in Beaver County, Pennsylvania and a couple downstream...

. These islands serves as a habitat for great blue heron

Great Blue Heron

The Great Blue Heron is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America as well as the West Indies and the Galápagos Islands. It is a rare vagrant to Europe, with records from Spain, the Azores and England...

, wood duck

Wood Duck

The Wood Duck or Carolina Duck is a species of duck found in North America. It is one of the most colourful of North American waterfowl.-Description:...

s, cormorant

Cormorant

The bird family Phalacrocoracidae is represented by some 40 species of cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed recently, and the number of genera is disputed.- Names :...

s, Canada geese, migrating loon

Loon

The loons or divers are a group of aquatic birds found in many parts of North America and northern Eurasia...

s, and tundra swans.

Birds

North American migrant birds such as the tufted titmouse

Tufted Titmouse

The Tufted Titmouse, Baeolophus bicolor, is a small songbird from North America, a species in the tit and chickadee family . The Black-crested Titmouse, found from central and southern Texas southwards, was included as a subspecies but is now considered a separate species B...

, scarlet tanager

Scarlet Tanager

The Scarlet Tanager is a medium-sized American songbird. Formerly placed in the tanager family , it and other members of its genus are now classified in the cardinal family . The species's plumage and vocalizations are similar to other members of the cardinal family.-Description:Adults have pale...

, brown thrasher

Brown Thrasher

The Brown Thrasher , sometimes erroneously called the Brown Thrush, is a bird in the Mimidae family, a group that also includes the New World catbirds and mockingbirds.-Description:...

, American robin

American Robin

The American Robin or North American Robin is a migratory songbird of the thrush family. It is named after the European Robin because of its reddish-orange breast, though the two species are not closely related, with the European robin belonging to the flycatcher family...

, and humming bird live throughout the warmer seasons, except in the highest peaks. Some Icterid

Icterid

The Icterids are a group of small to medium-sized, often colorful passerine birds restricted to the New World. Most species have black as a predominant plumage color, often enlivened by yellow, orange or red. The family is extremely varied in size, shape, behavior and coloration...

birds visit West Virginia, as well as the Hermit Thrush

Hermit Thrush

The Hermit Thrush is a medium-sized North American thrush. It is not very closely related to the other North American migrant species of Catharus, but rather to the Mexican Russet Nightingale-thrush.-Description:...

and Wood Thrush

Wood Thrush

The Wood Thrush, Hylocichla mustelina, is a North American passerine bird. It is closely related to other thrushes such as the American Robin and is widely distributed across North America, wintering in Central America and southern Mexico...

. The American Goldfinch

American Goldfinch

The American Goldfinch , also known as the Eastern Goldfinch and Wild Canary, is a small North American bird in the finch family...

, northern cardinal

Northern Cardinal

The Northern Cardinal or Redbird or Common Cardinal is a North American bird in the genus Cardinalis. It can be found in southern Canada, through the eastern United States from Maine to Texas and south through Mexico...

, bluejay, catbird

Catbird

Several unrelated groups of songbirds are called catbirds because of their wailing calls, which resemble a cat's meowing. The genus name Ailuroedus likewise is from the Greek for "cat-singer" or "cat-voiced"....

, northern mockingbird

Northern Mockingbird

The Northern Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottos, is the only mockingbird commonly found in North America. This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758 as Turdus polyglottos....

, American sparrow

American sparrow

American sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming part of the family Emberizidae. American sparrows are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns....

, some wrens, and even crow

Crow

Crows form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-size jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several...

s can be found passing through urban lawns to meadows and cattail ponds or a farmer's field. Major game birds are the duck, goose, bobwhite quail

Quail

Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally considered in the order Galliformes. Old World quail are found in the family Phasianidae, while New World quail are found in the family Odontophoridae...

, ruffed grouse

Ruffed Grouse

The Ruffed Grouse is a medium-sized grouse occurring in forests from the Appalachian Mountains across Canada to Alaska. It is non-migratory.The Ruffed Grouse is frequently referred to as a "partridge"...

