The bigmouth chub (''Nocomis platyrhynchus'') is a species of fish native to

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

Description

The bigmouth chub has a body length that averages 15.2 centimeters and can reach up to 21.4 centimeters. The chub has an elongated body that is nearly circular in cross section. It has a triangular head and a pointy snout. The mouth of the chub is medium-sized and has a

barbell A barbell is a piece of exercise equipment used in weight training, bodybuilding, weightlifting, powerlifting and strongman, consisting of a long bar, usually with weights attached at each end. Barbells range in length from to above , alth ...

on each side. The chub has eight dorsal fin rays, eight pelvic fin rays, seven anal fin rays, and fourteen to seventeen pectoral fin rays. The fish is covered with

cycloid In geometry, a cycloid is the curve traced by a point on a circle as it rolls along a straight line without slipping. A cycloid is a specific form of trochoid and is an example of a roulette, a curve generated by a curve rolling on another cu ...

scales. The scales on the chub's dorsal section, or top of the fish, have brown pigment. The scales on the ventral section, or bottom of the fish, lack pigment and are white in appearance.

Habitat

It is generally found in pools and fast moving waterways in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. Many populations are located in the New River of West Virginia and its tributaries. The fish prefers clear rivers with warm temperatures. The substrate of rivers inhabited by the bigmouth chub ranges from pebbles to boulders. It avoids the shallowest parts of rivers and waterways, and tends to be found near substrate.

Reproduction

The chub reproduces through

spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquat ...

. Spawning occurs in gravel spawning mounds created by the male. The mounds tend to be located in areas with small to large-sized gravel and with medium water speeds.

Conservation status

It is ranked as being of

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

by the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

. The fish is not seen as at risk for extinction due to its large and stable population size, large habitat range and a lack of wide-scale threats to its survival.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6416871 Nocomis Freshwater fish of the United States Taxa named by Ernest A. Lachner Taxa named by Robert E. Jenkins Fish described in 1971