Need help Identifying minnows

Just got back from a business trip to Syracuse, NY and while there I stopped off to collect some native fish. The intent was to collect darters, but I found some interesting minnows that I decided to take back with me. However I am not an expert in minnows, and need some help outside of some preliminary research. Here are the some pics and what I think they might be:

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I am almost certain this might be some type of Sucker or Stoneroller, although I am beginning to thing it is neither. Collected from Fox Creek, Schoharie, NY

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I think I have this narrowed down to either a Blacknose Dace or a Western Blacknose Dace. Collected from an Unnamed creek outside of Polkville, NY

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I think this might be a Longnose Dace. Collected from Fox Creek, Schoharie, NY

The last two pics are of a unidentified pygmy sunfish that was given to me after a friend of mine went collecting near his home in Florida. I have done some research but nothing comes up as conclusive, so I figured Id post them on here to see if anyone can ID it:

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Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me with this. I like to know exactly what I have for future research purposes.

The first one looks like white sucker,second one eastern blacknose dace, third longnose dace. I'm not sure on the sunfish.

hmmm fox creek huh? thats one of my fav spots! im suprised you didnt catch darters at all. in fact i have never caught suckers there and mostly only catch darters there.



just a heads up...the DEC there will ticket you if they see you fishing for other than bait. they will not let you remove wildlife. it breaks their laws.

Edited by bumpylemon, 27 June 2010 - 07:44 AM.

i meant to tell you....did you know that they have shield darters south in the basher kill area?

The sunfish look(s) like juvenile bluegill.

The sunfish look(s) like juvenile bluegill.

yeah i agree. i didnt wanna be the guy to tell him that he didnt get a nice pygmy fish but a bluegill lol

The first one looks like white sucker,second one eastern blacknose dace, third longnose dace. I'm not sure on the sunfish.

I agree on all three of these and the sunfish I am also unsure of but am leaning towards bluegill.

I was also thinking bluegill,but didn't want to be that guy either.

well here is what you have to look forward too!!

Wow, a lot of good posts here. I wish I could have gotten to them a little earlier. I too believe that its a white sucker (to much disappointment), eastern blacknose dace, and a longnose dace. Just as well I have a better idea of what the sunfish is too. I find it odd that it was mis-identified in the field as the one who caught it is supposed to be an expert of native florida fishes. But cest la vie. None the the less, I currently have a pumpkinseed and a longear, so the blue gill will help to diversify my sunfish tank. The white sucker is a disappointment as it will get bigger then I have a tank to give it. So I'll have to look into what I will do with it. The daces are making an excellent addition to my darter tanks as already their "dither" like attributes are making the darters more comfortable. I did catch some darters while I was out. I was fighting against daylight and I badly needed to get home, so I didnt spend much time as I have in the past at fox creek. But in what little time I was there I caught two male rainbows (my personal favorite), and a male greenside. I was not aware that there are shield darters in the area too. I would like to have a whack at finding them in the future. I absolutely love darters. I have never seen the DEC around when I was there. I usually always purchase a fishing license just in case. But has anyone had any experiences with them in this specific location or any other for that matter? Since I would hate to break any laws, and just as well I would hate to give up one of the best collection spots since I collected in Indiana.

http://forum.nanfa.o...__0

You may want to read up on the NYS regs. No transporting fish by motor vehicle and no captive keeping.

http://forum.nanfa.o...__0

You may want to read up on the NYS regs. No transporting fish by motor vehicle and no captive keeping.

yup...we found that out first hand earlier this month. which really stinks for you NYers. I did however go back there last thursday to do some bass fishing and to take photos. I found another spot that had 5 -7 mudminnows per dipnet and 6-10 brook sticklebacks per net. i took pictures and released. also i caught some nice HUGE spot fins.

http://forum.nanfa.o...__0

You may want to read up on the NYS regs. No transporting fish by motor vehicle and no captive keeping.

Upon looking at it and going off of personal collecting experience, I can say this much. I truly appreciate that there are laws like this to preserve conservation efforts as I am highly active in the conservation group Fish Ark Mexico that works to conserve and study native livebearer species and can fully appreciate this. However, in the posted link it is mentioned that conservation officers and fishermen alike need to be educated in identifying native populations. I can almost guarantee that if one was to be slick about it, he could A: Simply say that the fish that he/she is using for bait is an approved specie, and not what it really is and B: Be really quick and nondescript about collecting anything. I understand that this seems almost shady, but in all reality, the people who are collecting are the ones who give a damn about conservation and appreciate the native species, not to mention they can properly ID them, unlike the Feds can. Being able to properly ID them also gives us, the natural hobbyist, an advantage. It allows us to identify rare or endangered species so that we don't remove them, such as the Gilt Darter. My argument might come across as hypocritical given that I placed this post to ID the fish I caught, but typically I ID them in the field, and did not have the time this time around. More so, I always carry books to help me ID as best I can before removing any species from their natural habitat. With the exception of the White Sucker I caught, I have been successful at judging whether or not a fish is suitable to remove from the location and know ahead of time how to maintain them in a enclosed environment. Which brings me to the question that hasn't been answered really... Has anyone actually run into the DEC while collecting in NYS, and what was the outcome, etc...