, and wild turkey

Turkey (bird)

A turkey is a large bird in the genus Meleagris. One species, Meleagris gallopavo, commonly known as the Wild Turkey, is native to the forests of North America. The domestic turkey is a descendant of this species...

. Pairs of buzzard

Buzzard

A buzzard is one of several large birds, but there are a number of meanings as detailed below.-Old World:In the Old World Buzzard can mean:* One of several medium-sized, wide-ranging raptors with a robust body and broad wings....

s can be seen while driving along the open highway. The Sandhill Crane

Sandhill Crane

The Sandhill Crane is a large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird references habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills in the American Midwest...

lumbers at flight over the large rivers to conservation ponds. Occasionally, Osprey

Osprey

The Osprey , sometimes known as the sea hawk or fish eagle, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and across the wings...

and Eagle

Golden Eagle

The Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...

can be found watching over or snatching a fish on remote lakes and larger streams. Hawk

Hawk

The term hawk can be used in several ways:* In strict usage in Australia and Africa, to mean any of the species in the subfamily Accipitrinae, which comprises the genera Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis and Megatriorchis. The large and widespread Accipiter genus includes goshawks,...

s and owl

Owl

Owls are a group of birds that belong to the order Strigiformes, constituting 200 bird of prey species. Most are solitary and nocturnal, with some exceptions . Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish...

s are the most common birds of prey.

Reptiles

West Virginia has over twenty species of lizard

Lizard

Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...

, skink

Skink

Skinks are lizards belonging to the family Scincidae. Together with several other lizard families, including Lacertidae , they comprise the superfamily or infraorder Scincomorpha...

, turtle

Turtle

Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...

, and snake

Snake

Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...

. While the moccasin

Agkistrodon piscivorus

Agkistrodon piscivorus is a venomous snake, a species of pit viper, found in the southeastern United States. Adults are large and capable of delivering a painful and potentially fatal bite. When antagonized they will stand their ground by coiling their bodies and displaying their fangs...

can be seen crossing over brooks and along larger rivers, the timber rattlesnake

Crotalus horridus

Crotalus horridus, the timber rattlesnake, is a species of venomous pitviper found in the eastern United States. This is the only rattlesnake species in most of the populous northeastern United States. No subspecies are currently recognized....

is found among rocks and fallen tree in the highland forests and mountainous areas. The Copperhead

Copperhead

Copperhead may refer to:Snakes:* Agkistrodon contortrix, a venomous pit viper species found in parts of North America.* Agkistrodon piscivorus, a.k.a. the cottonmouth, another venomous pit viper species found in North America....

is the most common poisonous snake throughout the state. Green Snakes, Rat or Barn Snakes and Garden Snakes are examples of non-venomous snakes seen across the hollows and wide bottoms along the major rivers, sharing habitat with the Copperhead. Painted turtle

Painted Turtle

The painted turtle is the most widespread native turtle of North America. It lives in slow-moving fresh waters, from southern Canada to Louisiana and northern Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The turtle is the only species of the genus Chrysemys, which is part of the pond turtle...

s live in most pond

Pond

A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens, water features and koi ponds; all designed for aesthetic ornamentation as landscape or architectural...

s and brooks

Brooks

-Places:Canada*Brooks, AlbertaUnited States*Brooks, Arkansas*Brooks, California*Brooks, Georgia*Brooks, Kentucky*Brooks, Maine*Brooks, Minnesota*Brooks, Oregon*Brooks Township, Michigan...

. These and major rivers also hold snapping turtle

Snapping turtle

The common snapping turtle is a large freshwater turtle of the family Chelydridae. Its natural range extends from southeastern Canada, southwest to the edge of the Rocky Mountains, as far east as Nova Scotia and Florida and as far southwest as northeastern Mexico...

s, hunted as a delicacy with a WVDNR permit. The Box turtle

Box turtle

The box turtle , or box tortoise is a genus of turtle native to North America . The 12 taxa which are distinguished in the genus are distributed over four species. It is largely characterized by having a domed shell, which is hinged at the bottom, allowing the animal to close its shell tightly to...

is found in nearly every meadow and wood.

