Hornyhead chub facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Hornyhead chub |
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The hornyhead chub (Nocomis biguttatus) is a small type of minnow. It belongs to the Cyprinid family of fish. These fish mostly live in small rivers and streams. You can find them in the northern central USA and even up into Canada. Adult hornyhead chubs like to live in rocky parts of rivers where the water flows faster.
Contents
- Where Hornyhead Chubs Live (Range)
- What Hornyhead Chubs Look Like (Description)
- Where Hornyhead Chubs Live (Habitat)
- Life Cycle and Reproduction
- What Hornyhead Chubs Eat (Diet)
- Why Hornyhead Chubs Are Important to Humans
- How Hornyhead Chubs Are Protected (Conservation Status)
- Why They Are Called Hornyhead Chubs (Etymology)
- See also
Where Hornyhead Chubs Live (Range)
The hornyhead chub can be found in many places. Its range stretches from Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota in the west. It goes east to the Hudson River area and south into Oklahoma. In South Dakota, these chubs are at the western edge of their usual home.
They have been seen in several rivers and creeks in the Minnesota River Basin. This includes the Yellowbank River, Monigan Creek, and Gary Creek. They were also found in Big Stone Lake. In 1952, hornyhead chubs were seen in the Big Sioux River, but they haven't been found there since. This means they might no longer live in that area.
You can also find them in the Mississippi River basin and the Red River drainage. They live in the Ohio River and lower Kentucky River systems too. Their range goes from New York west to the Dakotas. Some groups are found in the Platte and Colorado River Systems. They live as far north as Manitoba and as far south as Kentucky.
What Hornyhead Chubs Look Like (Description)
The hornyhead chub is a medium-sized fish. Its mouth is slightly below its snout (called subterminal). It has a tiny whisker-like part (a barbel) at the corner of its mouth. This fish does not have teeth.
Its back is olive brown, and its sides are silvery. Its belly is white. It also has a dark line along its side (a lateral stripe). There is a spot at the base of its tail (a caudal spot), which can be hard to see in older fish. Its fins often have cool patterns.
The hornyhead chub has a strong, torpedo-shaped body (called fusiform). It is round when you look at it from the front. Most adults are about 10 to 15 centimeters (4 to 6 inches) long. The biggest ones can be about 22.5 centimeters (9 inches).
It has a tail that looks like a fork. It has one short fin on its back (a dorsal fin) with 8 soft rays and no sharp spines. Its fins on its belly (pelvic fins) are located near its stomach. It does not have an extra small fin near its tail (an adipose fin). Its fin on its underside near the tail (an anal fin) has 7 soft rays and no spines.
Special features of this fish include its slightly low mouth and the small barbel. It also has 38 to 48 scales along its side. The dark lateral stripe and caudal spot are also unique.
When they are ready to breed, male chubs grow many large, pointed bumps (called tubercles) on top of their heads. They also have smaller bumps on their front fins (pectoral fins). A red or orange spot appears on the bony plate behind their eyes (the opercle). Young chubs look like adults but have clearer lateral stripes and caudal spots. Their tails are usually more reddish than adult tails.
Where Hornyhead Chubs Live (Habitat)
Hornyhead chubs prefer rocky pools and fast-flowing parts of creeks. They also live in small to medium-sized rivers. They like sections of streams with both shallow, fast-moving water (riffles) and deeper, slower-moving water (pools).
While they are sometimes found in dark, murky streams, they prefer clear water. The clearer the water, the more likely you are to find them. Plants in the water don't seem to affect how many adult chubs are around. However, young chubs use plants a lot for hiding. They are found in higher numbers in plant-filled areas for their first few weeks of life. These fish are usually found in water that is about 60 to 181 centimeters (2 to 6 feet) deep.
Life Cycle and Reproduction
Hornyhead chubs lay their eggs from May through June. They are ready to have babies when they are 2 to 3 years old.
Male chubs build special nests. They make a cup-shaped dip in the riverbed. Then, they pile up small stones around it. These nests can be as wide as 1 to 3 feet and 6 to 8 inches high. The eggs and sperm are released into these dips and then covered with gravel.
Male chubs protect their nests from other male hornyhead chubs. But they don't chase away other types of fish. Because of this, other fish sometimes lay their eggs in the hornyhead chub nests. This can sometimes lead to different types of fish mixing (hybridization). One male chub might mate with several females.
What Hornyhead Chubs Eat (Diet)
The hornyhead chub uses its eyes to find food. It is most active during the day. They eat many different kinds of plants and animals.
Young hornyhead chubs eat tiny creatures like rotifers, cladocerans, and copepods. They also eat small insect larvae that live in the water. Older chubs eat bigger things. Their diet includes clams, snails, crayfish, worms, aquatic insect larvae, and even other small fish.
Why Hornyhead Chubs Are Important to Humans
People sometimes use hornyhead chubs as bait when they go fishing. This is because bigger fish like smallmouth bass, northern pike, and rock bass are known to eat hornyhead chubs.
How Hornyhead Chubs Are Protected (Conservation Status)
Overall, the hornyhead chub is considered a secure species around the world. This means there are enough of them, and they are not in danger. This is called "Least Concern" (LC).
However, in some states, they are in trouble. They are considered Critically Imperiled (meaning they are in extreme danger) in Wyoming, Kansas, and Pennsylvania. They are thought to be Possibly or Presumed Extirpated (meaning they might be gone from those areas) in Colorado and Nebraska.
Why They Are Called Hornyhead Chubs (Etymology)
The name Nocomis comes from an Indigenous (North American) name. It was used by Charles Girard. In the Ojibwe language, "nokomiss" means "grandmother." This fish belongs to the group called ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii). It is part of the carp order (Cypriniformes) and the minnow family (Cyprinidae), specifically the Leuciscinae group.
- Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2006). "Nocomis biguttatus" in FishBase. April 2006 version.
- "Hornyhead Chub | Fish." Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, n.d. Web. 4 May 2015.
- "HORNYHEAD CHUB." SD GFP. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2015.
- "Fish Details." Fish Details. University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute, n.d. Web. 2 May 2015.
- Gundersen, Jeff, Paul Tucker, and Richards Carl. "Aquaculture Potential for Hornyhead (Redtail) Chubs " Oecologia 175.1 (2014): 325-34. 2008. Web.
- Report on the Status of the Hornyhead Chub Nocomis Biguttatus in Canada. Ottawa: Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, 1988. Web.
- "Hornyhead Chub." Fishes of Boneyard Creek. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 May 2015.
See also
In Spanish: Nocomis biguttatus para niños
