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Suckers? (Correction) Stonerollers Foraging

Started by Guest_ZachT_* , Mar 23 2013 10:10 PM

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13 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_ZachT_*

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Posted 23 March 2013 - 10:10 PM

I know next to nothing about fish. My best guess is some sort of Sucker?

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#2 Guest_FirstChAoS_*

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Posted 23 March 2013 - 10:20 PM

the dorsal colors look like what i have seen in stonerollers. It's tough getting a good look at their mouth but i'd say either a stoneroller or a chub of some kind.

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#3 Guest_blakemarkwell_*

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Posted 23 March 2013 - 10:21 PM

I definitely see Nocomis and tons of Campostoma -- not suckers, but their close kin. Nice video.

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#4 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 23 March 2013 - 11:03 PM

Yeah, Blake is right, nary a sucker in sight in spite of the clip's title.

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#5 Guest_ZachT_*

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Posted 23 March 2013 - 11:13 PM

Thanks for the help everyone.

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#6 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 24 March 2013 - 07:39 AM

I edited the title just in case anyone is searching for stoneroller video. This is very nice video. I see only stonerollers, and in my snorkeling experience this type of large "herd of roller" is not uncommon, although I would say that these are very nicely colored and marked.

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

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#7 Guest_Kanus_*

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Posted 24 March 2013 - 10:04 AM

That is definitely great stoneroller video.

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#8 Guest_Skipjack_*

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Posted 24 March 2013 - 11:00 AM

Thanks Michael. Watched it last night, and fell asleep commenting. I saw a couple fish that flashed through, that I was unsure of genus(maybe nocomis, taking Blake's word) But what I saw was a great stoneroller video. Anyone out there can make this happen in a tank right now. Campostoma are ready this time of year. Collect a good male, and several females, put them in a tank, and bet on spawning activity.

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#9 Guest_Casper_*

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Posted 24 March 2013 - 11:49 AM

Keep checking your location site out Zach. You should see other species gather there as the season progresses. Certainly your subjects are Stonerollers, though i did catch a fleeting glimpse of another specie. The upper right dominant individual is a breeding male and is digging a spawning pit. Lots of motion to observe in this video but you should see a glimpse of him picking up gravels in his mouth and then spitting them out beyond the pit's perimeter. You know he is a male by the white points on his head, which are known as tubercules. They are porcelin sharp and he will ram other males to defend his nest site. Eye gouges and wounds can occur. Also note that cool flag of a dosal fin, it's unique to stonerollers and quite handsome. The male's sides are covered with tubercules as well and the high breeding males appear armored. You will find spent, damaged, dead males downstream towards the end of the season.

The technique of planting your camera into a prime, active spot is very efficient and allows the fish to act normally, without your presence. You can do that in a multitude of situations like Chub mounds and Sunfish nests... and you may well see a Chub building a nest near this site later. They will generally be a round mound about 2 or 3' in diameter and composed of varying golf ball sized stones reaching about a foot high. Chubs are sometimes hyper wary of nearby humans, other times you can lay in the water and observe them for hours gathering stones, spawning and defending their mound. Many other species spawn over the mound as well... and you will often see other species using the Stoneroller pits as well, here in the south one will often see Rainbow Shiners spawning in the Stoneroller pits.

Excellent video Zach and thanks for taking the time to share it. I am curious of what camera you are using and its settings, and exactly what area and when you shot it.

Excellent.

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#10 Michael Wolfe

Board of Directors

North Georgia, Oconee River Drainage

Posted 24 March 2013 - 11:57 AM

Watched it last night, and fell asleep commenting. I saw a couple fish that flashed through, that I was unsure of genus(maybe nocomis, taking Blake's word)

Sorry, I wasn't really contradicting Blake... I just watched and saw so many 'rollers that it seemed worth throwing in m comment on herds of rollers coming in and grazing and area...

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing. - Benjamin Franklin

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#11 Guest_Skipjack_*

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Posted 24 March 2013 - 12:23 PM

I didn't see the Nocomis myself. Just saw a few fish flash by that I was unsure of. I expect that Blake is better at ID than I, so I took his word. No worries Michael.

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#12 Guest_ZachT_*

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Posted 24 March 2013 - 01:46 PM

Thanks everyone.

I was wondering if there was any breeding involved here, especially with that big male. He did seem to chase some others away a few times. I'm assuming this is the start of the breeding season? Was I right in assuming the younger ones were just foraging?

Other fish that I have seen in this stream are Northern Hogsuckers, Rainbow and Orangethroat Darters, Un ID'd Sunfish (Haven't got any pics of them yet) and another Sucker-like fish (again, no pics) plus "minnows" which I have been told are Shiners and Chubs.

I took this exactly like you said Casper. I set down my Fujifilm XP50 down where they seemed to be congregating the most. I'm afraid I don't know the settings as the video recording is automatic, but it is a simple point and shoot so not a whole lot of control over the camera anyway. This was taken yesterday in the creek near my house in South Central Indiana.