The brassy minnow (''Hybognathus hankinsoni'') is a species of fish belonging to the family Cyprinidae. The family Cyprinidae consists of mainly freshwater minnows and carps. The fish gets its scientific name (''Hybognathus hankinsoni'') from the Greek word Hybognathus, meaning bulging jaw, and hankinsoni from the American scientist, T.L. Hankinson. It is commonly found throughout the northern United States and Canada.Pam Fuller and Matt Neilson. 2016. Hybognathus hankinsoni. USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database, Gainesville, FL. https://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=544 Revision Date: 9/26/2012

Physical description

The brassy minnow is typically 4-7.5 cm long and weighs 0.7-4 g.Rodger, Robin W. A. "Fish Facts." (1991): n. pag. B.C. Fish Facts. British Columbia Ministry of Fisheries. Web. It can be identified by its brassy side coloration, cream underbelly and olive green back. It has larger than usual leptoid(bony ridge) scales.Brassy Minnow — Hybognathus hankinsoni. Montana Field Guide. Montana Natural Heritage Program and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Retrieved on April 29, 2016, from http://FieldGuide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=AFCJB16020 and dark stripe that runs from its gill cover to its tail.Environment And Parks - Government Of Alberta, Environment And Sustainable Resource Development - Government Of Alberta. "Status of the Brassy Minnow (Hybognathus Hankinsoni) in Alberta." Status of the Brassy Minnow (Hybognathus Hankisoni) in Alberta (n.d.): n. pag. Alberta's Species at Risk Program. Web. ''Hybognathus hansinkoni'' have a small

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through c ...

with a rounded tip, and two pelvic fins that lie behind the dorsal fin in the abdominal position. Female brassy minnows tend to be larger than the males. Additionally, brassy minnows have a small subterminal mouth with a crescent shaped lower jaw, and their caudal (tail) fins are notched.

Distribution

Range extends from the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (french: Fleuve Saint-Laurent, ) is a large river in the middle latitudes of North America. Its headwaters begin flowing from Lake Ontario in a (roughly) northeasterly direction, into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, connecting ...

and

Lake Champlain Lake Champlain ( ; french: Lac Champlain) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the US states of New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. The New York portion of t ...

drainages, throughout the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...

and Northern United States and into

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

and

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Habitat

The brassy minnow typically lives in cool, slow moving streamsNowosad, Damon M., and Eric B. Taylor. "Habitat Variation and Invasive Species as Factors Influencing the Distribution of Native Fishes in the Lower Fraser River Valley, British Columbia, with an Emphasis on Brassy Minnow ( Hybognathus Hankinsoni )." Can. J. Zool. Canadian Journal of Zoology 91.2 (2013): 71-81. Web. and creeks that have sand, mud or gravel bottoms overlaid with organic sediment. They are also found in overflow ponds near rivers, boggy lakes, brackish tidal waters, and ditches with weedy bottoms. They live in water with a large range of pH's, and are able to survive at low oxygen levels, displaying high levels of environmental tolerance. The water can be clear or

turbid Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by large numbers of individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air. The measurement of turbidity is a key test of water quality. Fluids can ...

. Brassy minnows appear to do better in habitats with minimal

predator Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...

s, or those that have structure for them to hide in, as they are very susceptible to predation.

Diet habits

''Hybognathus hankinsoni'' are omnivorous eating algae,

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water (or air) that are unable to propel themselves against a current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankters. In the ocean, they provide a crucia ...

and aquatic invertebrates that live in the organic sediment or the weeds that grow in their environment. Although omnivorous, the brassy minnow is typically

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetariani ...

, mainly eating the algae, especially

diatoms A diatom (New Latin, Neo-Latin ''diatoma''), "a cutting through, a severance", from el, διάτομος, diátomos, "cut in half, divided equally" from el, διατέμνω, diatémno, "to cut in twain". is any member of a large group com ...

and

desmids Desmidiales, commonly called desmids (''Gr.'' ''desmos'', bond or chain), are an order in the Charophyta, a division of green algae in which the land plants (Embryophyta) emerged. Or in other words, Desmid, (order Desmidiales), order of singl ...

, found growing in the streams and ponds it inhabits. The minnows feed in schools with peak feeding times around 1-3 pm. Additionally, brassy minnows are first level consumers and are therefore important in the transfer of nutrients to higher

trophic level The trophic level of an organism is the position it occupies in a food web. A food chain is a succession of organisms that eat other organisms and may, in turn, be eaten themselves. The trophic level of an organism is the number of steps it ...

Reproduction and lifecycle

The brassy minnow becomes sexually active at one to two years of age. The fish spawn (biology) during the months of April through July, depending on the location. In the more northerly range of the brassy minnow, they spawn later in the year than in the south part of their range. The spawning time occurs when the water temperature reaches sixteen to seventeen degrees Celsius. They lay their legs on the vegetation and along the bottom of the streams and ponds it inhabits. A female brassy minnow can lay up to 2500 eggs, depending on her size, and usually releases the eggs over the course of a week. The eggs take about 7–10 days to hatch and the larvae grow rapidly for the first months. The brassy minnow lives up to 5 years and spawns annually. The species is considered to be globally secure, and therefore does not have any conservation concerns.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1150947 Hybognathus Fish described in 1929 Cyprinid fish of North America Freshwater fish of the United States Fish of Canada