Family: Colubridae includes:

Queen Snake,
Common Watersnake, Northern Brownsnake, Northern Red-bellied Snake, Common Ribbonsnake, Eastern Gartersnake, Eastern Smooth Earthsnake, Mountain Earthsnake, Eastern Hog-nosed Snake,
Northern Ring-necked Snake, Eastern Wormsnake, Northern Black Racer, Rough Greensnake, Smooth Greensnake, Cornsnake, Black Ratsnake, Northern Pinesnake, Eastern Kingsnake, Black Kingsnake, Eastern Milksnake

Family: Viperidae includes:

Northern Copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix

Agkistrodon contortrix

Agkistrodon contortrix is a species of venomous snake found in North America, a member of the Crotalinae subfamily. The more common name for the species is "copperhead". The behavior of Agkistrodon contortrix may lead to accidental encounters with humans...

), Timber Rattlesnake.

Fish

The Mountain State's water habitat holds 24 families of fish, including mudminnows

Umbridae

Umbridae are a family of Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish, that inhabit freshwater environments in temperate regions across the northern hemisphere...

, trout

Salmonidae

Salmonidae is a family of ray-finned fish, the only living family currently placed in the order Salmoniformes. It includes salmon, trout, chars, freshwater whitefishes and graylings...

, trout-perches

Percopsidae

Percopsidae is a family of fish in the order Percopsiformes. Its living members are two North American fresh water species of the genus Percopsis, trout-perch Percopsis omiscomaycus and sand roller Percopsis transmontana .They are small fish with weak fin spines, and an adipose fin similar to...

, killifish

Fundulidae

Fundulidae is the family of topminnows and North American killifishes. The 46 species are native to North America as far south as Yucatan, and to the islands of Bermuda and Cuba, occurring in both freshwater and marine environments....

, livebearers

Poeciliidae

Poeciliidae is a family of fresh-water fish which are live-bearing aquarium fish . They belong to the order Cyprinodontiformes, tooth-carps, and include well-known aquarium fish such as the guppy, molly, platy, and swordtail...

, silversides, sticklebacks, sculpins

Cottidae

The Cottidae is a family of demersal fish in the order Scorpaeniformes, suborder Cottoidei . There are about 300 species in 70 genera of Cottidae that are mostly marine and found in shallow coastal waters in the northern and arctic regions...

, Temperate basses, sunfish

Centrarchidae

The sunfishes are a family of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the order Perciformes. The type genus is Centrarchus . The family's 27 species includes many fishes familiar to North Americans, including the rock bass, largemouth bass, bluegill, pumpkinseed, and crappies...

, perches

Percidae

The Percidae are a family of perciform fish found in fresh and brackish waters of the Northern Hemisphere. The family contains about 200 species in ten genera...

, drums

Sciaenidae

Sciaenidae is a family of fish commonly called drums, croakers, or hardheads for the repetitive throbbing or drumming sounds they make...

, lampreys, sturgeons, paddlefish, gars, bowfins

Amiidae

Amiidae is a family of primitive ray-finned fish. Only one species, Amia calva, the bowfin, survives today, although additional species in all four subfamilies are known from Jurassic, Cretaceous, and Eocene fossils....

, mooneyes, freshwater eels

Anguillidae

Anguillidae is a family of fishes that contains the freshwater eels. There are 19 species/subspecies in this family, all in genus Anguilla. They are catadromous, meaning they spend their lives in freshwater rivers, lakes, or estuaries and return to the ocean to spawn...

, herrings

Clupeidae

Clupeidae is the family of the herrings, shads, sardines, hilsa and menhadens. It includes many of the most important food fishes in the world.-Description and biology:...

