I decided to go back to the ashuelot (a tributary of the connecticut river) where i found the blacknose dace and to try my newly learned kicknetting experience.

It was difficult, unlike the Schohaire the rocks here were of very uneven size and many are too large to kick net.

I ended up getting two cyprinids, one of which didn't survive entering the tank (it paniced and injured itself).

I am having trouble identifying them though.

Their side has a double line, white above and a black line below. Where the black line meets the tail it forms a black spot. Above the black line the side is a tannish creamish color and reflects gold, below that it is a more typical shinery whitish silver. (though after being in the tank a couple hors now both sides look whitish silver). The two identification marks (a spot at the back of the dorsal fin and one at the end of the tail formed by a widening of the black side band) do not fit any fish in "freshwater fishes of new hampshire.

Even more strangely the species of shiner and dace similar to it either have identification traits not found on this one (no second black lateral line like a northern redbelly, no black at the front of the dorsal fin like a creek chub) or are not found in this part of the river according to my freshwater fishes of new hampshire. (lake chub are only in the northern connecticut river, bridle shiners are not in the connecticut river drainage).

I have no clue what it is, sadly my digital camera is a cheap model which cannot take pictures of small creatures that are identifiable so i cannot post an image of it.

Note, i already ruled out the more familiar species such as golden shiner, common shiner, and fallfish. (unless the young ones or breeding ones have different coloration that may look like this

Edited by FirstChAoS, 17 May 2009 - 09:49 PM.

A quick update, i threw out my other unidentified shiner just now (he went belly up). I am not suprised, though his behavior was not nearly as extreme as the first one that died but he did show odd traits that I thought were signs of stress. (sitting nose down and not horizontal, hugging the surface of the water, swimming around the tank as if lost).

My darter is still doing fine though (and has in two feedings come to associate opening the tank with food and waits eagrely when i open it for anything).

The shiners maybe reactibg to your tank being uncycled a trace if ammonia may have killed them I suggest no more fish till it fully cycled. Go to ur local fish store and ask if you can have some used filter media from one of their tanks

I ended up getting two cyprinids, one of which didn't survive entering the tank (it paniced and injured itself).

I am having trouble identifying them though.

Note, i already ruled out the more familiar species such as golden shiner, common shiner, and fallfish. (unless the young ones or breeding ones have different coloration that may look like this

Just as a piece of advice, and warning: be careful when taking species you haven't ID'd away from the water. I don't know your area, but if there are any endangered or otherwise listed fish, you're committing a felony. In more practical terms, little fish sometimes grow up to be really big fish, so it helps to know what you're signing up for when you take them home.

Hopefully, someone who's familiar with the area can fill you in on their ID.