The Amazon milk frog inhabits tropical rain forests in northern South America. It lives its entire life in the forest canopy and rarely, if ever, descends to the ground. This species is considered large for a tree frog and adults usually range in size from 2.5 to 4 inches. View Fact Sheet

The American alligator is found in the southeastern U. S. from North Carolina to Florida and westward to Texas and Oklahoma. It occurs in most freshwater habitats and occasionally will enter brackish water around mangrove swamps. View Fact Sheet

The Asian small-clawed otter occurs in the freshwater wetlands and mangrove swamps of Southeast Asia, southern India, southern China and the Philippines. It is the smallest otter in the world and is known for its energetic nature. View Fact Sheet

The bigmouth buffalo is a North American fresh water fish found from the Hudson Bay, the lower Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins and Montana south to Louisiana. View Fact Sheet

The black crappie can be encountered in many freshwater habitats throughout North America. It is a popular game fish and has been introduced widely into lakes, ponds, sloughs, pools, backwaters and steams. View Fact Sheet

The bluegill is a North American freshwater fish found in lakes, ponds and sluggish streams throughout much of the eastern and central United States and Canada, from Quebec south into northern Mexico. View Fact Sheet

The bowfin occurs in the Mississippi River drainage in sluggish waters, swamps and backwater pools. It is a voracious predator with a large mouth and sharp teeth. View Fact Sheet

The channel catfish is distributed from southern Canada to northern Mexico. It prefers the clean well oxygenated waters of medium to large rivers, streams and deep pools. View Fact Sheet

Cichlids (pronounced: “sick-lids”) comprise one of the largest families of freshwater fishes in the world, with more than 1,350 species already identified. They occur in a wide range of warm water habitats in Africa, Central and South America, as well as parts of the Mid-east and the Indian Subcontinent.

The discus is a member of the cichlid family. It is found in the Amazon River basin in lakes, deep puddles, small rivers and streams. View Fact Sheet

The electric catfish occurs in the Nile River basin and Lake Chad in western and central tropical Africa. It inhabits freshwater lakes and rivers, among rocks and roots in murky waters. View Fact Sheet

The electric eel is a South American freshwater fish found mainly in the Amazon River basin. It prefers to live in murky to dark shaded streams and creeks. This eel has a long cylindrical, scaleless body that is olive to black in color. View Fact Sheet

The elephantnose fish is a freshwater species that occurs mainly in several river basins in West Africa. Its body is dark brown in color, slender and laterally compressed. View Fact Sheet

The emerald tree boa can be encountered in parts of northern South America from Brazil to Bolivia. It prefers wet lowland rain forests that receive a lot of precipitation. This boa is an arboreal species that spends most of its life in trees and bushes. View Fact Sheet

The longnose gar is a freshwater fish found throughout the Mississippi River system, as well as in the Great Lakes and eastern Canada. It occurs in sluggish pools, backwaters and oxbows in larger rivers and in lakes, usually in vegetated areas. View Fact Sheet

The pacu is a South American freshwater fish that inhabits the Orinoco and Amazon River basins. Its life cycle is closely correlated to the annual pattern of rainy and dry seasons in this geographic area. View Fact Sheet

“Poison dart frog” is the name that is applied to several species of small frogs that are found in rainforests of Central America and northern South America. They are so named because glands in their skin produce toxins as a defense against predators. View Fact Sheet

The red piranha is a South American freshwater fish widely distributed in the basins of the Amazon, Paraguay-Parana and Essequibo rivers. This species prefers areas with dense vegetation, such as creeks and interconnected ponds, where it can easily hide and ambush its prey. View Fact Sheet

The red-eared slider is a common freshwater turtle whose native range extends from the southern Great Lakes southward through Central America to Venezuela. It prefers quiet, soft, muddy-bottomed water bodies with rocks, logs or stumps suitable for basking in the sun. View Fact Sheet

The shovelnose sturgeon is now most common in the Mississippi River Basin. It also can be found in greatly reduced numbers elsewhere within in its original range, which included the Tennessee River and the Upper Rio Grande. It is thought to be extinct in the Mobile Bay drainage. View Fact Sheet

The smallmouth buffalo is a North American freshwater fish that occurs in the Mississippi River drainage from Pennsylvania and Montana, south to the Gulf of Mexico. It is also found in the watershed of Lake Michigan. View Fact Sheet

The white American alligator is the same species as one with normal olive and black coloration on its back. It is white due to a very rare genetic mutation that affects the production of melanin, a skin pigment. White alligators do not survive long in the wild because they lack camouflage coloration and are easily caught by predators. They are also very sensitive to direct sunlight. View Fact Sheet

The yellowbelly slider is a common freshwater turtle whose native range extends from the southern Great Lakes southward through Central America to Venezuela. This turtle prefers quiet, soft, muddy-bottomed water bodies with rocks, logs or stumps suitable for basking in the sun. View Fact Sheet