Brian Zimmerman (smbass) and I got out on Saturday. After shaking the cob webs off my seine, good times were had. I told Brian that I wanted to collect some Southern Redbelly Dace and Redside Dace for a display tank at the university and after we looked around at a few sites, we found two good sites that met the habitat requirements of these fish. (note that I denotes fish collected at the first site, and II denotes fish caught at the second site. The first site was the North Branch and the second site was the unnamed trib to the North Branch)

Date: March 15, 2008
Location: North Branch of the Kokosing River (and a small unnamed tributary to the north). Both sites in Morrow County, west of Waterford, OH.
Water Level: Very high. The entire state is flooded due to rains and snow melting. USGS gages throughout Ohio state that most rivers are at flood stage. This was the reason why we went to streams that are probably normally very small. The North Branch had rapid moving water that measured a little less than 1m. The unnamed tributary had pools that were 0.8m deep but otherwise was probably less than 0.3m deep.
Water Quality: Although most streams in the state are high and very turbid, these two streams had clouded water, but clarity was still good. The North Branch, being a bigger stream, was the more turbid of the two.
Water Temp.: 3.4*C
Substrate: Cobble, gravel, and sand. The cobble was made of glacial till and some sandstone. Very clean substrate overall.
Collected:
Western Blacknose Dace (Rhinichthys obtusus), I&II

–very common at the second site, sampling the first site was difficult due to it being a larger, faster moving stream.
Creek Chub (Semotilus atromaculatus) I&II
Southern Redbelly Dace (Phoxinus erythrogaster) I&II

– these were very common in all the pools at the second site. We found them outside of the swift current along the grass shoreline of the first site as well. All size classes of these fish were found in good numbers.
Redside Dace (Clinostomus elongatus) II – these were very common in all the larger pools and along the undercuts at the second site. Once again, all size classes were present. This stream has healthy populations of both Redside Dace and Southern Redbelly Dace.
Central Striped Shiner (Luxilus chrysocephalus chrysocephalus) I&II
Silverjaw Minnow (Notropis buccatus) I

- only a few at the first stop, some were pretty large.
Central Stoneroller (Campostoma anomalum pullum) I&II

- very common throughout both sites. The adult fish were beginning to be in breeding condition. This male was pretty large and tuberculate. Most of the larger females were gravid.
Moxostoma sp. (Moxostoma sp.) I – a small redhorse, either a Golden or Black Redhorse was found at the first site.
Northern Hogsucker (Hypentelium nigricans) I&II – only small ones.
White Sucker (Catostomus commersonii commersonii) II – just a few little ones.
Rainbow Darter (Etheostoma caeuruleum) I&II – the most common darter here. They were mostly outside of the current though, pushed up into the grass because of the flooding. Most males were in breeding coloration. One Rainbow Darter was found in the mouth of a large Northern Mottled Sculpin.
Barred Fantail Darter (Etheostoma flabellare flabellare) I&II

– mostly small ones. Did find one large male though.
Northern Mottled Sculpin (Cottus bairdi bairdi) I&II

- found many gravid females. There were all size classes of Mottled Sculpins in great numbers throughout both of the sites.

Notes: Lighting was poor for photos, but I did the best with what I had. We used an 8’ seine at both sites.

Edited by dsmith73, 18 March 2008 - 01:06 PM.

Silverjaw Minnow (Notropis buccatus) I

Are they back in Notropis now? I thought they were Ericymba buccata.

I hate it when they switch.

Tom

yes they are Notropis and have been for 4 or 5 years I think. Tom for you and other Ohioians I'll post a complete list of species for Ohio that I put together a month or so ago. I'll post it in the Midwest section under it's own thread so it is more likely to be seen.

I'd like to change that Eastern Blacknose Dace to a Western Blacknose Dace (Rhinichthys obtusus), but ... where did the edit feature go?

I'd like to change that Eastern Blacknose Dace to a Western Blacknose Dace (Rhinichthys obtusus), but ... where did the edit feature go?

Your reports are always so informative and the pics are great too. It would be great if the forum would allow long term edits to be made to trip reports again.

Your reports are always so informative and the pics are great too. It would be great if the forum would allow long term edits to be made to trip reports again.

Thank you very much. Is the long term edit feature just removed from "Trip Reports" subforum?

I'd like to change that Eastern Blacknose Dace to a Western Blacknose Dace (Rhinichthys obtusus), but ... where did the edit feature go?

The edit feature was severely restricted. See here:
http://forum.nanfa.o...?showtopic=4037

What's the difference between the eastern and western blacknose dace?

I think the eastern form does not have as distinct of a stripe as the western form. I can't seem to remember where I read that but if I do I'll try to come back and site the source. I wish I could be more specific but perhaps someone else will be able to go into more detail.

I think the eastern form does not have as distinct of a stripe as the western form. I can't seem to remember where I read that but if I do I'll try to come back and site the source. I wish I could be more specific but perhaps someone else will be able to go into more detail.

I see. Thanks. And you wrote here that the eastern form is an Atlantic slope form. So I assume that what I find around here in western PA, or anywhere in the Ohio River drainage, will be the western form.

Now I see, they're both shown on Plate 16 of Page and Burr.

I think the eastern form does not have as distinct of a stripe as the western form. I can't seem to remember where I read that but if I do I'll try to come back and site the source. I wish I could be more specific but perhaps someone else will be able to go into more detail.

Eastern blacknose actually have a very distinct stripe. If anything, from pics I've seen, maybe the western is less distinct. Western also seem to have more red, at least in pics. I've never seen a western in person.
Here's a typical eastern.

Thanks for the pic Mike, like I said the details are fuzzy to me. Maybe it was the oposite I'll see if I can do some digging around tomorrow.

Eastern blacknose actually have a very distinct stripe. If anything, from pics I've seen, maybe the western is less distinct. Western also seem to have more red, at least in pics. I've never seen a western in person.

Yes, you're right. Compare your pic with Nate's pic. They look like Nate's pic around here.