Creek chubsucker facts for kids
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The creek chubsucker (Erimyzon oblongus) is a type of freshwater fish. It belongs to the sucker family, called Catostomidae.
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About the Creek Chubsucker
The creek chubsucker is one of three fish species in the Erimyzon group. These fish are part of the sucker family, Catostomidae. You can find them in eastern North America. They live in two main areas: streams along the eastern Coastal Plain or in mid-western streams east of the Central Plains.
Creek chubsuckers usually live in clear freshwater. They like places with plants, rocky riffles (shallow, fast-moving water), and calm pools.
Size and Appearance
This fish is usually small, less than 10 inches long. It weighs a little less than a pound. Males and females generally look the same. They usually live for five to seven years.
Young creek chubsuckers look different from adults. Young fish have a dark stripe along their sides. As they grow, this stripe fades.
Both male and female creek chubsuckers have rows of scales along their bodies. They have 4 to 18 rays in their dorsal fin (the fin on their back). They also have a swim bladder with two parts. Their lateral line (a sensory organ) is missing.
Special Features for Breeding
During breeding season, male creek chubsuckers change. They grow horn-like bumps called tubercles. Their colors become brighter. They also become protective of gravel areas in shallow water. These gravel spots are where they lay eggs.
What They Eat
Creek chubsuckers are bottom feeders. This means they look for food on the riverbed. They often turn over rocks to find tiny crustaceans, aquatic insects, and some algae.
History and Importance
Scientists believe that suckers, like the creek chubsucker, separated from minnows (Cyprinidae) about 50 million years ago. The creek chubsucker is not a game fish (fish caught for sport). It is also not important for commercial fishing.
However, young creek chubsuckers and their eggs are important food for fish-eating game fish. This helps keep those game fish populations healthy for people who enjoy fishing.
Conservation Status
Right now, the creek chubsucker is not considered in danger. Its conservation status is "least concern." But human activities can still harm them. Things like dams, pollution, and too much silt (muddy dirt) can affect their homes.
Where They Live
Creek chubsuckers are one of about 62 species in the Catostomidae family. Almost all of these species live only in North America.
You can find creek chubsuckers in many freshwater streams. They live along the Atlantic coast from Maine down to Georgia. They are also found in streams along the Gulf Coast, from Alabama to Texas. You can also see them in the Mississippi Valley. This includes parts of Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky. They also live in southern streams that flow into the Great Lakes (Michigan, Erie, and Ontario).
There's a gap between the eastern and western groups of these fish. They are not found in waterways from Florida north along the Appalachian Mountains.
Their Habitat
Adult creek chubsuckers often live alone in calm pools of slow-moving streams. They also like spring pools and quiet backwater areas. Young fish, however, can be found in small headwater streams.
During breeding season, groups of male and female fish swim upstream. They gather on clean rocky or gravel beds. Sometimes, they use sandy or plant-filled shallow water beds. Some populations are shrinking where there is a lot of siltation pollution.
What They Do
The creek chubsucker is a bottom-feeding fish in freshwater streams. Adult fish usually live alone. They stay near the bottom of slow-moving streams, looking for food.
Their Diet
Most of the creek chubsucker's diet includes tiny crustaceans like copepods and cladocerans. They also eat larvae of Chironomidae (a type of fly), bits of dead plants, algae, diatoms (tiny single-celled plants), small clams, and fly larvae.
Young Fish and Predators
Young creek chubsuckers often swim in groups with other minnows (Cyprinidae) in the middle of the water. Young creek chubsuckers are an important food source for game fish like pike and sunfish. But they grow quickly, which helps them escape from predators. This quick growth helps ensure new young fish join the population each year.
Sharing Their Home
Creek chubsuckers share their habitat with other suckers, like white suckers (Catostomus commersoni) and northern hogsuckers (Hypentelium nigracans). They also need similar places to lay their eggs. This can sometimes lead to competition for space and food.
Life Cycle and Reproduction
The spawning (egg-laying) season for the creek chubsucker is from March to May. The eastern group of fish lays eggs when the water is about 11 degrees Celsius, mostly at night. The western group lays eggs when the water is warmer, from 12 to 24 degrees Celsius, usually in the afternoon.
Spawning Sites
They like to lay eggs in small creeks. They look for small, clear spots on gravel bottoms in pools, just above faster-moving water.
Before spawning, males and females swim upstream if they can. Males protect their territories in water that moves at a medium speed. These spots are usually over gravel beds or near small pits made by other minnow species. Males don't dig these pits themselves, but they might move stones around with their snouts to make them better.
Females gather upstream from the males in quiet water. They will then drift backward into a male's territory. Once there, the female digs in the gravel with her snout. This seems to be a signal to the male that she is ready to lay eggs.
How They Spawn
Unlike most other sucker species, creek chubsuckers often spawn in groups of three. This means two males will be on either side of one female.
The actual spawning lasts only three to five seconds. The males press against the female. All three fish release their eggs and sperm. They also quiver and stir the gravel with their tail and anal fins.
Eggs and Young
The fertilized eggs sink to the bottom and are slightly sticky. Their color can be light to deep golden yellow. The yolk takes up most of the egg, and there are no oil drops inside.
A single female can produce a lot of eggs, from 8,500 to over 80,000! Even with so many eggs, you don't find huge numbers of these fish. Females can live for 6 or 7 years, but males usually live for only 5 years.
Protecting the Creek Chubsucker
The International Union for Conservation of Nature says the creek chubsucker is currently of "least concern." This means it's not in immediate danger. If you find creek chubsuckers in an area, it often means other, more popular game fish are also doing well there.
There isn't a specific plan to control or watch these fish. But because they live in so many places, many of their homes are inside protected national and state parks. This helps make sure they will be around for future generations.
Threats to Their Habitat
However, some human activities, called anthropogenic factors, can cause their numbers to drop. One big problem is siltation pollution. This is when too much mud and dirt get into the water. Siltation comes from things like construction, logging, and farming.
Dams can also be a problem for these fish. Dams can block fish from reaching areas they need for breeding. But most places where creek chubsuckers live are small streams, which might not be suitable for building large dams.
What Can Be Done
The creek chubsucker is an important fish in flowing water systems. It helps the ecosystem by eating dead plants and controlling the numbers of macro-invertebrates (small water creatures) and algae. It's also a key food source for many game fish.
It's important to study and watch the populations of these fish. This helps us understand how healthy the local ecosystem is. We should take more water and sediment samples. We should also use methods like "mark and recapture" to gather information on their numbers and health. This involves catching fish, marking them, and releasing them to see how many are caught again later.
The eggs of creek chubsuckers are a valuable food source for many creatures in the stream. We should focus on helping more adult fish breed. This ensures there are enough young fish to provide food for other animals.
It's also important to create buffer zones around streams. These are protected areas that help prevent pollution, especially sediment pollution. Too much silt fills the gravel beds where eggs are laid and stops the eggs from getting enough oxygen. Dams can also stop fish from reaching their breeding grounds, but we need more information on how much they affect the creek chubsucker.
Images for kids
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Eastern Creek Chubsucker, Erimyzon oblongus juvenile
See also
In Spanish: Erimyzon oblongus para niños