, minnows, carp

Carp

Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. The cypriniformes are traditionally grouped with the Characiformes, Siluriformes and Gymnotiformes to create the superorder Ostariophysi, since these groups have certain...

, suckers

Catostomidae

Catostomidae is the sucker family of the order Cypriniformes. There are 80 species in this family of freshwater fishes. Catostomidae are found in North America, east central China, and eastern Siberia...

, freshwater catfish

Ictaluridae

The Ictaluridae, sometimes called Ictalurids, are a family of catfish native to North America, where they are important food fish and sometimes as a sport fish. They include fish commonly known as bullheads, madtoms, channel catfish, and blue catfish....

, and pikes. The three hybrid sport fish are the Hybrid Striped Bass (Morone chrysops x M. saxatilis), Hybrid Saugeye (Stizostedion canadense x S. vitreum) and Hybrid Tiger Musky (Esox lucius x E. masquinony). With the exception of a small portion of the New River in Virginia, the candy darter is found
exclusively in West Virginia.

During the early half of the 20th century, the West Virginia Department of Resources accidentally hatched a somewhat golden

Golden Trout

The golden trout is a sub-species of the rainbow trout, and it closley resembles the juvenile Rainbow trout. The fish is also known as the California golden trout and is native to Golden Trout Creek, Volcano Creek and the South Fork Kern River. Another variant, O. m...

rainbow trout

Rainbow trout

The rainbow trout is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is a sea run rainbow trout usually returning to freshwater to spawn after 2 to 3 years at sea. In other words, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species....

. This excitement in the state hatchery fueled the effort to produce the West Virginia "Golden Rainbow Trout." Some anglers claim the state received a golden trout

Golden Trout

from the west to help culture this. Just the same, today's "Goldy" was developed from breeding-back to rainbow trout. As the case may be expected, these special fish are very aggressive fighters and excellent tablefare.

Various water habitats of West Virginia hold the following sport fish:
American Eel

American eel

The American eel, Anguilla rostrata, is a catadromous fish found on the eastern coast of North America. It has a snake-like body with a small sharp pointed head. It is brown on top and a tan-yellow color on the bottom. It has sharp pointed teeth but no pelvic fins...

, Black Crappie, Bluegill

Bluegill

The Bluegill is a species of freshwater fish sometimes referred to as bream, brim, or copper nose. It is a member of the sunfish family Centrarchidae of the order Perciformes.-Range and distribution:...

, Brook Trout

Brook trout

The brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, is a species of fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. In many parts of its range, it is known as the speckled trout or squaretail. A potamodromous population in Lake Superior are known as coaster trout or, simply, as coasters...

, Brown Trout

Brown trout

The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....

, Bullhead catfish

Bullhead catfish

Ameiurus is a genus of catfishes in the family Ictaluridae. It contains the three common types of bullhead catfish found in waters of the United States, the black bullhead , the brown bullhead , and the yellow bullhead , as well as other species, such as the white catfish Ameiurus is a genus of...

, Burbot

Burbot

The burbot is the only gadiform fish inhabiting freshwaters. It is also known as mariah, the lawyer, and eelpout. It is closely related to the marine common ling and the cusk...

, Channel Catfish

Channel catfish

Channel catfish, Ictalurus punctatus, is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States they are the most fished catfish species with approximately 8...

, Flathead Catfish

Flathead catfish

The flathead catfish , also called the yellow cat, opelousas, and shovelhead cat, are large North American freshwater catfish. This is the only species of the genus Pylodictis...

, Freshwater Drum

Freshwater Drum

-Introduction:The freshwater drum, Aplodinotus grunniens, is a fish endemic to North and Central America. It is the only species in the genus Aplodinotus. The Freshwater drum is a member of the family Sciaenidae, and is the only member of the species that inhabits freshwater for its entire life...

