Semotilus atromaculatus, Creek chub

You can sponsor this page

Semotilus atromaculatus (Mitchill, 1818)

Creek chub
Upload your photos and videos
Pictures | Google image
Image of Semotilus atromaculatus (Creek chub)
Semotilus atromaculatus
Male picture by Seelig, C.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Cypriniformes (Carps) > Leuciscidae (Minnows) > Plagopterinae
Etymology: Semotilus: Greek, sema = banner (dorsal fin) + Greek, tilos = spotted; used by Rafinesque (Ref. 45335);  atromaculatus: From the words ater, meaning black; and maculatus, spotted (Ref. 10294).
More on author: Mitchill.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; demersal. Temperate; 0°C - 30°C (Ref. 35682); 55°N - 31°N

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

North America: most of east USA and southeast Canada in Atlantic, Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, Mississippi, and Gulf basins as far west as Saskatchewan, Wyoming, and Brazos River in Texas, but absent from Florida and south Georgia; isolated population in the upper Pecos and Canadian River systems, New Mexico. Introduced elsewhere in USA.

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 30.3 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 10294); common length : 19.1 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12193); max. reported age: 8 years (Ref. 12193)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal soft rays (total): 8. Semotilus atromaculatus is distinguished by having the following characters: body barely compressed at front, compressed at caudal peduncle; mouth pointed; 47-65 scales on lateral line; dorsal fin with 8 rays; large black spot at front of dorsal fin base, black caudal spot (not distinct in large individuals); large terminal mouth reaching past front of eye. Coloration consists of gray-brown above, dark stripe along back; herringbone lines on upper side in young; dusky black stripe (darkest on young) along olive-silver side, around snout and onto upper lip; black bar along back of gill cover; and orange at dorsal base, orange lower fins, blue on side of head, pink on lower half of head and body, and 6-12 large tubercles on head in breeding males (Ref. 86798).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits rocky and sandy pools of headwaters, creeks and small rivers (Ref. 5723, 86798). Mostly found in tiny, intermittent streams. Young feed on small aquatic invertebrates while adults consume small fish, crayfish and other large invertebrates (Ref. 10294). One of the most common fishes in eastern North America (Ref. 86798).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Male digs a pit in the stream bottom by removing mouthful of gravel, guards the pit and attempts to attract females. Spawning occurs over the pit. Male guards the nest from intruders. As eggs are deposited in the pit, the male covers them with stones and excavates another pit immediately downstream. As spawning continues and the male covers the eggs, a long ridge of gravel develops.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr, 2011. A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 663p. (Ref. 86798)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 01 March 2012

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

Countries
FAO areas
Ecosystems
Occurrences
Introductions
Stocks
Ecology
Diet
Food items
Food consumption
Ration
Common names
Synonyms
Metabolism
Predators
Ecotoxicology
Reproduction
Maturity
Spawning
Spawning aggregation
Fecundity
Eggs
Egg development
Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Length-frequencies
Morphometrics
Morphology
Larvae
Larval dynamics
Recruitment
Abundance
BRUVS
References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Nutrients
Mass conversion
Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Special reports

Download XML

Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Alien/Invasive Species database | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5625   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00603 (0.00250 - 0.01453), b=3.05 (2.84 - 3.26), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.0   ±0.5 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 3.9 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tmax=8; tm=2.5; K=0.41; Fec=2,225).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low to moderate vulnerability (34 of 100).