Bluehead Chub
Nocomis leptocephalus (Girard, 1856)
Also calledBlaukopf-Saugdöbel (deu) · nokomis modrohlavý (ces) · Синеголовый голавль (rus)
First described in: Girard, Charles F. 1856. Researches upon the cyprinoid fishes inhabiting the fresh waters of the United States, west of the Mississippi Valley, from specimens in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 8: 165-213.
The bluehead chub (Nocomis leptocephalus) is a species of freshwater fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, the shiners, daces and minnows. native to North America. Its name is due to its appearance, as breeding males have a blue head and develop large nuptial tubercles. Adult bluehead chubs are, on average, between 70 and 160 mm (2.8 and 6.3 in) in length. They have a robust body with uniformly large scales. The scales are present on the belly and breast. They have a pored body, a weakly falcate pectoral fin, and pharyngeal teeth. They have a large mouth, small eyes, and a terminal barbel. Other characteristics include a darkened lateral band, spot on the caudal fin, and red coloration of the fins and iris of the eyes. They have 40 lateral line scales and 8 anal rays. The bluehead chub is a freshwater fish, and lives in pools, rivers, and streams. They feed on insects and plants.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA), quoted section by section
Range & habitat
Bluehead chubs inhabit freshwater pools, creeks, and small to medium rivers with sandy or rocky bottoms. They live in warm to cool waters that have swift currents and are usually turbid.
What it does
Bluehead chubs spawn in the spring and reproduce by external fertilization in which the female releases eggs onto the bottom and the male releases milt to fertilize the eggs. The male makes a nest of gravel in a mound for the female to deposit the eggs. After fertilization, the male guards the eggs until they hatch. They mature for three years before reaching reproductive maturity.
In human culture
The genus name Nocomis comes from the Native American name for "grandmother".
== References ==
Where it has been recorded
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Nocomis leptocephalus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
From the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy and occurrence records (GBIF.org), with Wikipedia and the Source Library. GBIF species 2365439.