20 Animals That Live in Lakes (Explained With Pictures)

List of Animals that Live in Lakes:

1- Bass Fish

Scientific name: Micropterus salmoides

Class: Fish

Scope: North Carolina to Florida and into northern Mexico

Introduction

Bass is a type of fish that is often trapped for food. Freshwater bass lives in lakes or rivers, and saltwater bass lives in the ocean. They live near North America.

Types of These Species

There are nine types of these animals fishes that live in lakes and that are until recognized. Includes fish, Florida bass, Guadalupe bass, largemouth bass, Redeye bass, Shoal bass, Spotted bass, Smallmouth bass, and last Suwanne bass fish most famous and popular types of these fishes are largemouth bass and smallmouth bass.

Food For Bass Fish

Bass are carnivores that eat insects, fish, and other small creatures in the water. They also eat crayfish, and their diet depends upon their size and eats food that fits in their mouth and eats plants, snakes, frogs, and crabs. While on the other side, giant saltwater bass eats crab and sharks just because they are large, and bass is commonly bigger than lake bass, so they are large that so their meal also increases.

2- Beavers

Scientific name: Castor canadensis

Class: Semi-aquatic mammal

Scope: North America, Florida, South America

Introduction

These are animals that live in lakes, and there are two species of this animal left in North America, Russia, and Europe. Beavers are the second rodents in the world and the large rodents in North America, Russia, and Europe. They live in ponds, lakes, and rivers.

Size and Body of Beavers

Beaver bodies extend to 80cm long, weighing around 16-30 kg. The heaviest beaver until today’s record is 110 pounds. They have stout bodies with large heads, commonly brown or grey fur, scaly tail, and hands like front feet. They have short legs.

Beavers Food

They eat bark and twigs of poplar, birch, willow, and maple trees. In water, they eat such plants as water lilies and cattail. They mount up the tree and chew the twigs until it falls. Beavers do not eat wood; they eat smooth wood under the bark. They often utilize dead trees and gather their food in their auberge.

Animals That Live on Trees

3- Catfish

Scientific name: Siluriformes

Class: Fish

Scope: Worldwide

Introduction

These fishes are the most popular group in the world that lives in saltwater. There are over 3,000 species of them in the world. Some of them are kept by fishkeepers. From a recent survey, catfish are classified only beyond bass and panfish.

Size and Body of Catfish

Catfish come in one of the largest ranges in size. Most of them have a maximum of 12cm. They have a cylindrical body with dorsal and anal fins that are very long, and both fins contain only soft fins rays.

Catfish Food

There are a variety of small fishes, crabs, snails, and frogs that they eat. They also eat algae from dead plants and animals. On the other hand, hardhead catfish that live in saltwater eat seagrass, blue crabs, and shrimps. When we see the diet of young and older catfish that is different from one another, young catfishes have smaller stomachs that mostly contain debris. Adult catfish eat smaller sizes of fish and red swamp crayfish.

4- Crayfish

Scientific name: Cambarus Sp

Class: Crustaceans

Scope: Worldwide

Introduction

They are also known as crawfish. Crayfish are classified into 669 species, and 500 occur in North America. Crayfish live in clean and fresh water in streams and rivers. They are found in wetland areas, canals, cobbles, and drains.

Size and Body of Crayfish

The size of both male and female crayfish is about 99.5 ± 17.8 mm and 96.5 ± 11.7 mm. Crayfish are specified by joined head and thorax. They have a segmented bodies whose color is sandy yellow, green, red, and dark brown. Their body covering is thin but tough.

Crayfish Food

Crayfish are omnivores that eat shrimps, water plants, fish, worms, insects, dead plants, and animals. Whatever they eat holds with their claws. The baby crayfish eat algae. Most people who farm crayfish feed them with vegetables and other commercial food. 

5- Frogs

Scientific name: Anura

Class: Amphibian

Scope: Worldwide

Introduction

Frogs are classified into short-bodied carnivores and tailless amphibians. There are over 7,400 species of frogs in the entire world. Their species come in a variety of sizes and colors. Frog skin requires freshwater because they live in aquatic habitats. They are also animals that live in lakes. 

Size and Body of Frogs:

Adult frogs are size 30 to 16.7 in and weigh about 0.3 oz to 98 oz. They can be grown anywhere. Their size depends upon their lifecycle. Environment, climate, and diet also depend on their size. Some frogs are smaller in size, and some are bigger. Tree frogs are smaller in size. Aquatic frogs are generally more prominent than tree frogs or are medium-sized. Other include medium size are Green frogs, Leopard frogs, African Dwarf frogs, and African Clawed frogs.

