Clear chub facts for kids
The clear chub (Hybopsis winchelli) is a small, interesting freshwater fish. It belongs to the carp family, which is called Cyprinidae. This fish is found in rivers and creeks in the southeastern United States.
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What Does the Clear Chub Look Like?
The clear chub is a unique fish with some interesting features. It has small, whisker-like parts near its mouth. These are called "maxillary barbels." Some clear chubs have very clear whiskers. Others have tiny ones, or even none at all.
Clear Chub's Colors and Patterns
The colors of the clear chub can also change. Most of these fish have a dark stripe. This stripe runs along their sides. It goes from their snout, over their gill covers, and to the base of their tail. This dark stripe often gets darker near the tail. It forms a blurry spot there.
You might also see a dark line on their back, before the dorsal fin. There can be a small dark spot on the dorsal fin too. The edges of their scales often have dark pigment. This makes them look like they have a cool cross-hatched pattern. Below the side stripe, their bodies are usually white.
Head and Body Shape
The clear chub has a flat head. Its snout is rounded and cone-shaped. This snout hangs a bit over its small mouth. Its eyes are quite large. The scales on its body are large and look the same all over.
A special line runs straight along its side. This is called the lateral line. It has tiny pores and about 39 to 42 scales. The biggest clear chubs can grow to be about 70 millimetres (2.8 in) long. That's about the length of your pinky finger!
Where Does the Clear Chub Live?
The clear chub likes to live in creeks and rivers. These can be small streams or medium-sized rivers. They often prefer areas with sandy or silty bottoms. You can also find them in quiet pools. These pools are usually next to faster-moving parts of the river called riffles.
How Do Clear Chubs Have Babies?
Clear chubs usually lay their eggs in late winter or early spring. This happens between February and March. The water temperature is usually between 10–17 °C (50–63 °F) when they spawn.
After the eggs hatch, the baby fish are called larvae. These tiny larvae stay in shallow water. This water is usually less than 1 metre (3.3 ft) deep. The water moves very slowly, only about 1.8–4.0 centimetres per second (0.71–1.57 in/s). This helps the young fish stay safe.
Where Can You Find the Clear Chub?
The clear chub lives in many places in the southeastern United States. You can find them in rivers that flow into the eastern Mississippi River. They also live in southwestern Mississippi and Louisiana.
Their home range goes east along the Gulf Coast. This includes the Mobile river system in Alabama and Georgia. They are also in the Perdido River system. Their range extends to the Apalachicola River basin. You can find them in rivers that drain into the Gulf of Mexico. This includes the Ocklockonee River in Florida and the Flint River in Georgia. Their range reaches all the way to the Mississippi River in Mississippi.
How Did It Get Its Name?
The clear chub's scientific name is winchelli. This name comes from a professor named Alexander Winchell. Professor Winchell collected some of these fish. He gave them to Dr. Girard, who was a scientist. Dr. Girard then used these fish to officially name and describe the clear chub. Professor Winchell found his fish in the Black Warrior River in Alabama.
See also
- Cyprinidae (General)
