The Virtual Aquarium of Virginia Tech--Suckers

Shorthead Redhorse, Moxostoma macrolepidotum

 
Physical Description: 
ï¿½	Short head, high back
ï¿½	Dark scale bases
ï¿½	Somewhat small, inferior mouth, round, bulbous snout
ï¿½	Medium-sized eye
ï¿½	Dorsal fin edge concave
ï¿½	Tail fin with pointed tips, upper lobe sometimes longer than lower lobe
ï¿½	Long anal fin
ï¿½	Nuptial tubercles on male well developed on anal fin and lower tail fin lobe, with tiny tubercles on other parts of body
ï¿½	Dark body, with red tail fin

Similar species: 
ï¿½	Golden redhorse (Moxostoma erythrurum)
ï¿½	Black redhorse (Moxostoma duquesnei)

Mean body size:
ï¿½	Adults are 200-350 mm standard length 

Habitat:
ï¿½	Warm, moderate-gradient, large streams and rivers
ï¿½	Shallows of natural and artificial lakes
ï¿½	Deep pools of silted and clean sand, gravel, rubble, and bedrock

Distribution in VA:
ï¿½	Found in all Atlantic slope drainages in Virginia and the Tennessee drainage
ï¿½	Most or all reservoirs in Virginia  
ï¿½	May have been extirpated by pollution from North Fork Holston River

Food Habits:  
ï¿½	Aquatic insects, small crustaceans, mollusks, algae, and detritus

Reproductive Habits: 
ï¿½	Some mature by age 3, all by age 5
ï¿½	Spawning occurs in April to early July, depending on region, in water 11-21 degrees Celsius 
ï¿½	Occurs in slow and moderate runs and pools over large gravel
ï¿½	Fecundity reported as 9,262-44,000 eggs per female

Population Status, Economic, or Ecological Importance: 
ï¿½	Sensitive to heavy siltation and other forms of pollution

References:       

Jenkins, R.E and N.M. Burkhead. 1993. Freshwater Fishes of Virginia. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland.

If you are seeking more information for the above species click on the VAFWIS logo (The Virginia Fish and Wildlife Information Service):