Frogs Food

Frogs are predators. They eat everything that comes their way in the wild. Mostly they eat spiders, butterflies, and insects. They eat every single thing that fits in their mouth. Frogs take part in controlling insect population growth. The reason for this is most frogs and toads eat insects, so that’s why the world insect population is under control.

Animals That Don’t Have Tails

6- Mayflies

Scientific name: Ephemeroptera

Class: Insect

Scope: Worldwide

Introduction

Mayflies are diverse animals that live in lakes. Mayflies are a group of members of insects that initiate from North America and Worldwide. They live in clear and fresh water in rivers and lakes and occur in running water. Mayfly larvae eat detritus and some other plants. 

Size and Body of Mayflies

Mayflies can grow anywhere and come in sizes of a quarter-inch to 1.1 inches. Winged mayflies have large compound eyes and short bristles-like antennae. Mayflies have functionless mouthparts. In peace, mayflies have wings on the upright of their body like butterflies, and when we see an adult mayfly with two or three threadlike tails that are usually longer than their body.

Food of Mayflies

The food of mayflies includes both plants and animals. They are pretentious feeders means they can eat everything accessible to them. Usually, they eat small insects. The Mayfly’s food also depends upon its life cycle. The plants that mayflies eat include algae, mosses, and other rooted aquatic plants.

7- Turtles

Scientific name: Testudines

Class: Reptiles

Scope: North America and South Asia

Introduction

Approximately 356 species of turtles living on Earth live in both saltwater and freshwater. Turtles are numerous animals that live in lakes. They live on all continents except Antarctica because they have to complete their breeding cycle and can live in almost any hot climate to complete their breeding cycle. We see some other species of turtles that do not bear cold, and on the other hand, Blanding turtles, the specie of turtles that can live under the ice.

Size and Body of Turtles

If we see adult male and female turtles, they are equal in size (33 to 50 kgs). If we see the largest living species of turtle is the Leatherback turtle size (550 to 2,000 pounds). Their shells are leather-like rather than complex. Leatherback turtles appear in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans.

Food of Turtles

Animals and plants are food sources for turtles; animal food sources include turtle pellets, drained sardines, and trout chow. Prey includes moths, shrimp, feeder fish, and worms.

Plant food sources include collards, mustard green, and dandelions, and vegetables such as parsley, spinach, and chive should avoid because they contain high levels of Oxalate chemicals. We can feed them non-toxic aquatic plants such as water hyacinth, water lettuce, and duckweed fruits, including apples, bananas, berries, and mangoes.

8- Whitefish

Scientific name: Coregonus clupeaformis

Class: Fish

Scope: North America, Europe, Asia

Introduction

Whitefish is a species of freshwater fish. They are animals that live in lakes in cold northern lakes of Europe and North America between temperatures of 50-57 (Fahrenheit). The lake whitefish in marine life have a longer life span of 20-30 years. They can also guess their age by their size. For instance, if you found a whitefish almost 11-12 inches. The estimated age will be between 40-50 years.

Size and Body of Whitefish

Whitefishes are 14-20 inches long and have 1-3 pounds in weight. That site is of adult whitefish but can also be extended to 25-30 inches and weigh over 6-7 pounds. Their body color is dark brown and black on the back and silvery white on the side. They have large scales on their bodies, and their bodies are a little bit squeezed.

Food of Whitefish

Lake whitefish mostly eat crustaceans, snails, insects, and other small aquatic animals. If we talk about young whitefish, they also eat zooplankton and larvae. Adult whitefish eat a lot of insects, small fishes, fingernail clams, and midge larvae.

9- Clams

Scientific name: Bivalvia

Class: Mollusks

Scope: Worldwide

Introduction

There are over 12,000 species of clams, out of 500 species that live in freshwater, and others live in all seas. There are many different habitats for them. Bivalves, one class of mollusks, live on sandy or muddy land. The seniority of bivalves is infaunal. When they die, they remain in sediment to protect them from predators. Suppose we talk about their age of clams between 3 and 44 years. Ming the clam, at the age of 507 years, has broken the world record as the oldest animal in the world. Although, clams do not have brains like mammals.  

