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Description
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family | Genus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animalia | Chordata | Osteichthyes | Cypriniformes | Cyprinidae | Nocomis |
Synonyms
Invasion History
Chesapeake Bay Status
| First Record | Population | Range | Introduction | Residency | Source Region | Native Region | Vectors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Established | Expanding | Cryptogenic | Boundary Resident | North America | North America | Fisheries(Discarded Bait) |
History of Spread
Nocomis raneyi (Bull Chub) was described in 1971 (Lachner and Jenkins 1971) as occurring in the James, Chowan, Roanoke, Tar, and Neuse drainages in NC-VA (Jenkins and Burkhead 1993). It was initially known from only one stream in the James drainage, Craig Creek, but the rapid expansion of its known range into the lower river suggests that it was introduced in the James River system. In the James, it was first collected in the lower Piedmont in 1966, and the Coastal Plain in 1973 (Jenkins and Burkhead 1993). It has been collected from the upper James estuary (Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences 1998). This fish may have also been introduced to the Cape Fear River, NC (Fuller et al. 1999).
'Given the 1951 date of the first James drainage record, dispersal and progressive colonization could account for the developing distribution pattern... Both the native and introduction hypotheses suffer from the scarcity of pre-1970 collections from the James River and most of its larger tributaries' (Jenkins and Burkhead 1993). However, it is noteworthy that the apparent range expansion of this large molluscivorous minnow coincided with the invasion of the James River by a prey species, Corbicula fluminea (Asian Freshwater Clam) (Diaz 1974; Cloe et al. 1995).
History references- Cloe et al. 1995; Diaz 1974; (Fuller et al. 1999; Lachner and Jenkins 1971; Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences 1998
Invasion Comments
Ecology
Environmental Tolerances
| For Survival | For Reproduction | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Maximum | Minimum | Maximum | |
| Temperature (ºC) | 23.0 | 18.0 | ||
| Salinity (‰) | 0.0 | 0.0 | ||
| Oxygen | ||||
| pH | ||||
| Salinity Range | fresh-oligo |
Age and Growth
| Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Adult Size (mm) | ||
| Typical Adult Size (mm) | ||
| Maximum Adult Size (mm) | ||
| Maximum Longevity (yrs) | ||
| Typical Longevity (yrs |
Reproduction
| Start | Peak | End | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reproductive Season | |||
| Typical Number of Young Per Reproductive Event |
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| Sexuality Mode(s) | |||
| Mode(s) of Asexual Reproduction |
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| Fertilization Type(s) | |||
| More than One Reproduction Event per Year |
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| Reproductive Startegy | |||
| Egg/Seed Form |
Impacts
Economic Impacts in Chesapeake Bay
Economic impacts of Nocomis raneyi (Bull Chub) have not been reported from the Chesapeake Bay watershed, where this species is confined to the James River. This species is a predator on Corbicula fluminea (Asian Freshwater Clam), but its effects on the population of this animal in the James River have not been studied. It is also a potential predator on Dreissena polymorpha (Zebra Mussel), but this species has not yet been introduced to the James River. Nocomis raneyi's ability to prey on D. polymorpha was inferred from the fish's ability to crush the thicker shells of C. fluminea (Cloe et al. 1995). References- Cloe et al. 1995
Economic Impacts Outside of Chesapeake Bay
Economic impacts of Nocomis raneyi (Bull Chub) have not been reported from its native range in NC Atlantic Slope rivers, or its possibly introduced range, in the James River. This species is a predator on Corbicula fluminea (Asian Freshwater Clam), but its effects on populations of this animal have not been studied. It is also a potential predator on Dreissena polymorpha (Zebra Mussel), but this species has not yet been introduced to the Bull Chub's range (Cloe et al. 1995).
References- Cloe et al. 1995
Ecological Impacts on Chesapeake Native Species
Nocomis raneyi (Bull Chub) is a boundary resident in the upper reaches of the James River, where its invasion status is uncertain.
Competition- The uncertainty of Nocomis raneyi's (Bull Chub's) introduction status in the James River drainage, due to sporadic early collections, means that impacts of its invasion are also uncertain. The apparent expansion of N. raneyi's range coincides with apparent disappearance of its smaller congener N. micropogon. However, the scarcity of early (pre-1970) collections makes this picture uncertain (Jenkins and Burkhead 1993).
References- Jenkins and Burkhead 1993
Ecological Impacts on Other Chesapeake Non-Native Species
Nocomis raneyi (Bull Chub) is a boundary resident in the upper reaches of the James River, where its invasion status is uncertain.
Predation- Nocomis raneyi (Bull Chubs) have a diverse diet, but feed heavily on mollusks, with gastropods in 46% of specimens, and Corbicula fluminea (Asian Freshwater Clam) occurring in 8%. In the largest size class, >180 mm, 12% of specimens contained C. fluminea. Nocomis raneyi are expected to be significant predators of Dreissena polymorpha (Zebra mussel ), if and when that species is introduced to the James River (Cloe et al. 1995), based on their predation of the thicker-shelled C. fluminea. The extent to which N. raneyi's predation affects C. fluminea populations has not been studied.
References- Cloe et al. 1995
References
Cloe, William W., III; Carman, Greg C.; Stranko, Scott A. (1995) Potential of the bull chub (Nocomis raneyi) as a predator of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) in mid-Atlantic coastal rivers, American Midland Naturalist 133: 170-176Diaz, R. J. (1974) Asiatic clam, Corbicula manilensis (Philippi), in the tidal James River, Virginia, Chesapeake Science 15: 118-120
Fuller, Pam. L.; Nico, Leo; Williams, J. D. (1999) Nonindigenous fishes introduced into inland waters of the United States, , Bethesda MD. Pp.
Jenkins, Robert E.; Burkhead, Noel M. (1993) Freshwater fishes of Virginia., , Bethesda, MD. Pp.
Lachner, Ernest A.; Jenkins, Robert E. (1971) Systematics, distribution, and evolution of the chub genus Nocomis Girard (Pisces, Cyprinidae) of Eastern United States, with descriptions of new species, Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 85: 1-97
Maurakis, Eugene G.; Woolcott, William S. (1995) An update of Raney's 1950 account of freshwater fishes of the James River basin, Virginia Journal of Science 46: 235-247
Page, Lawrence M.; Burr, Brooks M. (1991) Freshwater Fishes., , Boston. Pp.
1998-2005 VIMS's juvenile striped bass seine survey- species caught. http://www.fisheries.vims.edu/trawlseine/sbspchgt.htm