1 reply to this topic

[Michael Wolfe]

I see sections of streams up here in the Athens area that don't seem to ahve any blueheads in them, but have lots of yellowfins. I believe that the blueheads are really there... they are just a lot stronger, bigger fish and they are avoiding you. I'll bet the blueheads are there. They tend to hang out in the deeper water until it is spawning time. And also, think about the numbers. It takes one bluehead male to construct a nest. Last weekend at the convention we saw a large nest with easily 100 small fish (red lips shiners which are very similar to yellow fins) on the nest spawning. We saw no blueheads at first. After waiting a little bit we say that there were four or five chub looking fish swimming in the deep water in fron tof the nest (but nothign with a blue looking head). Then we saw the male show up from behind a big rock (obviously bigger, with a blue head and tubercules) swam towards the nest, saw us and retreated into the deeper water behind the big rock again. So he was there, just not very visible. I'll but you have em to.

I live on a very low-pollution( I know this because we have many pollution-intolerant insects in it) stream at my dads house in Fayetteville, GA. We have yellowfin shiners, but no bluehead chubs, which American Aquarium Fishes says nests are the hosts for yellowfin shiner eggs. Do they spawn on other chub nests, such as creek chub? I've seen creek chub out there before, but not blueheads.

As for the question on bluehead shiners, do they spawn on the nests of any sunfish, or just warmouth? American Aquarium Fishes says they spawn on warmouth nests, but does not mention any other sunfish.