Animalia Life

Percopsis omiscomaycus
FAMILY
Percopsidae
TAXONOMY
Salmo omiscomaycus Walbaum, 1792, Hudson Bay.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Silver chub; Finnish: Lohiahven; French (Canada): Omisco.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Grows to 7.87 in (20 cm). Coloration can vary from yellowish to silvery to almost transparent, depending on the sexual state. There is a row of about 10 dark spots along the midline of the back and 10 or 11 spots along the lateral line, with another row of spots high on the sides and above the lateral line. The fins are always transparent. The most distinguishing characteristic is an adipose fin with small, weak spines on the dorsal and anal spines. Other characters include short gill rakers and rough ctenoid scales. The lateral line is nearly straight.
DISTRIBUTION
The original
DISTRIBUTION
was the Atlantic and Arctic basins throughout most of Canada, from Quebec to the Yukon and British Columbia, and south to the Potomac River drainage in Virginia; the Yukon River drainage, the Yukon and Alaska; and the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins south to West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, southern Illinois, central Missouri, North Dakota, and northern Montana. It has been introduced in the Housatonic River drainage of Connecticut and Massachusetts and into Willard Bay Reservoir and Utah Lake, Utah.
HABITAT
They occur in lakes, deep-flowing pools of creeks, and rivers and usually are found over sand.
BEHAVIOR
Individuals of this species move into the shallows of lakes at night to feed and then move back to deeper water as dawn approaches. Some populations spawn exclusively at night.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Feeds on smaller fish, benthic crustaceans, insects, and phytoplankton. Vulnerable to larger fish, water snakes, and fisheating birds.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Spawning takes place between April and August. Two or more males compete for a single female by chasing her near the surface, often breaking the surface of the water. Eggs and milt then are released. Death has been recorded after spawning. They can live up to four years.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not listed by the IUCN.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Occasionally used as bait.

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