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Semotilus corporalisAmerican chub(Also: Chivin; Corporal; Dace; Fallfish)

By jacob McCoy

Geographic Range

Fallfish (Semotilus corporalis) are native only in the North America (Neartic region). The northern range of fallfish is as far north as the southern tip of the Hudson bay in Canada. The southern border of their range is the U.S border between Virginia and North Carolina. These fish range as far west as the Appalachian Mountains in the U.S and as far as Lake Superior in Canada. The eastern border reaches the Atlantic ocean, but does not include it.

In some parts of the range above (e.g., New York and Virginia), fallfish have been introduced into drainages. (Mayden, 1991; ; NatureServe, 2013; Pinder, 2017; Reed, 1971; Sheldon, 1968)

Habitat

Fallfish are most common in freshwater low-gradient streams with forest cover in riparian areas at elevations between 73 and 767 meters above sea level. These minnows are limited to temperatures between 6 and 27°C; however, temperatures below 15°C inhibit spawning. The young are often found in faster flowing currents, while older minnows can often be found in slower moving pools along the stream. Across all ages, pools are the preferred habitat. Fallfish live and forage in areas of the watershed that are around 30-50 cm deep.

Fallfish in northern parts of their geographic ranges also live in lentic habits (lakes), while those in the south are restricted to lotic habitats. ("Habitat Suitability Information: Fallfish", 1983; McKenna, et al., 2012; NatureServe, 2013; Pinder, 2017; Sheldon, 1968)

  • Aquatic Biomes
  • rivers and streams
  • Range elevation
    73 to 767 m
    239.50 to 2516.40 ft
  • Range depth
    .3 to .5 m
    0.98 to 1.64 ft
  • Average depth
    .35 m
    1.15 ft

Physical Description

Adult fallfish are one of the largest minnows in the U.S and Canada growing to lengths between 155-431 millimeters in length and girth up to 80 millimeters. Upon maturity, fallfish weigh between 720 to 1800 grams. The females grow to longer lengths then their male counterparts reaching an average length of 166 mm where as males grow to lengths of 155 mm.

Fallfish heads are rounded and smooth due to a lack of scales. They have overhanging mouthing forming a snout and a characteristic large eye. Adult fallfish have thick, dark olive or golden-brown scales outlined in black running down their posterior spine. Their underbellies are covered in whitish-silver scales. Their tails (caudal fin) bend downward and are forked and contain about 19 bony rays. The tips of their caudal fin is black. Anterior to the caudal fin, there are 8 rays that form the anal fin. Both caudal and anal fins are generally the same color as the dorsal scales. Their dorsal fin is slightly inferior to the midpoint of their backs and contains 7 rays.

Pinder (2017) reports that males in breeding condition have tubercles on their heads, concentrated around their eyes and near their noses. Juveniles of this species have dark stripes along their lateral sides, reaching from head to tail. By maturity, this stripe disappears. (Bicknell and Dresslar, 1885; NatureServe, 2013; Pyron, 1996; Reed, 1971)

  • Sexual Dimorphism
  • female larger
  • sexes shaped differently
  • Range mass
    720 to 1800 g
    25.37 to 63.44 oz
  • Average mass
    820 g
    28.90 oz
  • Range length
    115 to 431 mm
    4.53 to 16.97 in
  • Average length
    160 mm
    6.30 in

Development

Like most fish, fallfish show indeterminate growth over their lifespan. Males reach maturity at around 3 years of age and the female counterparts at 4 years of age. Upon hatching, a yolk sack is left over on the fallfish larvae for 5 to 7 days and will eventually be absorbed once the larvae reach 9 mm in total body length. The fins of fallfish larvae are absent at hatching and usually don't develop until the larvae are at least 9 mm long. Once the larvae reach 9 to 11 mm total body length and fins are present, their mouths becomes functional. At this time scales become pigmented. The rays, or bony spines, of the fins develop around the time that the larvae reach 14 mm in total body length and pigmentation of the scales intensifies superior to the developing dorsal fin. The fins fully develop when the larvae are at lengths over 18 mm. At this time, scale platelets form around the caudal peduncle and spread anteriorly until the larvae reach 33 mm. These scales are pigmented dark olive to golden brown. (Buhan, 1972; Reed, 1971; Ross and Reed, 1978)

Reproduction

Fallfish are polygynandrous communal breeders. In spawning, males display a nest building behavior upstream of ridges or pits in the stream bed. They spent 1-4 days collecting nearby pebbles forming a mound where the females' eggs will eventually lay. These pebble nests are around 30-50 cm wide and 10-20 cm high. They can be as large as 2 m in diameter, making it the largest nest made by any fish.

