So this past Saturday I went down to the creek to do some investigating into the species of fish inhabiting it. Its a pretty small creek, averages 5-6 feet across and anywhere from 3 inches to 2 feet deep. Mostly sand and rock bottomed, but its in a heavily wooded area so it has fallen branches and logs in the water. The first thing I saw were 3 pebble mounds in the water, which I presumed were some species of Chub's breeding areas. Swimming around these mounds were dozens of smaller fish, ranging from 1.5 to 3 inches long.
I was able to grab several of them with my dip net (sorry I forgot to bring my camera with me down there, I'll have to next time). I ID'd one as a juvie Creek Chub (had the black spot at the front base of the caudal fin) and the rest I ID'd as Yellowfin Shiners. I came to this conclusion due to the fact that two of them (obviously males) had bright yellow fins and some light yellow on top of their head. The fish I ID'd as shiners all had the dark lateral line and fin color ranged from light yellow to light orange on the ones that weren't colored up males. Later on during my little excursion I netted a 6 inch Creek Chub (again had the black spot on the caudal) and a juvie of a species of sunfish.
Now the part that is confusing me is that based on "Freshwater Fishes of South Carolina" my parents property, which is barely north of Paris Mt State Park, is out of the range of the Yellowfins. Greenhead Shiners on the other hand are speckled all throughout the upper part of the state. Is it possible for Greenheads to have lemon yellow fins? Below is are a couple pictures I found off google that look identical to the fish I found.
Males
Others
Thanks for any assistance you all can give me
Edited by clemsons2k, 09 June 2013 - 06:58 PM.