A fairly low-profile choice for tonight. The blacktail shiner, Cyprinella venusta, is one of the more common fish in many of our local streams. It's particularly abundant in Alamuchee Creek, one our favorite haunts that we've been sampling for decades. It's difficult to dip a seine in those waters without pullling up a blacktail. They're minnows, members of the Family Cyprinidae. The cyprinids are the largest family of freshwater fish, with over 2,400 species. They include some large fish like the carp, but most of them are small and rather undistinguished looking. And they can be pretty tough to tell part - it often comes down to counting the pharyngeal teeth on the gill arches. That's one reason I sometimes get fumble-fingered when we pull one up I don't recognize. "Sorry guys, didn't get a good look at it."That's one thing I like about the blacktails - they're distinctive. The large basicaudal spot stand out. They can be pretty handsome little guys too, reaching 4 or 5 inches in length with silvery, almost bluish sides. While some shiners like slow-moving water, the blacktail likes swift currents and does well there. We can count on pulling a few out of the fastest riffles in the Alamuchee. Interesting, they're pretty vocal, with sound production apparently playing a role in reproductive behavior.
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