Utah chub
Encyclopedia
The Utah chub is a cyprinid
fish
native to western North America
, where it is abundant in the upper Snake River
and throughout the Lake Bonneville
basin.
This chub generally follows the cyprinid body plan. Its dorsal fin
lies directly over the pelvic fins, and usually has nine rays. Coloration is rather variable; the back is usually a metallic or olive green ranging to nearly black, and sometimes with a bluish shade, while the sides are silvery, brassy, or golden. Males have somewhat more of a golden look, especially during breeding season, often including a narrow golden stripe along the upper side. Fin colors include dull olive, yellow, and golden shades. It has been recorded in Bear Lake
at up to 56 cm in length and 1.5 kg weight, but 40 cm is more typical, and in many areas 15–20 cm is the norm.
Utah chubs are omnivorous, consuming both plants and a variety of insect
s, crustacea, snail
s, and sometimes small fish or fish eggs
.
It lives in a variety of habitat
s within its range
, from irrigation ditches to ponds to large rivers and lake
s, preferring areas with dense vegetation. It is also known from alkaline and salty springs found on desert
floors. Most seem to frequent depths of a meter or less, but one was caught in Bear Lake at a depth of 25 meters.
Spawning occurs during late spring and summer, in shallow water (less than a meter deep). 2-6 males escort each female, and fertilize the eggs she scatters at random on the bottom. The eggs then hatch in about a week, the exact time depending on water temperature.
Although easily taken with a hook and line, anglers do not consider it a desirable catch, and often find it a nuisance while going after trout
. Wildlife agencies have even tried eradication programs to reduce the numbers, but have had no effect, the chub population bouncing back easily.
Cyprinid
The family Cyprinidae, from the Ancient Greek kyprînos , consists of the carps, the true minnows, and their relatives . Commonly called the carp family or the minnow family, its members are also known as cyprinids...
fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
native to western North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, where it is abundant in the upper Snake River
Snake River
The Snake is a major river of the greater Pacific Northwest in the United States. At long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean...
and throughout the Lake Bonneville
Lake Bonneville
Lake Bonneville was a prehistoric pluvial lake that covered much of North America's Great Basin region. Most of the territory it covered was in present-day Utah, though parts of the lake extended into present-day Idaho and Nevada. Formed about 32,000 years ago, it existed until about 14,500 years...
basin.
This chub generally follows the cyprinid body plan. Its dorsal fin
Dorsal fin
A dorsal fin is a fin located on the backs of various unrelated marine and freshwater vertebrates, including most fishes, marine mammals , and the ichthyosaurs...
lies directly over the pelvic fins, and usually has nine rays. Coloration is rather variable; the back is usually a metallic or olive green ranging to nearly black, and sometimes with a bluish shade, while the sides are silvery, brassy, or golden. Males have somewhat more of a golden look, especially during breeding season, often including a narrow golden stripe along the upper side. Fin colors include dull olive, yellow, and golden shades. It has been recorded in Bear Lake
Bear Lake (Idaho-Utah)
Bear Lake is a natural freshwater lake on the Utah-Idaho border in the Western United States. It is the second largest natural freshwater lake in Utah and has been called the "Caribbean of the Rockies" for its unique turquoise-blue color, the result of suspended limestone deposits in the water...
at up to 56 cm in length and 1.5 kg weight, but 40 cm is more typical, and in many areas 15–20 cm is the norm.
Utah chubs are omnivorous, consuming both plants and a variety of insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s, crustacea, snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
s, and sometimes small fish or fish eggs
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
.
It lives in a variety of habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
s within its range
Range (biology)
In biology, the range or distribution of a species is the geographical area within which that species can be found. Within that range, dispersion is variation in local density.The term is often qualified:...
, from irrigation ditches to ponds to large rivers and lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
s, preferring areas with dense vegetation. It is also known from alkaline and salty springs found on desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
floors. Most seem to frequent depths of a meter or less, but one was caught in Bear Lake at a depth of 25 meters.
Spawning occurs during late spring and summer, in shallow water (less than a meter deep). 2-6 males escort each female, and fertilize the eggs she scatters at random on the bottom. The eggs then hatch in about a week, the exact time depending on water temperature.
Although easily taken with a hook and line, anglers do not consider it a desirable catch, and often find it a nuisance while going after trout
Trout
Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
. Wildlife agencies have even tried eradication programs to reduce the numbers, but have had no effect, the chub population bouncing back easily.
See also
- Panguitch LakePanguitch LakePanguitch Lake was originally a large natural lake that has now been expanded by the creation of a dam to become a reservoir with a maximum surface area of . The lake, which drains into the Sevier River is located on the Markagunt Plateau, between Panguitch, Utah and Cedar Breaks National Monument...
- Utah - Strawberry ReservoirStrawberry ReservoirStrawberry Reservoir is a large reservoir in the U.S. state of Utah. It is Utah's most popular fishery, receiving over 1.5 million angling hours annually and is part of the program. Game fish in the reservoir include sterilized rainbow trout, bear lake cutthroat trout, kokanee salmon and crayfish....
- Utah - Starvation Reservoir - Utah