Fish in Focus:   Southern redbelly dace, Chrosomus erythrogaster



Southern redbelly dace, Chrosomus erythrogaster
© Garold W. Sneegas and Aquatic Kansas Images

Nikonos II, 35mm and Hydro Photo T1 close-up lens, 1/60, f/16, Ikelite Ai and Ms substrobes, Fujichrome Velvia film.

This slide of a Southern redbelly dace Chrosomus erythrogaster was taken during on a sunny afternoon in April. The water temperature of the Wabaunsee Co. KS stream was 64 degrees F. Dace were spawning in an area where, a few weeks earlier, male Stonerollers Campostoma anomalum were showing signs of nest building.

Southern redbelly dace prefer the headwaters of clear, rocky streams, with spring-fed pools. They are often commonly found near the sources of springs. They range from the southern Great Lakes and Mississippi River drainage, south to the Tennessee River drainage. Isolated populations are in Kansas, Oklahoma, Colorado and New Mexico.

 

© 2018 North American Native Fishes Association