Blotched Chub: Facts & Habitat

About Blotched Chub

The blotched chub (Erimystax insignis) is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, the shiners, daces and minnows. This fish species in native to the Southeastern region of the United States.

NativeFresh6 states

Appearance

The blotched chub is a slender, silvery minnow with dark I-shaped vertical patches along the lateral portion of the body.

Distribution and habitat

This species is found primarily in the Cumberland and Tennessee River drainages of southern states. Although, a subspecies is known to inhabit the Upper Tennessee and the Ridge and Valley region. The majority of the Tennessee River is inhabited by the blotched chub and its subspecies.

The blotched chub's preferred habitat is the clear riffle areas of small creeks. These areas must have plenty of substrate, which is required for this species to spawn.

Ecology

Spawning season for this fish is at its highest in the months of March and April, when water temperatures reach 12–15 °C (54–59 °F). Though, this may vary from year to year depending upon factors such as, rain amounts, sedimentation, and surrounding environmental temperatures. It has been found that this species typically spawns earlier than that of others in the family Cyprinidae.

Article text: Wikipedia contributors, Blotched chub (source revision). Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Diet and feeding

The FishTraits compilation records these diet categories for this species: algae or phytoplankton; detritus or unidentified plant material; invertebrates or larval fish. These are broad categories, not a claim that every individual consumes every example in a category.

Reported feeding positions include bottom feeding. The compilation combines published observations; diets can vary with age, locality, and available food.

Habitat preferences

Reported habitat associations include medium to large rivers, streams and small rivers, creeks.

The source records associations with gravel, cobble, boulders. An association indicates reported use, rather than an exclusive requirement.

Reproduction and parental care

The compilation reports a representative maturity age of 1 years. Its maturity field summarizes mean, median, or modal estimates, usually for females; male estimates can be used when female data are unavailable. It is not a fixed age at which every fish first breeds.

Recorded spawning months are Apr, May for the source’s reporting region (TN). This is a regional calendar, not a range-wide schedule.

The reproductive-guild classification includes spawning on open substrates without guarding the brood.

Size and recorded longevity

FishTraits reports a maximum total length of 9.2 centimetres. Some entries use an estimated asymptotic length; this value should not be treated as a certified record catch.

Recorded longevity in the compilation is 2.5 years. Wild observations were preferred, but captive records were accepted where wild records were unavailable, and unspecified records were assumed wild. The value is not a guaranteed wild lifespan or an aquarium life expectancy.

Range

Where it lives

60.1%of mapped records

Share of 637 GBIF observation records with a state location, across 6 states. The orange dots are USGS stream-survey sites where this species was caught.

A blank area on the dot layer usually means nobody sampled there, not that the fish is absent. Turn on “every survey site” to see where the survey looked.

Share of records by state

The USGS stream survey caught it at 22 of its sites, in 5 states. That survey and the GBIF records are two different counts of two different things, so the site keeps them apart.

Habitat

Water and movement

Water: WoRMS records this species in fresh water.
Migration: Undetermined

Classification

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Superclass: Actinopterygii
Class: Teleostei
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Leuciscidae
Genus: Erimystax
Species: Erimystax insignis
ITIS TSN: 163823
WoRMS AphiaID: 1014013
GBIF key: 2362090

Common questions about Blotched Chub

What is the scientific name of Blotched Chub?

The scientific name is Erimystax insignis, in the family Leuciscidae. Classification follows ITIS.

Does Blotched Chub live in fresh water or salt water?

WoRMS records this species in fresh water.

Where has Blotched Chub been recorded in the United States?

GBIF has observations in 6 states, with the most records in Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama. The map shows observation records, which do not establish the complete natural range.

Closest relatives