Bowfin

living fossil · North America · ancient fish · freshwater

Ancient survivor. Bowfins are one of only two fish species left from a group called Halecomorphi that first swam in oceans during the Early Triassic, around 250 million years ago. That makes them living fossils, like sharks or coelacanths.

Swamp dwellers. These fish live in freshwater swamps, marshes, and slow rivers across North America, where they earned nicknames like mudfish, mud pike, and choupique. They're perfectly adapted to murky water and low oxygen places where other fish can't survive.

Two species exist. There are only two bowfin species in the world: the ruddy bowfin and the eyespot bowfin (named for the dark spot near its tail). The eyespot bowfin is rarer and harder to spot in the wild.

Tough as nails. Bowfins can gulp air from the surface to breathe when water oxygen runs low, and they're famous for being aggressive fighters when hooked by fishermen. Their strong jaws and sturdy body help them survive in harsh swamp conditions.

Close cousins of gars. Bowfins' closest living relatives are gar fish, another ancient-looking group. Together, these two fish families form a group scientists call Holostei, which has existed for hundreds of millions of years.