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sturgeon chub
sturgeon chub (Macrhybopsis gelida) [state endangered]
Features and Behaviors
FEATURES
The sturgeon chub is a slender, plain-colored minnow with a long-depressed snout, tiny eyes, straight-edged fins, and small, spherical barbells located where the top and bottom lip meet. The lower lobe of caudal fin is darker than upper lobe, which is milky white. Their body form is adapted to rapid, turbid waters and they reach a maximum length of three inches. They live up to four years of age.
BEHAVIOR
Very little is known about this illusive and rare Illinois species. The sturgeon chub inhabits shallow, fast riffles over fine gravel or sand in the southern tip of Illinois, within the Mississippi River below the mouth of the Missouri River. This small range of this species and limited available habitat within the state maybe why the species is considered endangered.
Illinois Range
Taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Leuciscidae
Illinois Status: state endangered, native
More information coming soon.