, Green Sunfish

Green sunfish

The green sunfish is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. A panfish popular with anglers, the green sunfish is also kept as an aquarium fish by hobbyists. They are usually caught by accident, while fishing for other game fish...

, Hybrid Striped Bass

Striped bass

The striped bass is the state fish of Maryland, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and the state saltwater fish of New York, Virginia, and New Hampshire...

, Lake Trout

Lake trout

Lake trout is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, lake char , touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, they can also be variously known as siscowet, paperbellies and leans...

, Largemouth Bass

Largemouth bass

The largemouth bass is a species of black bass in the sunfish family native to North America . It is also known as widemouth bass, bigmouth, black bass, bucketmouth, Potter's fish, Florida bass, Florida largemouth, green bass, green trout, linesides, Oswego bass, southern largemouth...

, Longear sunfish

Longear sunfish

The longear sunfish is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. It is native to the an area of eastern North America stretching from the Great Lakes down to northeastern Mexico....

, Muskellunge

Muskellunge

A muskellunge , also known as a muskelunge, muscallonge, milliganong, or maskinonge , is a large, relatively uncommon freshwater fish of North America. Muskellunge are the largest member of the pike family, Esocidae...

, Northern Pike

Northern Pike

The northern pike , is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus Esox...

, Pumpkinseed

Pumpkinseed

The pumpkinseed sunfish is a freshwater fish of the sunfish family of order Perciformes. It is also referred to as "pond perch", "common sunfish", "punkys", and "sunny".-Range and distribution:...

, Rainbow Trout

Rainbow trout

, Redear Sunfish

Redear sunfish

The redear sunfish , also known as the shellcracker, Georgia bream, cherry gill, chinquapin, improved bream, rouge ear sunfish and sun perch, is native to the southeastern United States, but since it is a popular sport fish it has been introduced to bodies of water all over North America...

, Rock bass

Rock bass

The rock bass , also known as the rock perch, goggle-eye, or red eye is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of order Perciformes. They are similar in appearance to smallmouth bass but are usually quite a bit smaller...

, Sauger

Sauger

The sauger is a freshwater perciform fish of the family Percidae which resembles its close relative the walleye. They are members of the largest vertebrate order, Perciforms. They are the most migratory percid species in North America. Saugers obtain two dorsal fins, the first is spiny and the...

, Saugeye

Sauger

, Smallmouth Bass

Smallmouth bass

The smallmouth bass is a species of freshwater fish in the sunfish family of the order Perciformes. It is the type species of its genus...

, Spotted Bass

Spotted bass

The Spotted Bass , also called "Spotty", "Leeman", or "Spots" in various fishing communities, is a species of freshwater fish sunfish family of order Perciformes. One of the black basses, it is native to the Mississippi River basin and across theGulf States, from central Texas through the Florida...

, Striped Bass

Striped bass

The striped bass is the state fish of Maryland, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and the state saltwater fish of New York, Virginia, and New Hampshire...

, Walleye

Walleye

Walleye is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European pikeperch...

, Warmouth

Warmouth

The common name of Lepomis gulosus is the warmouth. It is one of the 324 fish species found in Tennessee.-Introduction:The following is a description of a monitoring plan for the Warmouth . One of the eleven species in the Lepomis genus, the species name gulosus refers to the warmouths big eyes...

, White bass

White bass

The white bass or sand bass The white bass or sand bass The white bass or sand bass (MoroneIt is the state fish of Oklahoma.- Range :White bass are distributed widely across the United States, particularly in the midwest. They are very abundant in Pennsylvania and the area around Lake Erie...

, White Crappie, White Perch

White perch

The white perch, Morone americana, is not a true perch but is, rather, a fish of the temperate bass family, Moronidae, notable as a food and game fish in eastern North America.The name "white perch" is sometimes erroneously applied to the white crappie....

and Yellow Perch

Yellow perch

The yellow perch is a species of perch found in the United States and Canada, where it is often referred to by the shortform perch. Yellow perch look similar to the European perch, but are paler and more yellowish, with less red in the fins. They have six to eight dark, vertical bars on their sides...

