28 replies to this topic

[Sean Phillips]

Was catching these from late May-late July of my pier in Lake Erie, not many if any at all were bigger than this. Could see them in the water below in very large schools along with emerald shiners. The months they were present, there was also very good white bass fishing off the pier and you could observe large schools of the bass going after these guys.

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[Kanus]

I don't think it's a smelt. It looks too chunky to me and I don't see an adipose fin. Do you have a local Hybognathus species? Those remind me a lot of our Eastern Silvery Minnow (H. regius).

[Sean Phillips]

No Hybognathus in Lake Erie.

[Matt DeLaVega]

Silver chub

[Michael Wolfe]

Science please. I don't know them tankee fishes

[Matt DeLaVega]

Science please. I don't know them tankee fishes

???????????????

[Michael Wolfe]

What's the scientific name? And apparently I am so southern I can't even spell yankee

[Matt DeLaVega]

Macrhybopsis storeriana

[Sean Phillips]

Kind of looks like a silver chub. If it's any help, they're not hardy whatsoever. I left a bait trap out on my beach overnight and pulled a dozen of these out the next morning to use for walleye and seconds after i put them in an aerated air bucket, they were belly up, half of them do this as well when I drop them off our not-so-tall concrete pier. They all recovered after I released them in a few minutes but like I said, not hardy fish at all.

Also, if you can't see. They have a bluish-purple iridescent stripe along the top of their body, I don't see this on silver chubs.

[Mike]

It is not a smelt no adipose fin, & the mouth looks wrong, so it's not a silver chub. I think it could be a Spottail Shiner Notropis hudsonius with a light spot..

[Matt DeLaVega]

It is a spottail shiner I bet. The mouth is off for silver chub, but since it was open, I figured it was distorted a bit. Hudsonius makes more sense as it is more abundant in the lake and more likely to be schooling with emeralds. I didn't even think about Hudsonius.

[Sean Phillips]

So far, spottail shiner is the closest looking fish but when I look them up they don't have that irredescent stripe. I know I have a lot more pictures in my computer of these guys so I'll post those later.

[Matt DeLaVega]

There are two totally different "Hudsonius" in the US.

[smbass]

Yes this is the Great Lakes N. hudsonius which is quite different from the east cost form.

[Sean Phillips]

Any chance they could be a juvenile lake whitefish? I know they're sparce in the lake now and there were quite a lot by that pier but look up pictures of juveniles and it really resembles one.

[Kanus]

I could see that, if it had an adipose fin. This does not though, so it is missing a prerequisite for being a salmonid.

[NateTessler13]

There are two totally different "Hudsonius" in the US.

 

Agreed!  Totally different.

[Irate Mormon]

My fish all died.  They smelt.

[Matt DeLaVega]

My fish, all smelt, were dead.

Come on Martin.

[Sean Phillips]

Do Spottail Shiners tend to do well in captivity? Come late spring I'll be turning a 15G or 5.5G (probably the 15) I have into a Lake Erie "Reef" Biotope. By reef I mean that literally evrerything will be coming from the tank and as much of the tank will be alive as possible, so sand, rocks, and fish all from the lake. I've been searching for a good candidate for a midwater fish and these guys seem like they might fit that role (also looking for a native bottom dweller if anyone has any suggestions).