Size and Body of Clams

Littleneck is one of the smaller clams. It has a maximum size of 70 mm shell length. The tridacna gigas are called giant clams with an average size of 15 to 20 cm. They have a white oblong shell and a weight of 3.6 kg. The clam has a mantle that encircles its soft body. The muscular foot helps them to make holes or lair in the mud or sand. The body part of clams is called a siphon. When it opens, it helps clams to exit the water and other waste products out of their body.

Food of Clams

Clams eat plankton, algae, zooplankton, and other organic materials. Mollusks eat both plants and animals because they are omnivores. As we know, clams move slightly with the help of their feet. The siphon helps them to filter water along the intake siphon and exhalation in their bodies. Then the food passes through the gills, to mucus, to cilial action, and at the end to their mouth. So that’s the way from which clams obtain their food.

10- Salmon

Scientific name: Salmo salar

Class: Fish

Scope: Tributaries of the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean

Introduction

Salmon fishes are also animals that live in lakes, called Anadromous, which means they can live in fresh and saltwater. There are almost seven species of salmon in the Pacific ocean. Five out of seven take place in North America. The masu and Amago take place in Asia, and there is only one specie of Atlantic salmon. Salmon spend their short life in lakes and rivers, and when they grow up, they make their way to the ocean for more growth. The average age of salmon is about 2 to 7 years.

Facts about Salmon

1-  When salmon spend most of their life as an adult in the sea, they way back home to where they were born.

2- Salmon can also change its colors. It happens step by step with their age. 

3- Another fact about Atlantic salmon is that they have a strong sense of smell. 

Size and Body of Salmon

Atlantic salmon size is about 71-102 cm, and their average weight is about 3.6-5.4 kg. If we talk about their body type, they are torpedo-shaped. The torpedo-like shape can also be counted as characteristic of a fish because these fish have this type of shape body that can move fast in rivers or water. Atlantic salmon have small heads with small eyes and blunt noses. 

Food of Salmon

Salmon usually eat insects, fish, and amphibians. In saltwater, they eat insects such as mayflies. Growing up, they eat every type of food suitable for them. Salmon are also considered hunters because of their extreme sense of smell. They can catch prey easily. 

11- Snakes

Scientific name: Serpentes

Class: Reptiles

Scope: Worldwide 

Introduction

Snakes are also animals that live in lakes and also on land. They are usually found in forests, deserts, grasslands, and also in water. They live in both freshwater and salt water. There are almost 3,000 species of snakes on the land. Snakes are found all over the world except in these countries Antarctica, Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, and New Zealand. Almost 600 species of snakes are venomous. If we talk about the deadliest and most poisonous snake in the world names ‘The Inland Taipans‘. 

On the other side, if we talk about sea snakes, there are also many species of sea snakes, and there are also poisonous sea snakes; the Faint-banded Sea Snake is at the top of the list in the sea but also on land. Sea snakes live in the marine environment. They are elapid snakes that inhabit the marine environment. 

Size and Body of Snakes

Normally, snakes are fairly 1m long in size, but there are also huge, and big snakes in the world ever lived or living. Boa family and python snakes are the largest snakes in the world. The longest female snake with a size of over 6.25 meters long, is named Malayopython Reticulatus. 

Snakes have an elongated bodies and the absence of limbs with no arms and legs. The snake’s vertebral column is very long than any other animal. They have shield-shaped scaly skin. We think that snakes have no bones. They have bones and have bones more than humans. Their skeletons are made up of vertebrae and rib bones. If we talk about bones in a snake body, they are around 300-400, although they have flexible bones.

Food of Snakes

Sea snakes mostly eat fish and their eggs. Their food also includes crustaceans, small octopuses, soft shell crabs, goby fish, and much more. On the other hand, land snakes eat warm-blooded prey, including insects, earthworms, frogs, birds, rabbits, and other reptiles. Their favorite food is mice and rats.

12- Mink

Scientific name: Neovision vision

Class: Wesel

Scope: North America and Eurasia

Introduction

Minks live near streams, lakes, rivers, and coastlines. There are two species of minks (American and European). These animals make their home by digging into a tree trunk. For protection, they also use grass, leaves, or fur to cover their bodies. They are stygian means that they are energetic during the time of morning and evening when they look for their prey and attack on their neck to kill them.

Size and Body of Mink

The size of the American mink is about 34-45cm, and the European mink size is 37-43cm. American weighs about 700-1,600 grams, and European mink weigh about 440- 739 grams. 

Minks have short legs, long thick necks, and broad heads with rounded ears. They have various shades from brown to grey color. The actual color of them is a dark brown shade.

