Riverine Fish

Ohio is blessed with an abundance of water, but like all developing areas, past and present land use practices affect our water resources.

Land uses that allow soil to runoff into our waterways cause silting of streams and increased turbidity, which can result in a lower quality of water and thus a loss in the diversity of aquatic organisms.

Fish have specific habitat requirements, thus the health of a fish community can tell us a great deal about the quality of the waterway where they reside.

Riverine Fish of Ohio's Scenic Rivers

Streamline Chub (Erimystax dissimilis)

streamline chubA species associated with the riffles and bars of moderate sized streams, this species is one of the rarer of the 8 species of chubs inhabiting Ohio streams.

Populations are found in several of the upper tributaries of the Scioto River including Paint Creek, Deer Creek, and Big and Little Darby creeks.

Other populations are found in the upper Muskingum River and its larger tributaries including the Walhonding, Mohican, Kokosing and lower Tuscarawas rivers.

They prefer a position just at the foot of a riffle where the water is deeper and the current is just starting to slow down. Preferred substrates are normally composed of sand, gravel and small cobbles.

They are somewhat intolerant of turbid waters and will disappear from a stream if the gravel substrates become coated with silt or otherwise polluted. Thus, the presence of the Streamline Chub within a stream is often an indicator of good water quality.

The streamline chub can be distinguished from other chubs by noticing the series of 5 to 11 dark spots along the lateral band.