Bowfins are demersal freshwater piscivores, commonly found throughout much of the eastern United States, [2] and in southern Ontario and Quebec. Fossil deposits indicate Amiiformes were once widespread in both freshwater and marine environments across North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

bowfin, (Amia calva), freshwater fish of the order Amiiformes (infraclass Holostei); it is the only recognized living representative of its family (Amiidae), which dates back to the Jurassic Period (201.3 million to 145 million years ago).

The bowfin (Amia calva) is a bony fish, native to North America. Common names include mudfish, mud pike, dogfish, grindle, grinnel, swamp trout, and choupique. It is regarded as a relict, being one of only two surviving species of the Halecomorphi, a group of fish that first appeared during the Early Triassic, around 250 million years ago.

The bowfin is a tubular, olive-green fish with a scaleless head and two barbels on its face. Its dorsal fin stretches most of the length of its back. Males have a black spot circled in green at base of their tail.

A close relative of the gar, the Bowfin is a stout-bodied fish with a long, undulating dorsal fin that covers more than half the length of its body. The tail fin is rounded, and adult males have a very prominent black spot with an orange halo at the upper base of the tail.

The bowfin has the thickest, densest skull bones of any fish—armored like a dinosaur. Nearly every bone of a bowfin’s mouth is lined with wicked long, sharp, curved teeth. Scaled up to dino-dimensions, a bowfin’s teeth would rival the size any meat-eating dinosaur.

The bowfin is sometimes confused with the northern snakehead, a potentially harmful exotic fish that is native to Asia. Here's how to tell them apart.

May 27, 2024 · The bowfin fish is a large and tenacious predator that lurks within America’s freshwater bodies, gobbling up smaller prey that passes by. The modern bowfin species descends from an ancient line of fish that dates back to the Jurassic period …

The Bowfin is a North American freshwater fish species. People throughout North America also refer to this species as mudfish, swamp trout , beaverfish, blackfish, and more. Its closest relatives are the gars.

Feb 5, 2025 · The bowfin fish is the sole bowfin belonging to the family Amiidae and the order Amiiformes. They have an elongate body with a dorsal fin running its entire length. The tail has semiheterocercal scales and the body is encased with cycloid scales.