After construction, the nest-building male releases pheromones attracting nearby females in hope of reproduction. Other male fallfish can also be attracted to another's nest, forgoing building their own nest, in hopes of fertilizing eggs released by females. This is referred to as satellite male behavior. Younger males are known to display satellite behavior more often than the older males.

During reproduction, dominant nest building males, and one to two satellite, or subdominate, males swim alongside one of the females and bend their caudal peduncles along the urogenital opening superior to the anal fin.The dominant male's peduncle manages to reach the female, stimulating her to raise her head and lower her caudal fin. This action causes the female to release her eggs in to the nest below. Satellite males then rush into the pebble nest to compete over fertilizing the awaiting eggs. The female engages in this spawning activity with the males that present a pebble for the nest. (Maurakis and Woolcott, 1992; Mayden, 1991; ; NatureServe, 2013; Reed, 1971; Ross and Reed, 1978; Ross, 1983)

Fallfish are seasonal promiscuous breeders, with one breeding season per year. At this time, multiple females lay eggs in awaiting pebble nests, allowing for males to fertilize them. Nest-building and satellite males attract and spawn with multiple females between March and June. Fertilized eggs take 139 to 144 hours (average = 140 h) to develop and hatch at temperatures above 17 C. The number of offspring is varied depending on their communal breeding and satellite male reproductive success.

Independence is upon hatching (no parental care) and birth weights have no been reported. Males reach sexual maturity after 2 to 3 years, while their female counterparts reach sexual maturity after 3 to 4 years. (Maurakis and Woolcott, 1992; Mayden, 1991; ; Reed, 1971; Ross and Reed, 1978; Ross, 1983)

  • Breeding interval
    One breeding period per year
  • Breeding season
    between March and June with water temperature above 15°C
  • Range time to hatching
    139 to 144 hours
  • Average time to hatching
    140 hours
  • Average time to independence
    0 minutes
  • Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    3 to 4 years
  • Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
    2 to 3 years

Neither the male or female fallfish engage in any form of parental investment beyond the act of spawning. Despite this, nest-building males devote time to create rocky pebble nests in order to attract females for spawning, but leave the nest after the eggs are fertilized. The females swim away from the nest after they have laid their eggs. (Mayden, 1991; ; Ross and Reed, 1978; Ross, 1983)

  • Parental Investment
  • no parental involvement

Lifespan/Longevity

Fallfish are known to live for 3-8 years with a maximum lifespan reaching 10 years. No information has been found concerning whether fallfish have ever been kept in captivity. (Reed, 1971; Victor and Brothers, 1982)

  • Range lifespan
    Status: wild
    10 (high) years
  • Typical lifespan
    Status: wild
    3 to 8 years
  • Average lifespan
    Status: wild
    7 years

Behavior

Fallfish are a dinural species of minnow. This means that they forage, reproduce and perform their other activities during the day time hours. These minnows are migratory; they migration follows of variety of factors such as food availability and water temperature. Fallfish thrive higher water temperatures around 20°C. The younger minnows are often found in faster moving currents where food is at greater availability, but this behavior opens them up to predation and human activities such as fishing.

They are primarily a solitary species being one of the top predators in their habitat. They usually interect with others of their species during spawning behaviors. Dominance in this species takes part in satellite nesting behaviors for reproduction. (Allin, 1951; McKenna, et al., 2012; Sheldon, 1968)

Home Range

Fallfish are very mobile. They have no true home range besides access to their entire stream. Their movements can influenced by a variety of factors including water level, food availability, water temperature, reproductive mates. (Allin, 1951; McKenna, et al., 2012; Sheldon, 1968)

Communication and Perception

Communication between fishes occurs using chemical messengers called pheromones which are released from their bodies. These pheromones travel through a medium, water in this case, and are received by specialized cells on other aquatic life. Their pheromones can be harmful, inhibitory, threatening or attractive. These chemical pheromones have been found to correlate with several aspects of fish behavior such as shoaling, homing migrating fish, alarm mechanisms, crowding controls and spawning. Fish use pheromones to condition the water quality to attract mates, prey or to repel others such as with an overcrowding factor. In spawning behaviors, males excrete an pheromone to attract female fish. The pheromone attracts the female to a waiting nest where the male would brush across the female releasing further pheromone to signal for the desire to spawn. (Buynak and Mohr Jr., 1979; Jolly, 1980; Solomon, 1977)

Food Habits

Fallfish are omnivorous and are truly opportunistic feeders. Their known diets consist of plankton, aquatic and terrestrial insects, insect larvae, small crustaceans, fish, fish larvae, mollusks, leeches and algae. The consumption of algae, though surprising, is a staple food for most cyprinid species. Fallfish primarily hunt and forage nocturnally between tca 2100 - 0500 h, with the most activity around midnight. The wild brown trout (Salmo trutta) and brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) provide direct competition in the foraging habits of fallfish. ("Habitat Suitability Information: Fallfish", 1983; Johnson, 2015; Mayden, 1991; ; McKenna, et al., 2012; Reed, 1971)

