Known Fish Species in Sligo Creek Watershed

1) Fall 2025 Fish Survey

Conducted by MoCo Parks at Sligo Creek near Jackson Ave in Takoma Park. There were 26 species found.

Species	Scientific Name	Trophic Level	Pollution Tolerance Level	General Status	Diet Notes
American Eel	Anguilla rostrata	Generalist	Moderate	Abundant	Eats crustaceans, insects, snails, and fish.
Banded Killifish	Fundulus diaphanus	Invertivore	Moderate	Uncommon	Eats insect larvae, microcrustaceans, and plants.
Blacknose Dace	Rhinichthys atratulus	Omnivore	Tolerant	Abundant	Eats insects, algae, worms, and larvae.
Bluegill	Lepomis macrochirus	Invertivore	Tolerant	Common	Eats insects and zooplankton.
Bluntnose Minnow	Pimephales notatus	Omnivore	Tolerant	Uncommon	Eats algae, diatoms, and larvae.
Brown Bullhead	Ameiurus nebulosus	Omnivore	Tolerant	Uncommon	Eats fish (dead or alive) and insects.
Common Shiner	Luxilus cornutus	Omnivore	Moderate	Uncommon	Eats invertebrates and aquatic and terrestrial insects.
Creek Chub	Semotilus atromaculatus	Generalist	Tolerant	Abundant	Eats larvae, invertebrates, and fish.
Cutlip Minnow	Exoglossum maxillingua	Invertivore	Moderate	Uncommon	Eats insects, mollusks, and the eyes of other fish!
Goldfish	Carassius auratus	Omnivore	Tolerant	Nuisance	Eats plants, insects, and crustaceans. Opportunistic feeder.
Golden Shiner	Notemigonus crysoleucas	Omnivore	Tolerant	Uncommon	Eats plants, insects, and snails.
Green Sunfish	Lepomis cyanellus	Generalist	Tolerant	Common	Eats insects, larvae, snails, and fish.
Largemouth Bass	Micropterus nigricans	Top Predator	Tolerant	Uncommon	Eats fish, frogs, and insects.
Longnose Dace	Rhinichthys cataractae	Omnivore	Moderate	Abundant	Eats insects, algae, worms, and larvae.
Mosquitofish	Gambusia sp. (holbrooki)	Invertivore	Tolerant	Uncommon	Eats larval insects (esp. mosquitoes), eggs, and detritus.
Northern Hogsucker	Hypentelium nigricans	Invertivore	Sensitive	Uncommon	Eats insects and invertebrates.
Pumpkin Seed	Lepomis gibbosus	Invertivore	Tolerant	Uncommon	Eats larvae, insects, snails, and fish.
Redbreast Sunfish	Lepomis auritus	Generalist	Tolerant	Abundant	Eats insects, larvae, and small fish.
Rosyside Dace	Clinostomus funduloides	Invertivore	Moderate	Uncommon	Eats invertebrates, algae, and detritus.
Satinfin Shiner	Cyprinella analostana	Invertivore	Moderate	Abundant	Primarily eats insects and other invertebrates.
Silverjaw Minnow	Ericymba buccata	Omnivore	Moderate	Uncommon	Eats larvae and invertebrates.
Spotfin Shiner	Cyprinella spiloptera	Invertivore	Moderate	Uncommon	Eats aquatic invertebrates.
Spottail Shiner	Hudsonius hudsonius	Omnivore	Moderate	Common	Eats insects, algae, and plant material.
Swallowtail Shiner	Miniellus procne	Omnivore	Tolerant	Abundant	Eats invertebrates and algae.
Tessellated Darter	Etheostoma olmstedi	Invertivore	Tolerant	Abundant	Eats insects and other invertebrates.
White Sucker	Catostomus commersoni	Omnivore	Tolerant	Abundant	Eats algae, plants, and invertebrates.

Source: Rachel Gauza, Biological Monitoring Coordinator at MoCo Parks

2) Fish Restocking in May 2004

Source: Diane Davis, Maryland Department of the Environment, to Sally Gagne, May 15, 2004

Not all the fish were counted one by one, so this is an approximate count:

Approximate Total Number of Fish Released: 305

Targeted Species:

Rosyside Dace, 150
Longnose Dace, 5
Silverjaw Minnow, 20
Tesselated Darter, 65
Fantail Darter, 40
Common Shiner, 1

Non-Targeted Species:

Green Sunfish, 1
Creek Chub, 7
Bluntnose Minnow, 10
Blacknose Dace, 5

3) Species found (colonized?) during 1988-2000

There were 14 to 16 species found in this time period, up from a low of three known species in 1988. Blacknose Dace, Creek Chub, and Goldfish were the three species that we had present in Sligo Creek prior to restoration efforts started in 1990, described in #4 below, Fish Stocked in Sligo 1990 – 1998.

Click common name for photo (if available)

Common Name	Scientific Name
Blacknose Dace	Rhinichthys atratulus
Longnose Dace	Rhinichthys cataractae
Satinfin Shiner	Cyprinella (Notropis?) analostanus
Spottail Shiner	Notropis hudsonius
Northern Creek Chub	Rhinichthys atratulus
Goldfish	Carassius auratus
Tesselated Darter	Etheostoma olmstedi
American Eel	Anguilla rostrata
White Sucker	Catostomus commersoni
Northern Hogsucker	Hypentelium nigricans
Bluegill	Lepomis macrochirus
Bluegill-Green Sunfish Hybrid	Lepomis macrochirus x L. cyanellus
Rosyside Dace	Clinostomus funduloides
Central Stoneroller	Campostoma anomalum
Brown Bullhead	Ictalurus nebulosis
Swallowtail Shiner	Notropis procne

Data courtesy of Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments

4) Fish Stocked in Sligo 1990 – 1998 per Douglas Redmond, Aquatic Ecologist, Park and Planning, Feb. 26, 2000:

A total of 23 fish species were stocked from 1990 -1998, with very few individuals of some species.

1990 – 17 species of fish stocked in Wheaton Branch

1992 – 5 species of fish stocked in Wheaton Branch (more individuals of some of the species stocked in 1990)

1994 – 19 species of fish stocked in Wheaton Branch, Flora Lane Tributary, and main stem of Sligo Creek (including 6 species not previously stocked)

1998 – 2 species of fish stocked in the main stem of Sligo Creek (more individuals of species previously stocked)

Surveys from 1997-1999 found 17 species of fish. Some of these were very scarce, limited in distribution, or recently stocked.

At this point (2000) I feel that there are eleven species of fish with stable populations in Sligo Creek and its tributaries:

Goldfish
Creek chub
White sucker
Tessellated darter

American eel
Roseyside dace
Longnose dace
Bluegill

Golden shiner
Blacknose dace
Green sunfish

These species differ slightly from the species listed in the Council of Governments survey shown in the 1988 – 2000 Table of Fish Species (see #4 below).

American eels migrate between fresh and salt water and are able to get past barriers which would block the movement of most species.

Green sunfish were not stocked, but may have come from ponds in the area; the same may be true of golden shiners, which were stocked, but in very low numbers.

The other five species (Rosyside Dace, Longnose Dace, White Sucker, Bluegill, and Tessellated Darter) were stocked in significant numbers. All of these species are now spawning in Sligo Creek (except eels which spawn in the ocean).

Further surveys may indicate additional species that have established stable populations.

5) Estimated Historical Species (1898-1948)

There were 53 species recorded during this time period, of which 47 were resident species.