Name:
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- Hybognathus, from the Greek, "bulging jaw"
- hankinsoni, in honor of T.L. Hankinson, a
zoologist at the University of North Dakota who made early fish surveys
in that state.
- Common Name from the brassy hue of breeding males.
- Other common names include: Grass Minnow, Hankinson`s Minnow
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Taxonomy:
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- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata, animals with a spinal chord
- Subphylum Vertebrata, animals with a backbone
- Superclass Osteichthyes, bony fishes
- Class Actinopterygii, ray-finned and spiny rayed fishes
- Subclass Neopterygii
- Infraclass Teleostei
- Superorder Ostariophysi
- Order Cypriniformes, minnows and suckers
- Family Cyprinidae, carps and minnows
- Genus Hybognathus, the silvery minnows
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Description:
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- A common midwestern minnow.
- Length averages 2½", up to 3"-4"
- Weight
- Coloration
- dark above
- shading to yellowish-brassy sides
- creamy belly
- Body
- elongate in body form and slightly compressed laterally
- body scales have about 20 lines that fan out from the focus of the scale
- complete lateral line of 36 to 40 scales
- Head
- mouth small, sub-terminal, and without barbel
- pharyngeal teeth with grinding surfaces, arranged in a 4-4 pattern
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Identification:
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Distribution:
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- Great Lakes region, Upper Missouri, and Mississippi drainage systems with
scattered populations west as far as British Columbia.
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Habitat:
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- Common in small streams and ponds, moderate-sized streams and small rivers,
apparently preferring those with boggy, acid waters.
- Often found in overflow ponds in the floodplain.
- Usually found in close association with the Fathead Minnow.
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Food:
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- Primarily a plant eater, feeding heavily on algae.
- Also feeds on bottom ooze and aquatic insect larvae
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History:
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Uses:
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- Desirable for, and extensively used as, bait.
- Important as a forage fish for Brook Trout.
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Reproduction:
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- Spawns in early spring in quiet water; little else is known of its spawning
habits.
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Comments:
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Links:
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Last updated on 15 October 1999
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