Non-game Fish Flashcards

For Hocking Ichthyology Students

Who is this?

Central Stoneroller Minnow

Family: Cyprinidae (changed to Leuciscidae)

Visual Id: Subterminal mouth which lacks grooves, bronze/olive green coloration, faint lateral stripe that runs down the side starting at the nose, sloping head and back, eye can be an orange color to a red-brown.

Breeding males: Dark crescent after the operculum, a dark streak on the dorsal fin, and blueish tubercles.

Who is he?

Bluntnose Minnow

Family: Cyprinidae (changed to Leuciscidae)

Visual Id: Blunted head, dark lateral stripe down the length of the body, dark dot towards front on dorsal, dorsal has one short ray at the front of the fin then arcs.

Breeding Males: tubercles on front of face, colors more saturated.

Who is this?

Silverjaw Minnow

Family: Cyprinidae (changed to Leuciscidae)

Visual Id: Mirror-like striping around cheek, long drooping face, evenly sized and spaced scales, sometimes has a divot on the nose, subterminal mouth.

Breeding Males: Do not change appearance for breeding season.

Who is he?

Spotfin Shiner

Family: Cyprinidae (changed to Leuciscidae)

Visual Id: Pointed face that narrows to a rounded point, dark smear on dorsal fin, dorsal fin like a small sail, body is slightly deep, body silvery, scales are evenly sized and form diamond shapes.

Breeding males: Fine tubercles on face, body has a steel blue sheen, and the pectoral fin/anal fin/pelvic fins are yellow.

Who is this fish?

Creek Chub

Family: Cyprinidae (changed to Leuciscidae)

Visual id: Dark lateral stripe down the side that runs through the eye, body split light and dark by lateral stripe, large head and mouth, dark dot at the origin of the dorsal fin, generally robust.

Breeding Male: Paired fins turn a salmon pink color, large tubercles form on front of head, underside turns a yellowy color, overall more vibrant coloration.

Who is this?

Striped Shiner

Family: Cyprinidae (changed to Leuciscidae)

Visual id: Scales that appear stretched behind the operculum, infrequent patches of dark scales mixed in with silvery, scales form a faint v shape behind the dorsal fin, deep body, relatively big head and mouth.

Breeding male: Colors become vibrant, sides turn gold to pink, fins are outlined with a scarlet red, fine tubercles appear on the front of the head.

Who is this?

Johnny Darter

Family: Percidae

Visual id:

-Female: Tan coloration with small dark spots above the lateral line, w and x shapes formed by the dark blotches that run with the lateral line, below the lateral line is a light tan to cream color, stripe on nose in front of eye.

-Male(breeding): Males are generally the same color as females and do not change. If anything males are slightly darker and saturated in coloration.

Who is this fish?

Banded Darter

Family: Percidae

Visual id:

-Female: Smeary w shapes with green underneath in bands along the length of the fish, several saddle shapes blotches on the back.

-Male(breeding): Green, vertical bands line the side of the fish, green on chin and underneath the operculum, dorsal fin is outlined in green then a red-orange in the center.

Who is this?

Green Sunfish

Family: Centrarchidae

Visual id: Large head and mouth, Rounded pectoral fins that don’t extend past the eye when folded forward, operculum outlined in orange, wavy streaks of bright turquoise “painted” on cheek below eye, bright turquoise dotted all along the length of the fish, base color is a deep green, fins outlined in orange to yellow.

Who is this?

White Sucker

Family: Catostomidae

Visual id: Forehead is sloping and rounded as opposed to divoted between the eyes, base coloration is a bronzy-gold, scales not so reflective, subterminal mouth is ridged as opposed to bumpy, patterning is mottled as opposed to saddled, scales are relatively fine and form diamond patterns.