Food of Minks

Minks are carnivores, which means they eat meat. They feed on snakes, rabbits, frogs, and mice. Minks also eat vegetables like beets, carrots, and turnips. They also like rich plants such as edamame, broccoli, and Spanish leaves.

Animals That Live in Forests

13- Otter

Introduction

Otters is a carnivores. There are 13 species of otters. However, it mostly lives in freshwater, rivers, lakes, and wetlands. Other marine otters live in the Pacific Ocean. They also originate in America, North America, and Africa. Otter homes are called holts. They dig underground dens and live there.

Size and Body of Otter

River otters grow up to 3-4 feet and weigh about 5 to 14 kilograms. Generally, male otters are more extensive than female otters. Adult otter grows up to 2-5 to 5 feet and weighs about 4.5 to 15 kilograms.

Usually, river otters have streamlined, slender and serpentine bodies. Giant otters have likewise shaped bodies. Sea otters are a little stockier with huge ribcages; every otter has a flexible body.

Food of Otters

Wild otters mainly feed on fish and crustaceans, and sea otters eat freshwater fish, crabs, crayfish, and fish. On the other hand, saltwater otters eat marine creatures like shellfish, sea urchins, and shrimp. Otters’ favorite food is fish, crabs, and shellfish. 

14- Scaup

Scientific name: Aythya affinis

Class: Bird

Scope: North America and Europe

Introduction

Scaups live in lakes and fresh water, and there are three species of scaup or diving duck, Greater scaup, Aythya marila, and Aythya affinis. The greater scaup is found across the tundra regions in North America and Europe. They meet together in thousands through the Pacific and Atlantic coasts during winter. The long-tailed scaup is fantastic; they can dive as deep as 200 feet for feed.

Size and Body of Scaup

The greater scaup is a medium-sized duck with a length of 39-56 cm and weighs about 726-1360 cm. The male scaup is black and white. But as we come closer, their head color seems an iridescent green sheen. Females are brown overall, and their head color is darker brown. Lesser scaup has brownish yellow and yellow in adult females and yellowish orange in adults male.

Food of Scaup

The greater scaup dives into the water to catch the prey and then takes it to the surface to eat it. The food they eat includes mollusks, aquatic plants, and insects. In summer, they eat crustaceans. While in the freshwater biosphere, the greater scaup eats seeds, stems, leaves, and roots through sedges, musk grass, and pondweeds. 

15- Lake Sturgeon

Scientific name: Acipenser fulvescens

Class: Fish

Scope: Southern Russia, North America, and Ukraine

Introduction

Lake sturgeons are found in rivers and lakes. But technically, sturgeon cannot be classified as animals that live in lakes. Although, they live on open water. There are 25 species of sturgeon. Only six lake sturgeon are left in the population, with more than 1,000 adult fish. The lake sturgeon also called rock sturgeon, and these freshwater species are the oldest endemic of great lakes.

Size and Body of Lake Sturgeon

The lake sturgeon is measured two meters long and weighs about 90 kg. The world record weight of this specie (white sturgeon) is 468-pounds. Atlantic sturgeon can grow up to 16 feet long and weigh about 800 pounds. The lake sturgeon have a long, streamlined, sharklike body and long bony snout with armored plates. These freshwater species have a greenish-grey color with two pairs of whisker-like organs that hang close to their mouth. 

Food of Lake Sturgeon

They fundamentally eat animals, such as crayfish, small fishes, clams, and different types of insects. Sturgeon cannot digest most of the plant’s protein or carbohydrates, so they need a high fish meal and shrimp meal. In winter, they eat wheat and soya meal. Sturgeons need 2-3 % of their body weight per day. It also depends on their size to grow at the correct rate. 

16- Goose

Scientific name: Anser

Class: Bird

Scope: North America, Central America, South America, Australia, Africa

Introduction

Gooses live in lakes, ponds, as well as grassy regions. There are 20 total species of goose that are recognized in the world. They are also known as highly social animals. Goose mainly live in freshwater in the Northern Hemisphere. Goose navigation depends upon their experience by using landmarks, coastlines, and mountain ranges. They also have a natural physical compass that helps them to navigate north and south by the Earth’s magnetic field. Their lifespan is about 10- 20 years.

Size and Body of Goose

Goose size varies from specie to specie. For instance, the barnacle goose is medium-sized, 51-57 inches long. On the other side, the brant is a small goose, 22-26 inches long. Their weight may be minor or a little heavy if we talk about barnacle weight which is about 1.21 to 2.23 kg, and brant weight about 1.9 to 4.9 kg. They have multiple colors with different shaded like black and grey. 