  • Animal Foods
  • fish
  • eggs
  • insects
  • terrestrial non-insect arthropods
  • mollusks
  • aquatic or marine worms
  • aquatic crustaceans

Predation

Fallfish are known to fall prey to larger fallfish as well as northern pike (Esox lucius) and fish-eating birds such as ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) and the American herring gull (Larus smithsonianus). (McKenna, et al., 2012; Mendall, 1939)

  • Known Predators

Ecosystem Roles

Fallfish are commonly one of the top predators in their environments. In Virginia, Pinder (2017) notes that fallfish were typically the apex predator in their environs until some species of bass were introduced.

They are often found to be infect with four known genera of parasites: Neoechinorhynchi, Allcreadium, Dactylocyrus and Ergasilus. Members of the genus Neoechinorhynchi are parasitic worms from the phylum Acanthocephala that invade the bodies of fallfish. Parasitic crustaceans, Ergasilus, are also known as gill lice; they infect the gills of fallfish. Trematodes in the genus Dactylogyrus also infect the gills of freshwater fish. Allocreadium is a genus of trematode parasites that infect the intestines of marine fish. (Hoffman, 1999; McKenna, et al., 2012; Pinder, 2017; Rand and Burt, 1985; Victor and Brothers, 1982)

Commensal/Parasitic Species
  • Worm (Neoechinorhynchi)
  • Louse (Erasilus)
  • Trematode (Allocreadium)
  • Trematode (Dactylgryus)

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

Fallfish promote ecotourism in the Great Lakes and other watersheds within their habitat. Fallfish are used as bait to catch larger fish. This promotes areas where fallfish frequent, inviting people to visit. In Virginia, they are promoted as a low-cost and typically local option for fishing. The taste of fallfish is much debated. (Boncoeur, et al., 2002; Pinder, 2017; Scheyvens, 1999)

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

The presence of fallfish have no known negative impact on humans. (Boncoeur, et al., 2002)

Conservation Status

Fallfish are listed as a species of "Least Concern" on the IUCN redlist. Fallfish have no special status on the U.S Endangered Species list, the CITES appendices and the state of Michigan list. There are no known ongoing conservation efforts concerning fallfish. They are currently no restrictions in the use of fallfish as bait. (NatureServe, 2013)

Contributors

jacob McCoy (author), Radford University, Alex Atwood (editor), Radford University, Lindsey Lee (editor), Radford University, Karen Powers (editor), Radford University, Joshua Turner (editor), Radford University, Tanya Dewey (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Glossary

Nearctic

living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.

World Map

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

carnivore

an animal that mainly eats meat

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

diurnal
  1. active during the day, 2. lasting for one day.
dominance hierarchies

ranking system or pecking order among members of a long-term social group, where dominance status affects access to resources or mates

ecotourism

humans benefit economically by promoting tourism that focuses on the appreciation of natural areas or animals. Ecotourism implies that there are existing programs that profit from the appreciation of natural areas or animals.

ectothermic

animals which must use heat acquired from the environment and behavioral adaptations to regulate body temperature

external fertilization

fertilization takes place outside the female's body

fertilization

union of egg and spermatozoan

food

A substance that provides both nutrients and energy to a living thing.

freshwater

mainly lives in water that is not salty.

herbivore

An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.

heterothermic

having a body temperature that fluctuates with that of the immediate environment; having no mechanism or a poorly developed mechanism for regulating internal body temperature.

indeterminate growth

Animals with indeterminate growth continue to grow throughout their lives.

insectivore

An animal that eats mainly insects or spiders.

introduced

referring to animal species that have been transported to and established populations in regions outside of their natural range, usually through human action.

iteroparous

offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).

migratory

makes seasonal movements between breeding and wintering grounds

molluscivore

eats mollusks, members of Phylum Mollusca

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

natatorial

specialized for swimming

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

nomadic

generally wanders from place to place, usually within a well-defined range.

omnivore

an animal that mainly eats all kinds of things, including plants and animals

oviparous

reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.

pheromones

chemicals released into air or water that are detected by and responded to by other animals of the same species

phytoplankton

photosynthetic or plant constituent of plankton; mainly unicellular algae. (Compare to zooplankton.)

piscivore

an animal that mainly eats fish

planktivore

an animal that mainly eats plankton

polygynandrous

the kind of polygamy in which a female pairs with several males, each of which also pairs with several different females.

seasonal breeding

breeding is confined to a particular season

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

solitary

lives alone

tactile

uses touch to communicate

References

U.S Department of the Interior. Habitat Suitability Information: Fallfish. FWS/OBS-82/10.48. Fort Collins, Colorado: Fish and Wildlife Service. 1983.

