Jump to content


Nondescript Silvery Minnow! Yay!


  • Please log in to reply
12 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_NateTessler13_*

Guest_NateTessler13_*
  • Guests

Posted 19 October 2007 - 09:01 AM

Hello,
I'm working on an electrofishing crew in Illinois, and recently at one of our sites we collected something that we're not quite sure what it is. This forum has been one of the most helpful places for ID'ing the difficult ones. So, here's another.

The fish was collected at the confluence of Sandy Creek and the Illinois River, in Bedford, IL.

Mapquest Map of Bedford, IL

The creek had a bottom consisting of hardpan, sand, and muck. We literally sampled 500 meters upstream of the confluence all the way down to the mouth. The only other cyprinid collected at this site was a Bullhead Minnow (Pimephales vigilax). I'm not sure what this guy is though...
Posted Image
Posted Image
Posted Image

Here's my guesses...Pallid Shiner (although supposedly extremely rare), Spottail Shiner (although lacking the very spot at the base of the caudal that identifies it as a Spottail), Bullhead Minnow (unlikely), or a Silver Chub (didn't notice any barbs at the corners of the mouth).

Any help would be appreciated on this one.

-Nate-

#2 Guest_teleost_*

Guest_teleost_*
  • Guests

Posted 19 October 2007 - 09:15 AM

Notropis buchanani Ghost Shiner ?

We found only one silver chub in the Illinois far upstream from this site. It had no barbels.

#3 Guest_fundulus_*

Guest_fundulus_*
  • Guests

Posted 19 October 2007 - 10:33 AM

That fish has a really distinctive mouth which has to be the best clue. And the tail is deeply forked. I've never seen one in the flesh, so this is a stretch, but I'd agree with teleost that it's a ghost shiner. Here's a (small) photo I copied from FishBase that shows that odd mouth:
Attached File  GhostShiner.jpg   4.14KB   0 downloads

#4 Guest_mzokan_*

Guest_mzokan_*
  • Guests

Posted 19 October 2007 - 12:14 PM

I don't really know, but I'll guess anyway .......Hybognathus maybe? or N. buchanani as said before

#5 Guest_daveneely_*

Guest_daveneely_*
  • Guests

Posted 19 October 2007 - 03:55 PM

hey Nate,

That's a silver chub. The pale margin on the caudal with a dusky strip just above it is almost always present, and nothing else has that snout. There's a photo of one from the Missouri River at http://gallery.nanfa...G_5726.JPG.html

Notropis buchanani is a frail little minnow that looks like it would fall apart if you touched it, and has the grossly elevated anterior LL scales like N. volucellus, N. wickliffi, and N. cahabae. You can see the LL scales on your fish are just, well, normal.

cheers,
Dave

#6 Guest_Skipjack_*

Guest_Skipjack_*
  • Guests

Posted 19 October 2007 - 04:10 PM

I was kind of wondering if it could be a washed out H. amblops. From my references the snout length versus the size of the eye seem to fit well, along with the mouth shape.

#7 Guest_teleost_*

Guest_teleost_*
  • Guests

Posted 19 October 2007 - 04:22 PM

Dave's reply forced me to hunt down my photos of a Silver Chub. My goodness it sure seems like a match to me. Dave you rock!

#8 Guest_Skipjack_*

Guest_Skipjack_*
  • Guests

Posted 19 October 2007 - 04:30 PM

Dave you rock!


I have to agree, Dave, send me some of your magic. :smile:

#9 Guest_daveneely_*

Guest_daveneely_*
  • Guests

Posted 19 October 2007 - 05:21 PM

aw, shucks, ain't no magic, have just spent a lot of time looking at fish... anyone else could do the same.

cheers,
Dave

#10 Guest_ashtonmj_*

Guest_ashtonmj_*
  • Guests

Posted 19 October 2007 - 08:00 PM

I'll take your illustrations skills then...

#11 Guest_smbass_*

Guest_smbass_*
  • Guests

Posted 19 October 2007 - 09:05 PM

Yep I'll agree, that is definitely a silver chub, we have been getting one or two on every trawl we have done on the Scioto River over the past 2 weeks. One thing I notice on them is the lower lobe of the tail has a white edge to it, very similar to how a walleye has the white tip on it's tail. Your silver chub is very small Nate, so that is barely visible on that one, but that seems to be a prety distinct marking on larger ones.

#12 Guest_Irate Mormon_*

Guest_Irate Mormon_*
  • Guests

Posted 19 October 2007 - 10:18 PM

I'll take your illustrations skills then...


I have a small collection of Dave Neely art :-) Hopefully it will grow over the years. He's not merely an illustrator, dontcha know.

#13 Guest_NateTessler13_*

Guest_NateTessler13_*
  • Guests

Posted 21 October 2007 - 05:04 PM

Thank you all for putting this one to rest




0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users