Goose has a long neck, and the length of the neck differs from one other species. They have weblike feet, and their legs are short but intense. The body of the goose is leathery and has scaly textures. 

Food of Goose

Goose are herbivores, so they feed on a herbivore diet like stems, leaves, grass, and grains. Many of them also feed on insects. They also go down into the water to aquatic plants. Gooses can also eat small invertebrates like small fish, so some of them can also be called omnivores because of eating invertebrates.

17- Lake Herring

Scientific name: Coregonus Artedi

Class: Fish

Scope: North Pacific and North Atlantic Ocean, Baltic Sea, and West Coast of South America

Introduction

Lake herring are fish animals that live in lakes of domestic freshwater. These fishes travel in a grouping near the coasts. They are found in deep central lakes, and in great lakes, in-depth varies from 18 to 53 meters, and are also found in the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean, and the Bay of Bengal. 

Size and Body of Lake Herring

The Atlantic herring have a maximum length of about 45 cm and weigh about 1.05 kg. On the other hand, the Pacific herring’s total length is about 46 cm. Atlantic herring’s maximum age is 22 years, while Pacific herring’s full age is 19. They have scaly bodies.

Food of Lake Herring

Lake herring feed on zooplankton, insects, larvae, and tiny animals, and they also feed on fish eggs and other small fishes. When they mature, they feed on large organisms. Young herring often chase copepods one by one for particular feeding.

Animals That Live in Water

18- Flamingo

Scientific name: Phoenicopterus

Class: Bird

Scope: Tropical and subtropical areas

Introduction

There are six species of flamingos, of which four are grouped in America and the other two in Africa, Asia, and Europe. The population of a Chilean flamingo (specie) is found in central Peru, coastal South America, Argentina, Bolivia, and southern Brazil. They live in fiord or large shallow lakes in both salt and freshwater. Some flamingo raises their young in extra saltwater bodies.

Size and Body of Flamingo

The average size of a flamingo is 1.5 meters tall and weighs 1.8-3.6 kg. Their height varies from 3 to 5 feet tall. If we talk about the largest specie of flamingo, the American flamingo, their size is 5 feet or 1.5 meters tall and weighs 1.8-3.6 kgs. Flamingos have slender legs, long necks, large wings, short tails, and webbed-like feet.  

Food of Flamingo

Flamingos eat algae, tiny seeds, crustaceans like shrimps, and plants that live in shallow water. Their favorite food includes shrimp, snails, and algae. Whenever they have to catch prey, they put their head inside the water and catch prey with their sharp-keeled jawbone.

19- Caddisflies

Scientific name: Trichoptera

Class: Insect

Scope: Worldwide

Introduction

Caddisflies are aquatic insects found near lakes and streams and are related to freshwater bodies. There are over 14,500 distributed species of them worldwide. They are animals that live in lakes and are generally distributed in freshwater all over the world. Caddisflies have no mouth parts, so they don’t feed on landscape plants and are also safe.

Size and Body of Caddisflies

The adult caddisflies are frequently 3 to 15 mm in length, and their preceding wings are the average size of 4 to 20 mm in length. Their wings are covered with hair, and some species have long antennae. They have three pairs of segment legs.

Food of Caddisflies

As herbivores, most larvae feed on aquatic plants, algae, and diatoms, and few feed on aquatic insects, crustaceans, and mollusks. They also eat decaying plants, tissues, and algae; their favorite algae are diatoms.

20- Deepwater Sculpin

Scientific name: Cottoidea

Class: Mollusca

Scope: Great lakes, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan to Great Slave and Great Bear Lake

Introduction

There are around 300 species of sculpin. Sculpins are also called sea scorpions or bullhead. They are animals that live close to the bottom of lakes where there is dark. It is a species of freshwater. The deepwater sculpin is found in cold waters of mainland lakes in northern North America, from the great bear lake in Canada to the great lake. The cottidae is a massive sculpin family with 275 species.

Size and Body of Deepwater Sculpin

The deepwater sculpin is New York’s largest sculpin, and its size varies from 2 to 4.7 inches. But the size of one specie (Lake Ontario Specimen) is recorded as 9.2 inches. They generally compress the body in shape and narrow from head to tail. 

Food of Deepwater Sculpin

Deepwater sculpins are carnivores, and their diet also depends upon carnivores. They eat plankton which they find at the bottom of the lake. Other diet includes crabs, worms, small fishes, and amphipods.

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