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Thought this was a chub at first


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#1 Betta132

Betta132
  • NANFA Guest
  • San Gabriel drainage area

Posted 17 July 2015 - 01:16 PM

Orange%20finned%20boy_zpsz9pfxqgq.png

Spotted this poor thing gasping at the surface in someone's bait bucket. When I saw the fin colors and the nodules on the head, I thought it was a chub, so I asked if I could have it. Upon getting him into clean water and giving him a few minutes to catch his breath (poor boy was in with about 15 suffocated shiners), I noticed that his general shape was a bit wrong for a chub, and he had a tail-spot like on blacktail shiners. 

I've never heard of a blacktail shiner being this colorful, even in breeding dress. Could this be a hybrid of some sort? I know we have blacktail shiners, but I'm not sure if we have another species. I'm in Central Texas, and this guy was found in the San Gabriel river, if that helps.

At some point, I'm gonna set up a shiner/darter tank. When I do, I want some of whatever these are. I ended up having to let this one go, though, he was still breathing fast and I know larger shiners don't adapt well to aquarium life. Don't worry, I didn't put him in new water, the bucket's owner had caught this with a cast-net right upstream from where I released him- though I made sure to put him somewhere with water a bit too fast for anyone to catch the poor guy again.


Edited by Betta132, 17 July 2015 - 01:18 PM.


#2 Evan P

Evan P
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  • Knoxville, TN

Posted 17 July 2015 - 01:25 PM

It looks like a Cyprinella to me. I am not sure what your local cyprinella is, but you could check out http://fishmap.org/.


3,000-4,000 Gallon Pond Full of all sorts of spawning fishes! http://forum.nanfa.org/index.php/topic/13811-3560-gallon-native-fish-pond/page-3 
 

#3 Matt DeLaVega

Matt DeLaVega
  • Forum Staff
  • Ohio

Posted 17 July 2015 - 01:46 PM

Agree. A Cyprinella, and apparently from your area. Fishmap is a great place to start as already mentioned. Not likely a hybrid, and without better photos there is no reason to bring that into the mix. Jacked up male Cyprinella can be pretty spectacular. Thing is you may not run into a big dominant male that looks that good too often. So don't assume that the occasional one you run into is something different. Probably just the perfect example of a breeding male of the local species.


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#4 Isaac Szabo

Isaac Szabo
  • NANFA Member
  • Marble Falls, AR

Posted 17 July 2015 - 02:07 PM

It's a colored-up male blacktail shiner. Nice-looking fish!



#5 Betta132

Betta132
  • NANFA Guest
  • San Gabriel drainage area

Posted 17 July 2015 - 07:35 PM

Okay, thanks! I've just never seen one with anywhere near that much orange. 

For future reference, how does one go about getting a shiner to color up that much in an aquarium?



#6 fritz

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  • Board of Directors

Posted 18 July 2015 - 02:37 PM

Maybe stress him and threaten suffocation?   :biggrin:






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