A medium-sized, greenish fish, the bowfin can be found in clear lakes and slow streams through much of Minnesota. Bowfin survive in murky, oxygen-depleted water by rising to the surface and gulping air into their air bladders. They can also survive out of water for a considerable time. This primitive fish was around when dinosaurs roamed the earth. It is also known as a dogfish.
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 farmer once found a live bowfin in moist soil when he ploughed a field that had been flooded a few weeks before. In recent years, fish farmers have shown interest in making bowfin eggs into caviar.
