Louisiana has ten official animal designations, not nine, when every category listed by the Louisiana State Legislature is counted. The categories are bird, mammal, reptile, amphibian, dog, crustacean, insect, butterfly, freshwater fish, and saltwater fish. The familiar “nine state animals” wording is therefore an undercount, usually caused by leaving out one of those categories.
There is no single legal designation called “Louisiana’s state animal.” Instead, state law assigns an animal to a particular category. The complete list is the brown pelican, black bear, alligator, green tree frog, Catahoula Leopard Dog, crawfish, honeybee, Gulf fritillary, white perch (sac-au-lait), and spotted sea trout (speckled trout).
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Why some lists say nine and the official list says ten
“State animal” is a convenient umbrella phrase, not the formal name of one Louisiana office or symbol. Louisiana’s animal symbols are category-specific. A bird, mammal, reptile, amphibian, dog, crustacean, insect, butterfly, freshwater fish, and saltwater fish can each have a separate designation.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteA 2025 Louisiana Legislature continuing-legal-education document places all ten categories under “Special Animals.” Counting those entries produces ten. A shorter list of nine has omitted at least one category, most often the state dog, crustacean, or amphibian. Omitting an entry to preserve the number nine gives an incomplete account of the official framework.
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The title “Discover the 9 Official State Animals of Louisiana” reflects the common search wording, but the legally supported count is ten categories. The sections below keep the search term in context while giving the complete list.
Louisiana’s complete official animal list
| Category | Official animal | Primary authority identified |
|---|---|---|
| State bird | Brown pelican | Louisiana Revised Statutes §159 |
| State mammal | Black bear | Louisiana Revised Statutes §161.1 |
| State reptile | Alligator | Louisiana Revised Statutes §169 |
| State amphibian | Green tree frog | Louisiana Legislature’s 2025 “Special Animals” list |
| State dog | Catahoula Leopard Dog | Louisiana Legislature’s 2025 “Special Animals” list |
| State crustacean | Crawfish | Louisiana Legislature’s 2025 “Special Animals” list |
| State insect | Honeybee (Apis mellifera) | Louisiana Revised Statutes §164 |
| State butterfly | Gulf fritillary | Louisiana Revised Statutes §164.1; Acts 2022, No. 294, §1 |
| State freshwater fish | White perch, commonly called sac-au-lait | Louisiana Revised Statutes §170.4 |
| State saltwater fish | Spotted sea trout, also called speckled trout (Cynoscion nebulosus) | Louisiana Revised Statutes §170.7 |
The ten designations explained
Brown pelican — state bird
Louisiana Revised Statutes §159 names the brown pelican as the official state bird. The same law authorizes the bird’s use on the state seal, state insignia, and official documents. That makes the pelican more than a wildlife emblem: it is also an approved visual symbol of state government.
When a source asks for Louisiana’s “state animal” in the singular and gives the pelican as the answer, it is generally using the bird designation as shorthand. The precise legal description is “official state bird.”
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Louisiana Revised Statutes §161.1 names the black bear as the official state mammal. The statute’s direct wording is: “The official state mammal shall be the black bear.” That sentence establishes the category and the animal without creating a broader, all-purpose state-animal designation.
For identification purposes, “black bear” is the official common name used in the statute. The mammal category is separate from the state dog category, even though a dog is also a mammal in biological classification.
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Alligator — state reptile
Louisiana Revised Statutes §169 states: “The official state reptile shall be the alligator.” This is the state’s reptile symbol, not a replacement for the other designations. A list that includes the alligator but leaves out the amphibian, crustacean, dog, or either fish category is not complete.
The legal category matters because “reptile” describes the designation Louisiana assigned, while “state animal” is only an informal umbrella expression.
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The Louisiana Legislature’s consolidated 2025 “Special Animals” list identifies the green tree frog as the state amphibian. This entry is easy to miss because many popular summaries mention only the best-known bird, mammal, and reptile.
It also demonstrates why the count cannot be fixed at nine by dropping a less familiar symbol. Amphibian is an independent category in the Legislature’s list, alongside reptile and fish rather than inside any of them.
Catahoula Leopard Dog — state dog
The same Legislature list names the Catahoula Leopard Dog as Louisiana’s state dog. “State dog” is a distinct designation even though dogs belong to the mammal class biologically. The legal list treats the cultural and breed-specific symbol separately from the general state mammal.
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That distinction explains one common counting error: a list may count the black bear as the mammal and assume a dog cannot receive another animal-symbol designation. Louisiana’s official categories do not work that way.
