The blotched chub (''Erimystax insignis'') is a species of freshwater

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

belonging to the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Leuciscidae Leuciscidae is a family of freshwater ray-finned fishes, formerly classified as a subfamily of the Cyprinidae, which contains the true minnows. Members of the Old World (OW) clade of minnows within this subfamily are known as European minnow ...

, the shiners, daces and minnows. This fish species in native to the Southeastern region of the United States.

Appearance

The blotched chub is a slender, silvery minnow with dark I-shaped vertical patches along the lateral portion of the body.

Distribution and habitat

This species is found primarily in the

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

River drainages of southern states. Although, a subspecies is known to inhabit the Upper Tennessee and the

Ridge and Valley The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Highlands division. The physiographic province is divided into three sec ...

region. The majority of the Tennessee River is inhabited by the blotched chub and its subspecies. The blotched chub's preferred habitat is the clear riffle areas of small creeks. These areas must have plenty of substrate, which is required for this species to spawn.

Ecology

Spawning season for this fish is at its highest in the months of March and April, when water temperatures reach . Though, this may vary from year to year depending upon factors such as, rain amounts, sedimentation, and surrounding environmental temperatures. It has been found that this species typically spawns earlier than that of others in the family Cyprinidae.

References

Erimystax Freshwater fish of the United States Fish described in 1956 Taxa named by Carl Leavitt Hubbs {{Leuciscinae-stub