Although it's also known as the white perch, the crappie isn't a perch, but a member of the sunfish family.
Originally native to the south and east, it's now found throughout the United States because of migration and stocking.
The white crappie tends to live around weedy areas in bayous, lakes, ponds, and slow-moving rivers and streams.
The typical adult is 8 to 14 inches in length and weighs about a pound, although specimens of 5 pounds and more have been caught.
The oval body is silvery, with dark vertical bands that wrap around the body. It has a pointed snout, and its lower jaw extends beyond the upper jaw.
Young white crappie feed mostly on zooplankton, but the larger fish are predators whose favorite prey includes smaller crappie, perch, and shad.
They feed mainly during late afternoon and early evening, swimming around until they find an area that contains prey, then searching slowly through that area.
Spawning takes place in late spring or summer, depending on geographical location. Males build nests in circular colonies over sand, clay, or gravel, usually in areas with protective vegetation.
The females deposit their eggs in the nests. The number of eggs varies greatly. A small female may produce only 2,000 eggs, while a very large female produces more than 300,000.
Males guard their nests very aggressively until the larvae hatch out, then leave them on their own.
The white crappie reaches sexual maturity at 3 to 4 years of age. The maximum life span is 8 to 10 years.