.

A partial list of non-game fish follows:

Blacknose dace

Blacknose dace

Blacknose dace is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Rhinichthys....

, Bluntnose minnow

Bluntnose minnow

The bluntnose minnow, Pimephales notatus, is a species of temperate freshwater fish belonging to the Pimephales genus of the cyprinid family. The natural geographic range extends from the Great Lakes south along the Mississippi River basin to Louisiana, and east across the Midwestern United States...

, Bigmouth buffalo

Bigmouth buffalo

The bigmouth buffalo, Ictiobus cyprinellus, also known as the gourd head, redmouth buffalo, buffalo fish, bernard buffalo, roundhead, or brown buffalo, is a large species of the Catostomidae or "sucker" family....

, Black redhorse

Black redhorse

The Black Redhorse , is a species of freshwater fish endemic to Ontario and the eastern half of the United States, where it lives in streams and small to medium rivers....

, Bowfin

Bowfin

The Bowfin, Amia calva, is the last surviving member of the order Amiiformes , and of the family Amiidae...

, Brook silverside, Brook stickleback

Brook stickleback

The Brook stickleback is a small freshwater fish that is distributed across the US and Canada. It grows to a length of about 2 inches. It occupies the northern part of the eastern United States, as well as the southern half of Canada...

, Buffalo

Ictiobus

Ictiobus, also known as Buffalo fish, is a genus of freshwater fish common in the United States. It is sometimes mistaken for carp because of its flat face and large, silver scales running along the body, though it lacks the whisker-like mouth appendages common to carp...

, Carp

Carp

, Creek chub, Central stoneroller, Channel darter

Channel darter

The Channel Darter is a member of the Perch family, Percidae, and subfamily Etheostomatinae. This species is listed as Threatened by the Canadian Species at Risk Act...

, Emerald shiner

Emerald shiner

The Emerald Shiner is one of hundreds of small, silvery, slender fish known as shiners. The identifying characteristic of the emerald shiner is the silvery emerald color on its sides...

, Fathead Minnow

Fathead minnow

The fathead minnow , is a species of temperate freshwater fish belonging to the Pimephales genus of the cyprinid family. The natural geographic range extends throughout much of North America, from central Canada south along the Rockies to Texas, and east to Virginia and the Northeastern United...

, Gizzard shad, Golden redhorse

Golden redhorse

The golden redhorse, Moxostoma erythrurum, is a species of freshwater fish endemic to Ontario and Manitoba in Canada and the Midwestern, southern, and eastern United States. It lives in calm, often silty or sandy waters in streams, small to large rivers, and lakes.A bottom-feeder, it feeds on...

, Golden shiner

Golden shiner

The golden shiner is a cyprinid fish native to eastern North America. It is the sole member of its genus. Much used as a bait fish, it is probably the most widely pond-cultured fish in the United States.-Description:...

, Grass carp

Grass carp

The grass carp is a herbivorous, freshwater fish species of family Cyprinidae, and the only species of the genus Ctenopharyngodon. It is cultivated in China for food, but was introduced in Europe and the United States for aquatic weed control...

, Grass Pickerel, Greenside darter

Greenside darter

The Greenside darter is a species of fish in the family Percidae. Etheostoma blennioides is a large percid than inhabits swift riffles...

, Johnny darter

Johnny darter

The Johnny Darter, Etheostoma nigrum, is a species of ray-finned fish that are found in shallow water throughout eastern North America. It's name comes from the Greek and Latin root words of etheo meaning to filter, stoma meaning mouth, nigrum meaning black in Latin...

, Leastbrook lamprey, Logperch darter, Longnose gar

Longnose gar

The longnose gar, Lepisosteus osseus, is a primitive ray-finned fish of the gar family. It is also known as the needlenose gar.- Description :...