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Crawfish — state crustacean
Crawfish is the state crustacean in the Legislature’s consolidated list. Crustacean is its own category, separate from insect and fish. Consequently, a summary that includes the honeybee and the two fish but omits crawfish has removed an official category rather than merely choosing a different common name.
The entry is written as “crawfish” in the official list. This article uses that familiar Louisiana term rather than substituting a regional synonym.
Honeybee (Apis mellifera) — state insect
Louisiana Revised Statutes §164 names the honeybee, Apis mellifera, as the official state insect. The scientific name identifies the species used for the designation; “honeybee” is the ordinary common name readers will see in general references.
The insect and butterfly designations are separate. A butterfly is biologically an insect, but Louisiana law gives the Gulf fritillary its own category, so both entries belong in the complete count.
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Gulf fritillary — state butterfly
Louisiana Revised Statutes §164.1 names the Gulf fritillary as the official state butterfly. The statute cites Acts 2022, No. 294, §1, which is the legislative act associated with that designation.
Counting the Gulf fritillary separately is essential when explaining the total. Treating “butterfly” as merely a type of insect would erase a category that Louisiana law lists independently.
White perch (sac-au-lait) — state freshwater fish
Louisiana Revised Statutes §170.4 names the white perch as the official state freshwater fish and gives “sac-au-lait” as a common name. The statute contains the spelling “poxomis annularis.” When discussing the statutory text, that spelling can be preserved as written; in ordinary prose, white perch and sac-au-lait are the clearest names for readers.
This designation covers freshwater fish specifically. It does not include the saltwater fish, which has its own statute and common names.
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Spotted sea trout (speckled trout; Cynoscion nebulosus) — state saltwater fish
Louisiana Revised Statutes §170.7 identifies the spotted sea trout as the official state saltwater fish. The provision also gives “speckled trout” as a common name and supplies the scientific name Cynoscion nebulosus.
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The separate freshwater and saltwater categories are the clearest reason a quick list can be off by one. White perch/sac-au-lait and spotted sea trout/speckled trout are not two names for one symbol; they are two different designations divided by water type.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to read Louisiana’s animal-symbol laws
The individual statute sections are the strongest sources for the bird, mammal, reptile, insect, butterfly, freshwater-fish, and saltwater-fish designations listed above. Each section identifies a category and an animal. The Legislature’s 2025 consolidated “Special Animals” document is the convenient source that puts all ten categories together, including the dog, crustacean, and amphibian.
These sources serve different purposes. A statute answers, “What animal does this category designate?” The consolidated list answers, “Which categories does the Legislature treat as special animal symbols?” Reading them together prevents two opposite mistakes: treating one category as the state’s only animal, or counting biological classes instead of legal designations.
A practical way to remember all ten
- Start with the large vertebrate symbols: brown pelican (bird), black bear (mammal), and alligator (reptile).
- Add the remaining land and household categories: green tree frog (amphibian) and Catahoula Leopard Dog (dog).
- Remember the invertebrates: crawfish (crustacean), honeybee (insect), and Gulf fritillary (butterfly).
- Finish with the water split: white perch or sac-au-lait (freshwater fish) and spotted or speckled trout (saltwater fish).
This four-part memory aid is a study device, not a new legal grouping. The official count remains ten categories.
Using the list with children or students
The categories make a useful sorting activity. Give learners the ten animal names and ask them to place each under bird, mammal, reptile, amphibian, dog, crustacean, insect, butterfly, freshwater fish, or saltwater fish. Then ask why the Catahoula Leopard Dog can be both biologically a mammal and legally the state dog, or why the Gulf fritillary appears separately from the honeybee.
The Louisiana State Legislature also publishes a coloring, information, and activity book about state symbols. Its animal-symbol material can support a classroom or family activity; availability and current ordering details should be checked directly with the Legislature.
What the “nine” headline gets right—and wrong
The headline captures a genuine public-interest question: Louisiana has a set of official animal symbols that readers want to identify. It is wrong only in the number if the list is intended to include every category recognized in the Legislature’s consolidated document. A careful explanation should preserve the familiar search wording while stating plainly that the complete official list contains ten.
The most accurate short answer is therefore: Louisiana has ten official animal categories—brown pelican, black bear, alligator, green tree frog, Catahoula Leopard Dog, crawfish, honeybee, Gulf fritillary, white perch/sac-au-lait, and spotted/speckled trout—not one singular state animal.
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