Clear chub

Clear chub
Scientific classification
Kingdom:Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Actinopterygii
Order:Cypriniformes
Family:Cyprinidae
Subfamily:Leuciscinae
Genus:Hybopsis
Species: H. winchelli
Binomial name
Hybopsis winchelli
(Girard, 1856)
Synonyms
  • Notropis winchelli (Girard, 1856)

The clear chub (Hybopsis winchelli) is a species of freshwater fish in the carp family (Cyprinidae).

Description

Hybopsis winchelli is a species of freshwater fish with terminal maxillary barbels at exist in various degrees of development. Some populations have well developed barbels while others have rudimentary barbels. Other populations have barbels that are nonexistent.

Just as the barbel development is variable, so is the pigmentation of the fish. Most populations exhibit a dark band that runs laterally along the sides, opercle, snout and causal base of the fish. In most populations, the pigmentation intensifies at the causal base that forms an ill-defined, continuous causal spot. There may also be a predorsal stripe and a small dark spot on the dorsal fin. The scales themselves have a pigment concentration along the edges of the scales so that they give the fish a cross-hatched appearance. The sides below the lateral line are white, and the only melanophores are scattered along the base of the anal fin.

The head of the fish is flat with a rounded conic snout that overhangs a small, central mouth. The eyes are relatively large, and the scales are relatively large and uniform all over the body of the fish.

The lateral line is straight and completely pored with about 39-42 scales.

The largest specimens measure about 70mm in length.[2]

Habitat

The habitat of the clear chub includes creeks and rivers ranging from small to medium sizes. The clear chub usually prefers sand-silt bottoms, or pools adjacent to riffle areas.[3]

Reproduction and Life Cycle

Spawning usually occurs between the months of February to March in water temperatures of 10-17 degrees Celsius. The larvae usually remain in shallow water, which is generally less that 1 meter deep that only moves at a rate of 1.8-4.0 cm/s.[4]

Distribution

The Range of the clear chub includes the eastern tributaries of the Mississippi River, southwestern Mississippi and Louisiana, and extends east along the Gulf Slope to and including the Mobile drainage basin in Alabama and Georgia, as well as the Perdido River system east to the Apalachicola River basin, and Gulf of Mexico drainages from the Ocklockonee River in Florida, and Flint River in Georgia, to the Mississippi River in Mississippi. [1]

Etymology

The species name, winchelli, originates from Professor Alexander Winchell. He provided Dr. Girard with the specimens he needed to categorize the clear chub. Winchell acquired his specimens from the Black Warrior River, Alabama.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 NatureServe (2013). "Hybopsis winchelli". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2013: e.T202121A18235757. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T202121A18235757.en. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  2. ↑ Douglas, Neil (1974). Freshwater Fishes of Louisiana. Baton Rouge, LA: Claitor's Publishing Division. pp. 106–107.
  3. ↑ "Hybopsis winchelli (Clear Chub)". www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved 2017-03-31.
  4. 1 2 Ross, Stephen (2001). Inland Fishes of Mississippi. University Press of Mississippi. pp. 226–228. ISBN 1-57806-246-2.


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