Hornyhead chub

The hornyhead chub (Nocomis biguttatus) is a species of freshwater fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, the shiners, daces and minnows. It mainly inhabits small rivers and streams of the northern central USA, up into Canada. The adults inhabit faster, rocky pools of rivers.

Habitat

The hornyhead chub is found in rocky pools and runs of creeks and small to medium-sized rivers. The hornyhead chub inhabits riffle/pool sections of small streams to medium-sized rivers. Although they are occasionally found in dark-water streams, they are more commonly found in clear-water streams. Presence is inversely related to turbidity. Vegetation does not necessarily have an effect on abundance of adults, however, the young use vegetation extensively for cover and are found in higher concentrations in these areas, at least for the first several weeks to one month of life. This species is commonly found in water depths

of 2–6 ft (61–183 cm).

Distribution

The hornyhead chub ranges from Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota, east to the Hudson River drainage and south to Oklahoma. In South Dakota, the hornyhead chub is at the western edge of its range. Hornyhead chubs have been found in several water bodies in the Minnesota River Basin including the north and south forks of the Yellowbank River, Monigan Creek, Cobb Creek, Whetstone Creek, the North Fork of Whetstone Creek and Gary Creek in Roberts, Grant and Deuel Counties, as well as in Big Stone Lake in Grant County. In 1952, hornyhead chubs were documented to occur in the Big Sioux River drainage, but the exact location is unknown. The hornyhead chub has not been documented in the Big Sioux River drainage since the finding in 1952, and is likely extirpated from this watershed. They are also found in the Mississippi River basin, Red River drainage, Ohio River and lower Kentucky River systems. They can be found from New York west into the Dakotas with isolated populations in the Platte and Colorado River Systems, and north from Manitoba and south into Kentucky. There are hornyhead chubs in Georgia below Chattahoochee Forest National Fish Hatchery on Rock Creek and Toccoa River in Suches, GA.

Behaviour

The hornyhead chub is a visual feeder that is active primarily during daylight. A variety of plant and animal food items are commonly reported for hornyhead chubs. Animal food items for the young include: rotifers, cladocerans, copepods, chironomids, and aquatic insect larvae. Older hornyhead chubs are known to consume: clams, snails, crayfish, worms, aquatic insect larvae, and fish.