Nocomis biguttatus
Hornyhead Chub
NS
G5
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
There are no photos available for this taxon yet.
Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Cypriniformes (Carps and Minnows)
Cyprinidae (Carps and Minnows)
Nocomis
Nocomis biguttatus (Hornyhead Chub)
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
and processed using AI-assisted text extraction.
It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting.
When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page.
Learn more about our species accounts.
Characters
Body shape: elongated. Caudal fin red (young) to yellow (adults); other fins yellow to orange; large male with bright red spot behind eye, female with brassy spot ); dark olive to brown above; iridescent green on yellow-brown side; white to light yellow below; dusky iridescent yellow stripe along back; yellow streak above dusky stripe along side and around snout; black caudal spot (all darkest on young); rounded snout; 38-45 scales on lateral line; usually 16-17 scales around caudal peduncle; pharyngeal teeth 1,4-4,1. Breeding male is pink below with pin-orange fins and has many large tubercles on top of head (Ref. 86798).
Distribution
North America: Mohawk River system in New York, USA west through Great Lakes and Mississippi River basin to Red River drainage (Hudson Bay basin) in Manitoba, Canada and North Dakota, USA, and south to Ohio River drainage; Ozark drainages in Missouri and Arkansas, USA. Isolated populations in lower Kentucky River system in Kentucky, Platte and Cheyenne River systems in Nebraska, Wyoming, and Colorado, and Kansas River in Kansas, USA.
Habitat Associations
Freshwater. demersal. Found in: streams.
Biology
Inhabits rocky pools and runs of creeks and small to medium rivers (Ref. 86798).
Max length: 26.0 cm TL; common length: 11.0 cm TL; max age: 4 years.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (brood hiders).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-03-01. Resilience: Medium (tmax=4; tm=3).
References
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Angermeier, P.L. (1982) Resource seasonality and fish diets in an Illinois stream. Environ. Biol. Fishes 7(3):251-264.
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.
Comments On Nocomis biguttatus