Yellowfin madtom facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Yellowfin madtom |
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The yellowfin madtom (Noturus flavipinnis) is a small fish that belongs to the Ictaluridae family, which includes catfish. This fish is found only in the southeastern United States. Long ago, the yellowfin madtom lived in many parts of the upper Tennessee River area. However, people thought it had disappeared by the time scientists officially named it.
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Where the Yellowfin Madtom Lives
Today, you can mostly find the yellowfin madtom in Citico Creek in Tennessee. It has also been brought back to Abrams Creek in Virginia. Before 1893, this fish was believed to live all over the upper Tennessee River system.
When scientists described the yellowfin madtom in 1969, they thought it was extinct. This was about 30 years after the Norris Dam was built on the Clinch River. Since then, small groups of yellowfin madtoms have been found in other places. These include Copper Creek and the Clinch River in Virginia, and the Powell River in Tennessee. Some were also found in streams in northern Georgia, but they are now gone from Georgia.
Yellowfin madtoms like to live in calm waters and pools. They hide around rocks that are smaller than 30 centimeters (about 1 foot) and among tree roots. They prefer clear creeks and small rivers.
Yellowfin Madtom Habits and Diet
The yellowfin madtom is a night animal, meaning it is most active after dark. It eats whatever it can find. Its diet includes small water bugs, tiny fish, and dead plant or animal bits. During the day, the yellowfin madtom often hides in piles of branches or cracks in rocks. It can even bury itself under several inches of gravel.
This fish can live in many different kinds of places. It can survive in very clean, small streams like Citico Creek. It can also live in larger, warmer, and very muddy rivers like the Powell River.
Scientists do not know exactly which animals hunt the yellowfin madtom. However, this fish has colors that help it blend in with its surroundings. It also hides during the day. Both of these are ways it tries to avoid being eaten. The yellowfin madtom is very much a night creature and does not try to escape if caught.
It usually lives in pools and calm parts of streams that are no more than 2 meters (about 6.5 feet) deep. The water usually moves at a medium speed and is free of mud. This allows the fish to bury itself in the gravel and rocks.
Another fish, N. baileyi, is a close relative and was thought to be a big competitor for the yellowfin madtom. But after a small dam was built in 1973, these two fish meet less often. Both are small catfish, live in the same rivers, and their numbers are decreasing. It seems that separating the yellowfin madtom from its main competitor might have actually hurt its population, as they started competing more among themselves.
Life Cycle and Reproduction
The yellowfin madtom does not live very long, usually up to four years. They are often found in the same pools and streams where they were born. Their breeding season starts in late May and lasts until late July.
Male yellowfin madtoms can mate once during the breeding season. They build and guard nests that hold between 30 and 100 eggs. Females, however, can lay eggs twice in one breeding season. They produce 121 to 278 eggs per season, and about 89 eggs hatch on average. The eggs usually hatch in eight days. The male fish guards the eggs and the newly hatched babies for two weeks.
Yellowfin madtoms become old enough to reproduce when they are two years old. They usually live through two breeding seasons. They often use clean, mud-free pools and streams to breed. They also bury their eggs under rocks.
Protecting the Yellowfin Madtom
The yellowfin madtom is listed as a threatened species by the government. It is also considered endangered in Tennessee and Virginia. Farming activities near the shallow creeks and streams where this fish lives have caused its population to shrink. This makes it hard for them to recover.
Efforts to help their population grow began in 1986 at the University of Tennessee. Later, this work moved to Conservation Fisheries, Inc. (CFI) in Knoxville. Since there were not enough fish in Citico Creek to take adults, scientists collected eggs from nests. These eggs were then raised in special labs at CFI. CFI was also allowed to keep adult yellowfin madtoms in captivity to breed them in their labs.
From 1986 to 2003, two to three groups of yellowfin madtom eggs were taken from Citico Creek. These were raised in captivity and then released into Abrams Creek. Later, the fish raised in captivity were released into both Abrams Creek and Citico Creek. This was done to help bring back the population in Abrams Creek and save the population in Citico Creek.
The yellowfin madtom has had a 53% survival rate for the egg groups collected. New fish have been found in Abrams Creek almost every year since 1994. In 2003, only 9 yellowfin madtoms were found in Abrams Creek. However, scientists believed these fish were born in the wild. This was because no tagged fish had been released since 2001. This shows that the project to bring them back to Abrams Creek seems to have worked.
To help the restoration project in Abrams Creek, several groups have worked together. These include the National Park Service, the United States Forest Service, the University of Tennessee, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. They have worked to improve the water and habitat of Abrams Creek. These groups helped remove cattle and restore plants along the banks of Abrams Creek and its smaller streams. The goal is to reduce the amount of mud in Abrams Creek. Mud has been shown to be the yellowfin madtom's biggest problem.
Since 1986, yellowfin madtoms from Citico Creek have been caught and bred in labs. They were then released into Abrams Creek in Tennessee. In 1957, half of the 64 fish species in Abrams Creek were removed to increase trout fishing. From 1986 to 2003, the number of yellowfin madtoms in Abrams Creek grew to 1574. Now, they are no longer released into Abrams Creek.
Images for kids
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A yellowfin madtom fish.
See also
In Spanish: Noturus flavipinnis para niños