Which brings me to the question that hasn't been answered really... Has anyone actually run into the DEC while collecting in NYS, and what was the outcome, etc...

I collect fairly often and go fishing a lot and in the decade or so I've been actively doing it I've only encountered an officer three times, all while fishing. He just asked to see my licence at that was it.

Upon looking at it and going off of personal collecting experience, I can say this much. I truly appreciate that there are laws like this to preserve conservation efforts as I am highly active in the conservation group Fish Ark Mexico that works to conserve and study native livebearer species and can fully appreciate this. However, in the posted link it is mentioned that conservation officers and fishermen alike need to be educated in identifying native populations. I can almost guarantee that if one was to be slick about it, he could A: Simply say that the fish that he/she is using for bait is an approved specie, and not what it really is and B: Be really quick and nondescript about collecting anything. I understand that this seems almost shady, but in all reality, the people who are collecting are the ones who give a damn about conservation and appreciate the native species, not to mention they can properly ID them, unlike the Feds can. Being able to properly ID them also gives us, the natural hobbyist, an advantage. It allows us to identify rare or endangered species so that we don't remove them, such as the Gilt Darter. My argument might come across as hypocritical given that I placed this post to ID the fish I caught, but typically I ID them in the field, and did not have the time this time around. More so, I always carry books to help me ID as best I can before removing any species from their natural habitat. With the exception of the White Sucker I caught, I have been successful at judging whether or not a fish is suitable to remove from the location and know ahead of time how to maintain them in a enclosed environment. Which brings me to the question that hasn't been answered really... Has anyone actually run into the DEC while collecting in NYS, and what was the outcome, etc...

yes me and 3 other members were stopped on June 6th in Schoharie. again i will say to much info was given...we could have and should have said "bait fish" but that didnt happen. we had to dump all our collected fish and one member was ticketed for "intending" to keep wildlife as a pet or something along those lines.

Edited by bumpylemon, 28 June 2010 - 10:21 PM.

Without saying anything about the NY DEC which I know little about, I will say that any Feds you encounter in a conservation/endangered species context will usually know about species and be able to identify them. But in most cases they're not the ones who will question you about seining fish in a third-order creek, certainly in the East.

yes me and 3 other members were stopped on June 6th in Schoharie. again i will say to much info was given...we could have and should have said "bait fish" but that didnt happen. we had to dump all our collected fish and one member was ticketed for "intending" to keep wildlife as a pet or something along those lines.

Without saying anything about the NY DEC which I know little about, I will say that any Feds you encounter in a conservation/endangered species context will usually know about species and be able to identify them. But in most cases they're not the ones who will question you about seining fish in a third-order creek, certainly in the East.

Wow, very interesting answers. Thank you. I see a lot of "could of, would of, should of", and in the same situation I most likely would have run into the same thing if I was caught of guard. I'm in the Air Force, so I cant risk any run in's with the law, or risk loosing a stripe. Bumpylemon, did either you or the two other members have a fishing license on you when you were caught? I also have to agree with fundulus, in that the ones who can identify the fish are not the ones who are going to question you, but then again, bumpylemon, was the officer who stopped you able to properly ID the fish you had before he made any assumptions?

Wow, very interesting answers. Thank you. I see a lot of "could of, would of, should of", and in the same situation I most likely would have run into the same thing if I was caught of guard. I'm in the Air Force, so I cant risk any run in's with the law, or risk loosing a stripe. Bumpylemon, did either you or the two other members have a fishing license on you when you were caught? I also have to agree with fundulus, in that the ones who can identify the fish are not the ones who are going to question you, but then again, bumpylemon, was the officer who stopped you able to properly ID the fish you had before he made any assumptions?

He didnt need to I'd anything because at the time we innocently thought with a regular fishing license we were within the law so we had said "collecting bait fish for the aquarium". That's all he needed. Was the intent to leavwe the creek with a motor vehicle with bait fish.

He didnt need to I'd anything because at the time we innocently thought with a regular fishing license we were within the law so we had said "collecting bait fish for the aquarium". That's all he needed. Was the intent to leavwe the creek with a motor vehicle with bait fish.

Understandable...