Fish in the Cacapon River III (Minnows)
Fish in the Cacapon River III
(by Don Robinson)
This is the third article in the series and is devoted to the minnow, order Cyprinids. From the minnow family, the Cacapon River gets its largest as well as smallest fish. I was unable to locate pictures I could use of these, but the Peterson Field Guide would be a good resource for those interested.The links provided should give a photo and further description.
Cutlips Minnow (Exoglossum maxillingua) About 5” long. Spawns late spring early summer, builds a mound of gravel 1 foot in diameter, a few inches high in clear streams. Likes clear pools and riffles of rivers and creeks. A curious thing about this fish is that it has a habit of plucking the eyes out of other fishes. Picture.
Fallfish (Semotilus corporalis). This is the largest minnow native to eastern North America, but not the largest in the Cacapon. They can grow to around 20 inches. The male builds the largest nest known, a gravel mound nest to three feet high or more with a pit on the downstream side, to protect the eggs laid by its mate. They are sexually mature in 2 to 3 years, and spawn in late April through early June. The adults feed on insects, crayfish, other fish, and algae, and the young feed on phytoplankton, zooplankton and insects. Picture.
River chub (Nocomis micropogon). Picture. Length can go to around 12 inches. They spawn mid-spring to early summer. The breeding male has a pink-blue head and body and large tubercles on its snout. Fishermen often use this minnow as bait. They are sexually mature at 2 to 3 years, and are bottom feeders, eating insect larva, worms, crustaceans, mollusks, other fish and some plants.
Central Stoneroller (Campostoma anomalum) Picture. Length is to about 8 inches. They are sexually mature in 1 to 5 years. The breeding male has a black band on orange dorsal and anal fins, and digs a spawning pit. They feed on algae and debris.
Carp (Cyprinus carpio) Picture. These sometimes huge fish can grow to 48 inches. I have seen from a canoe carp that were at least three feet in length. This fish is an invasive bottom feeder, introduced into this country in 1831 and now widely distributed. Certainly by weight, this is the largest of the Cacapon fish. They become sexually mature in 2 to 4 years. Eggs are deposited in backwaters and along the shoreline in late may or early June. A female can lay 2 million eggs in a season. For food, this fish roots around on muddy bottoms for plants, fish eggs, insects and other invertebrates, thus increasing turbidity as well as destroying the nests of other fish. It is a sport fish for some, who enjoy the size and challenge of the catch, but few people eat them as they are bony and muddy tasting unless properly prepared. There is a fisherman’s joke that proper preparation involves nailing the fish to a board, scaling it and gutting it, then throwing it away and eating the board.
Bluntnose minnow (Pimephales notatus) Picture.
Its food consists of algae, insect larva, diatoms. Spawning males develop a black head and bluish body. Spawning Spring to Fall, their sticky eggs are laid under rocks and logs. The female lays 40-400 eggs, and the male guards the nest, fanning away silt, defending against predation, and removing eggs that are damaged by fungus. They hatch in 8-12 days. Slightly fatter females are sexually mature at 1 year. The males are slightly longer, reach a peak at around two years, though the lifespan is only 5 years. They like clear, slow water with rocky bottoms. This tiny fish (to 4.25 inches) is prey to almost all of the other fish in the Cacapon, and also birds and reptiles. For protection, they are usually found in schools. These are the smallest mature fish in the Cacapon.
Shiners
Spotfin shiner (Cyprinella spiloptera) Picture. Satinfin shiner (Cyprinella analostana) Picture. There is a place my family often paddles to lie down in swift water for the relaxing ‘body massage’. I think one of these fish is common to that stretch of river, as the beautiful white fin tips are a source of awe and wonder. I wear swim goggles and watch as the small fish (up to 4.75 inches) feed on things too small for me to see that pass by the fish in the swift current. Probably they are eating micro-crustaceans, insect larva, algae and debris. They are sexually mature in 1 to 2 years and spawn from mid June (mid May for the satinfin) to mid August, laying eggs in crevices, tree roots and other bottom layers. The satinfin differs from the spotfin in looks since the satinfin has no dark blotches on the dorsal fin. I am going to find out this summer which of these we’ve been observing by checking for the blotches.