Allin, A. 1951. The fallfish, Semotilus corporalis, from the Lake Superior drainage of western Ontario. Copeia, 1951/4: 300.

Bicknell, E., F. Dresslar. 1885. A review of the species of the genus Semotilus. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, 37: 14-18.

Boncoeur, J., F. Alban, O. Guyador, O. Thebaud. 2002. Fish, fishers, seals and tourists: Economic consequences of creating a marine reserve in a multi-species, multi-activity context. Natural Resource Marketing, 15/4: 387-411.

Buhan, P. 1972. The comparative osteology of the caudal skeleton of some North American minnows (Cyprinidae). The American Midland Naturalist, 88/2: 484-490.

Buynak, G., H. Mohr Jr.. 1979. Larval development of creek chub and fallfish from two Susquehanna River tributaries. North American Journal of Aquaculture, 41/3: 124-129.

Gill, T. 1907. Stone gathering fishes. The American Naturalist, 41/487: 368-369.

Hoffman, G. 1999. Parasites of North American Freshwater Fishes. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.

Johnson, J., C. Nack, M. Chalupnicki. 2009. Predation by fallfish, Semotilus corporalis, on Pacific salmon eggs in the Salmon River, New York. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 35/4: 630-633.

Johnson, J. 2015. Summer deil diet and feeding periodicity of four species of Cryprinids in the Salmon River, New York. American Midland Naturalist, 173/2: 326-334.

Jolly, D. 1980. Pheromones in fish communication. Applied Animal Behavior Science, 6/1: 90.

King, L. 2006. Creek chub and fallfish. Ontario Out of Doors, 38/7: 64-65.

Maurakis, E., W. Woolcott. 1992. Spawning in Semotilus corporalis. Virginia Journal of Science, 43/4: 377-380.

Mayden, R. 1991. Cyprinids of the New World. Pp. 240-263 in I Winfield, J Nelson, eds. Cyprinid Fishes: Systematics, Biology, and Exploitation. Suffolk, U.K.: Springer-Science + Business Media BV.

McKenna, J., J. Rugirello, J. Johnson. 2012. A landscape-based distribution model for fallfish (Semotilus corporalis) in the Great Lakes drainage of New York. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 38/3: 413-417.

Mendall, H. 1939. Food habits of the herring gull in relation to fresh-water game fishes in Maine. The Wilson Bulletin, 51/4: 223-226.

Muzzall, P., W. Bullock. 1978. Seasonal occurrence and host-parasite relationships of Neoechinorhynchus saginatus Van Cleave and Bangham 1949 in the fallfish, Semotilus corporalis (Mitchill). The Journal of Parasitology, 64/5: 860-865.

NatureServe, 2013. "Semotilus corporalis" (On-line). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013: e.T202371A18231202. Accessed January 30, 2018 at http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T202371A18231202.en.

Pinder, M. 2017. "Fallfish: Little tarpon of the commonwealth" (On-line). Accessed April 15, 2018 at https://blog.wildlife.virginia.gov/2016/09/fallfish-little-tarpon-of-the-commonwealth/.

Pyron, M. 1996. Sexual size dimorphism and phylogeny in North American minnows. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 57/4: 327-341.

Rand, T., M. Burt. 1985. Seasonal occurrence, recruitment and maturation of Allocreadium lobatum Wallin, 1909 (Digenea: Allocreadiidae) in the fallfish, Semotilus corporalis Mitchell, in a New Brunswick, Canada, lake system. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 63/3: 612-616.

Reed, R. 1971. Biology of the fallfish, Semotilus corporalis (Pisces, Cyprinidae). Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 100/4: 717-725.

Ross, M. 1983. The frequency of nest construction and satellite male behavior in the fallfish minnow. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 9/1: 65-70.

Ross, M., R. Reed. 1978. The reproductive behavior of fallfish Semotilus corporalis. Copeia, 1978/2: 215-221.

Scheyvens, R. 1999. Ecotourism and the empowerment of local communities. Tourism Management, 22/2: 245-249.

Sheldon, A. 1968. Species diversity and longitudinal succession in stream fishes. Ecology, 49/2: 193-198.

Solomon, D. 1977. A reveiw of chemical communication in freshwater fish. Journal of Fish Biology, 11/4: 363-376.

Victor, B., E. Brothers. 1982. Age and growth of the fallfish Semotilus corporalis with daily otolith increments as a method of annulus verification. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 60/1982: 2543-2550.

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