Hi everyone,
I caught a bunch of small (30-40 mm, so 1-1.5") juvenile fish here in central Massachusetts. They were caught in two small streams the other day. I am uploading four pictures- two from the side, one from the top, and one of a magnified image of the head (magnified by 50%). These fish were in formalin for the past few days, so keep that in mind as you look at the images (unfortunately the color gets washed out).
According to the state Fish and Wildlife, it could be a Common shiner, Bridle shiner, Bluntnose minnow, Spottail shiner, Fallfish, Fathead minnow, or Creek chub. I feel reasonably comfortable narrowing it down to a Fallfish, but I know some of these juvenile shiners/minnows can look very similar and don't always look like the adults, so I would appreciate someone else giving me their thoughts.
I caught some large adult Common shiners but no adult Fallfish along with these guys, so that always makes me doubt myself. But the overall body shape plus the stripe along the body, tail shape, and mouth make me think it's a juvenile Fallfish. Can anyone help me out and tell me their thoughts?
Thanks!!