Margariscus margarita
Pearl Dace
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
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Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Cypriniformes (Carps and Minnows)
Cyprinidae (Carps and Minnows)
Margariscus
Margariscus margarita (Pearl Dace)
Description
This species account was compiled from
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Characters
Body shape: elongated. Margariscus margarita is almost identical to Margariscus nachtriebi but can be distinguished from this species by having larger scales and usually 50-62 lateral scales (Ref. 86798).
Distribution
North America: Atlantic Slope of USA from Hudson River drainage in Vermont and New York, south to Potomac River drainage in Virginia; upper Ohio River drainages in south New York to West Virginia (Ref. 86798); Canada from British Columbia to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia (Ref. 52559), Northwest Territories, and Yukon Territory (Ref. 119194).
Habitat Associations
Freshwater. demersal. Found in: streams, lakes.
Biology
Inhabits pools of upland creeks and small rivers, and also ponds and lakes. Usually found over sand or gravel (Ref. 86798). Feeds on copepods, cladocerans, chironomids, beetles, filamentous algae, and Chara (Ref. 1998). Spawns during the spring (Ref. 1998).
Max length: 16.0 cm TL; common length: 9.2 cm TL; max age: 4 years.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; mating system: polyandry; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Spawning occurs in shallow rivers with moderate current, on sand or gravel. Males maintained territories 20.3 cm wide (at least 1.83 m apart from each other). A ripe female is driven onto the territory. The male places his pectoral fin beneath the female's body anteriorly, and his caudal fin placed over the caudal peduncle of the female. The pair vibrates and the eggs are deposited. Females spawn with different males.
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-03-01. Resilience: Medium (tm=4).
References
Scott, W.B. and E.J. Crossman (1973) Freshwater fishes of Canada. Bull. Fish. Res. Board Can. 184: xi+1-966.
Balon, E.K. (1975) Reproductive guilds of fishes: a proposal and definition. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 32(6):821-864.
Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr (2011) A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 663p.
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