, Mosquitofish

Mosquitofish

The mosquitofish is a species of freshwater fish, also commonly, if ambiguously, known by its generic name, gambusia. It is sometimes called the western mosquitofish, to distinguish it from the eastern mosquitofish . It is a member of the family Poeciliidae of order Cyprinodontiformes...

, Northern hogsucker

Northern hogsucker

The northern hogsucker, Hypentelium nigricans, belongs to the Catostomidae family of sucker fish. The fish inhabits the rivers of the Mississippi basin, found from Oklahoma and Alabama northward to Minnesota. It prefers clear, fast streams, where it can forage through pebbles for bottom life,...

, Paddlefish

Paddlefish

Paddlefish are primitive Chondrostean ray-finned fishes. The paddlefish can be distinguished by its large mouth and its elongated, spatula-like snout, called a rostrum, which is longer than the rest of the head...

, Quillback

Quillback

The quillback is a type of freshwater fish of the sucker family. It grows to 26 inches and are deeper bodied than most suckers, leading to a carplike appearance. It can be distinguished from carp by the lack of barbels around the mouth. The coloration is silvery and it has large scales...

, Pugnose minnow, Rainbow darter

Rainbow darter

The rainbow darter is a native North American fish that can be found in small fast moving streams and small to medium-sized rivers...

, Shovelnose sturgeon

Shovelnose sturgeon

The shovelnose sturgeon, Scaphirhynchus platorynchus, is the smallest species of freshwater sturgeon native to the United States of America. It is often called "hackleback", "sand sturgeon", or "switchtail." Switchtail refers to the long filament found on the upper lobe of the caudal fin...

(Ohio R), Silver lamprey

Silver lamprey

The silver lamprey, or Ichthyomyzon unicuspis, is a lamprey found commonly in the Northern and Central United States and a large part of southern Canada. Its binomial name means "fish to suck" in Greek and "one point" in Latin. The silver lamprey is a member of the Class Agnatha, sometimes...

, Silver jaw minnow, Southern redbelly dace

Southern redbelly dace

The Southern redbelly dace , is a North American species of temperate freshwater fish of the Cyprinidae family. The natural geographic range extends from Western New York to Minnesota, and south to Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Alabama...

, Stonecat, Striped shiner, Sturgeon

Sturgeon

Sturgeon is the common name used for some 26 species of fish in the family Acipenseridae, including the genera Acipenser, Huso, Scaphirhynchus and Pseudoscaphirhynchus. The term includes over 20 species commonly referred to as sturgeon and several closely related species that have distinct common...

, Trout-perch, Western banded killfish, White sucker

White Sucker

The White Sucker is a bottom-feeding freshwater fish inhabiting North America from Labrador in the north to Georgia and New Mexico in the south. It is a long, round-bodied fish with a dark green, grey, copper, brown, or black back and sides and a light underbelly. When fullgrown, it is between 12...

and so on.

Amphibians

Amphibian

Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...

species in West Virginia number about twenty one. Among them are hellbender

Hellbender

The hellbender , also known as the hellbender salamander, is a species of giant salamander that is endemic to eastern North America...

s and salamander

Salamander

Salamander is a common name of approximately 500 species of amphibians. They are typically characterized by a superficially lizard-like appearance, with their slender bodies, short noses, and long tails. All known fossils and extinct species fall under the order Caudata, while sometimes the extant...

s, as well as toad

Toad

A toad is any of a number of species of amphibians in the order Anura characterized by dry, leathery skin , short legs, and snoat-like parotoid glands...

s and frog

Frog

Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...

s such as the Northern Leopard Frog

Northern Leopard Frog

The Northern Leopard Frog is a species of leopard frog from the true frog family, native to parts of Canada and United States. It is the state amphibian of Minnesota and Vermont.-Physical description:...

and Mountain Chorus Frog

Mountain Chorus Frog

The Mountain Chorus Frog is a species of frog in the Hylidae family.It is endemic to the United States.Its natural habitats are temperate forests, rivers, intermittent rivers, swamps, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marches, freshwater springs, ponds, open excavations, and canals and...

