Semotilus atromaculatus
Semotilus atromaculatus
The Creek Chub is a common minnow throughout Virginia. Its back is olive-colored, it has silvery sides, and it has a long blackish-brown stripe down the side. The Creek Chub has rounded fins, and the dorsal (back) fin has eight rays (spikes). Creek Chubs can grow to 12 inches, but they are usually much smaller.
Creek Chubs live mostly in small to medium-sized streams, but they sometimes live in lakes too. They prefer clear to slightly cloudy water with a gravel bottom. Creek Chubs especially like to be near beaver dams.
Creek Chubs eat copepods (small crustaceans; cousins of shrimp) and water fleas when they are young. As adults, they eat aquatic insects, terrestrial insects (land insects that fall in the water), worms, and small fish.
They are preyed upon by larger fish, such as the Largemouth Bass, Kingfishers, Mergansers, and even larger Creek Chubs!
To breed, the male Creek Chub will build a nest. He will dig a pit on the bottom of the stream by moving pebbles with his mouth. He will then pile pebbles up to build a small ridge upstream of the pit. Once he is finished the male chub will defend his nest from other males. Next, a female will arrive and the fish will mate. The female chub will lay 25 to 50 eggs in the pit and leave. The male will then cover up the eggs with gravel and leave also.
Creek Chubs can live up to eight years.
www.nativefish.org Konrad Schmidt
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Relationships in Nature:
Relationship to Humans:
Creek Chubs are often used by humans as bait to catch larger fish. They are rarely eaten themselves, probably because they don't normally reach a worthwhile size. Creek Chubs also benefit us by consuming large numbers of insects, especially mosquitos.