Scouting Trip today Id help please

We went on a mini-trip to a local creek (VA, Shenandoah river drainage) to scout out the fish variety and found several different fish types in abundance, These are a few of the ones I was unsure with the Ids, thanks in advance for your help.

Im thinking this could be a Mottled Sculpin (Cottus bairdi)??


Some Madtoms?? Not sure of specific types?

(I promise he was only out of the water for the second it took to take the picture)


Another Madtom??



Thanks again for your help! All of the fish we saw seemed to be in abundance, so Im hoping if we decide we want to keep some of these species that they will still be there when we return

It looks like a mottled sculpin because of the barring under the dorsal.

Looks like you had fun!

Your sculpin looks like a Blue Ridge sculpin (Cottus caeruleomentum), but a photo of the belly and chin would be very useful to confirm the ID. You're likely to also see Potomac sculpin mixed in across much of the Shenandoah; they have a distinct notch on the rear of the band that encircles the base of the tail, a more mottled chin, and a suite of more subtle characters.

The only madtom likely there are margined madtoms (tadpoles are only further down on the Coastal Plain), and those would have an adipose fin that's attached to the body of the fish for its entire length; you can see from your photos that the rear edge of the adipose fin is free. Hmm. What, pray tell could they be...? Almost looks like you might have a couple different chin barbel colors, too...

So it seems to be much harder than I thought to identify fish! From the pictures it looks like they are two different catfish? Thank you for pointing out that it is not a madtom, So from the reference book I have it looks like the only catfish found in the area are White, Channel, or Bullheads; So to distinguish between these which would be the key characteristics that are different?

Bullheads have a square-ish tail fin, while white and channel cats have a forked tail.

So it seems to be much harder than I thought to identify fish! From the pictures it looks like they are two different catfish? Thank you for pointing out that it is not a madtom, So from the reference book I have it looks like the only catfish found in the area are White, Channel, or Bullheads; So to distinguish between these which would be the key characteristics that are different?

So the ticket here is to look at the chin barbel coloration, and that will be quite helpful next time. Identifying fish is surely an acquired skill, the more you see the better you get. A few years ago, I struggled on every fish. I still struggle with many, but nowadays, I can look at a net full of fish, and ID most with a quick glance. The more you do it the better you will get. Eventually it won't even be key characteristics, it will become almost second nature. Keep up the good work, and don't get frustrated. My best advice to you is to spend the time with a book, and come up with your best guess at the species. Then post here for confirmation. It is kind of like when you follow someone in a car to a destination. Well, you don't know where the heck you are. But if you find it on your own, you know it, and will know how to get there again. Good luck!

So after looking online and and in the books again, and looking at the other pictures I took, Im thinking that it was a Yellow Bullhead- Unattached adipose fin, white and dark chin barbels; Hoping this gets easier the more I attempt to identify, but Im thinking you are right, the ones I have Id'd have become much easier to ID in the field, the more I Id the more comfortable I am getting!!

Toddandmarlana, I think you've got it! It does get easier and as you suggest, exposure to the fish and going through the process of ID helps you improve quickly.
As Matt said below, experienced people can glance at a net and ID common fish without bending over.
I'm glad you found the forum and hope you enjoy getting in the water and identifying fish as much as I do.