Insects

Many common insects of the Eastern United States

Eastern United States

can be found in West Virginia including Aquatic insects

Aquatic insects

Aquatic insects live some portion of their life cycle in the water. They feed in the same ways as other insects. Some diving insects, such as predatory diving beetles, can hunt for food underwater where land-living insects cannot compete.-Breathing:...

. The state's beetle

Insect

Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

number about 15 species. There are more than 70 species of Odonate, about 18 species of spider

Spider

s and a dozen species of Stonefly. There are about 17 Moth

Moth

species. Of the Wasps, some meadows may have a burrow of yellowjacket

Yellowjacket

Yellowjacket is the common name in North America for predatory wasps of the genera Vespula and Dolichovespula. Members of these genera are known simply as "wasps" in other English-speaking countries...

s. The forest can hold a hive of Hornets hanging from a branch. Sweat bee

Sweat bee

Sweat bee is the common name for any bees that are attracted to the salt in human sweat. In its strict application, the name refers to members of the Halictidae, a large family of bees that are common in most of the world except Australia and Southeast Asia, where they are only a minor faunistic...

and mosquito

Mosquito

Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...

are no stranger to the shaded wet-land which delights the sunfish and catfish in nearby deeper pools. West Virginia trout has but one Mayfly

Mayfly

Mayflies are insects which belong to the Order Ephemeroptera . They have been placed into an ancient group of insects termed the Palaeoptera, which also contains dragonflies and damselflies...

on which to feed. It is the West Virginia Burrowing Mayfly (Ephemera triplex) along with the mountain stream's terrestrial

Terrestrial animal

Terrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land , as compared with aquatic animals, which live predominantly or entirely in the water , or amphibians, which rely on a combination of aquatic and terrestrial habitats...

s and the other insects. The Mountain State's warmer season's flora

Flora

Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...

glitter with about two and a half dozen species of Butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

Invertebrates

Gastropoda

The Gastropoda or gastropods, more commonly known as snails and slugs, are a large taxonomic class within the phylum Mollusca. The class Gastropoda includes snails and slugs of all kinds and all sizes from microscopic to quite large...

, slugs, leech

Leech

Leeches are segmented worms that belong to the phylum Annelida and comprise the subclass Hirudinea. Like other oligochaetes such as earthworms, leeches share a clitellum and are hermaphrodites. Nevertheless, they differ from other oligochaetes in significant ways...

, earthworms and grub worm otherwise larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

are among the common invertebrate

Invertebrate

in West Virginia. The state's streams and lakes provides habitat for about 54 species of mussel

Mussel

The common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalvia mollusca, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...

which are protected from harvest by WVDNR.

Crayfish

Crayfish

Crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads – members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea – are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related...

amount to eight different species in the stream both above and below ground. The Cave

Cave

Crayfish

Crayfish, crawfish, or crawdads – members of the superfamilies Astacoidea and Parastacoidea – are freshwater crustaceans resembling small lobsters, to which they are related...

(Cambarus nerterius

Cambarus nerterius

Cambarus nerterius is a species of crayfish in the family Cambaridae. It is endemic to the state of West Virginia in the United States. It is found only in or immediately adjacent to caves in Greenbrier and Pocahontas counties, and is included on the IUCN Red List as a Near Threatened species....

) is endemic to caves within the Greenbrier and Elk river drainages in West Virginia for example. Speaking of caves, there are a little over seven dozen Cave

Cave

invertebrate

Invertebrate

in the state. Of these to example, the Madison Cave Isopod (Antrolana lira) has a conservation threatened ranking priority one and lives on the Shenandoah and Potomac rivers area.

There are eleven species of Land Snail

Snail

Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...

s. The Flat-spired Three-toothed Landsnail (Triodopsis platysayoides) is listed as a threatened prority one according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A recent estimate has only 84 of these snails living on the Cheat Mountain Watershed.

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