30 replies to this topic

[Dustin]

Are there other Nocomis in the drainage?  If so, it's going to be nearly impossible to say for sure based on that picture and that individual.  You almost have to have a tuberculate male to be certain.

[taldridge0321]

I think just Bluehead and Bigmouth Chubs. 

[gerald]

Agree with Dustin's ID's.  Regarding the other silvery things:

 

2:  rosyside dace or white shiner ???

5, 7:  won't even guess - cant see enough detail

9-12: new river or white shiner ???

13: tennesee, silver, rosyface ... ???

14,16: new or white ???

[taldridge0321]

Thanks Gerald, I'll try to get better pictures next time for clearer id's.

[Kanus]

Your Nocomis is a bluehead. The reddish/coppery eyes and short, blunt snout indicate bluehead. I've worked in the area for several years and have gotten very familiar with the local species. Bigmouth chubs have a longer snout, don't get red irises, and in my experience are restricted to the mainstem of the New and large tributaries. If you go to the New at Fries it's a good spot to see some bigmouth chubs.

 

 

#2 Rosyside Dace

#5 & 7 are really hard to tell

#6 whitetail

#9, 10, 12, 14, and 16 look like white shiners

#11 looks like either a rosyface or silver shiner

#13 is definitely a rosyface

[taldridge0321]

Thanks for the help, with #14, it appears to have an upwardly directed eye, like the New River Shiner should have. What do you think about it being a New River Shiner instead of White?

[taldridge0321]

Thanks for the help, with #14, it appears to have an upwardly directed eye, like the New River Shiner should have. What do you think about it being a New River Shiner instead of White?

Looks like White Shiners I have caught before, minus the eye.

[taldridge0321]

[taldridge0321]

Here's a White Shiner that I got near the Dan, the eye is different.

[gerald]

I'd go with Derek's ID's - he's spent way more time sampling the New River than the rest of us.  I've only seen New River shiner a couple times, and they were not so uniformly silvery as your #14.  White shiners vary quite a bit from basin to basin.  The first time I saw Dan/Roanoke River whites (after seeing hundreds of Cape Fear and Neuse River whites)  I thought I was looking at a different species.

[taldridge0321]

I'd go with Derek's ID's - he's spent way more time sampling the New River than the rest of us.  I've only seen New River shiner a couple times, and they were not so uniformly silvery as your #14.  White shiners vary quite a bit from basin to basin.  The first time I saw Dan/Roanoke River whites (after seeing hundreds of Cape Fear and Neuse River whites)  I thought I was looking at a different species.

Sounds good Gerald, I guess I will have to make another trip up there then.