Striped Jumprock: Facts & Habitat

About Striped Jumprock

The striped jumprock (Moxostoma rupiscartes) is a North American freshwater fish in the genus Moxostoma.

Description

The striped jumprock has a cylindrical body that is yellow-olive or brown above. There are prominent dark stripes on the back and side, which are normally slightly wider than the pale interspaces. The fins are a dusky olive to orange in color. The head is flat or slightly convex between the eyes. The dorsal fin is straight or nearly concave.

In some populations, the dorsal and caudal fins have a dusky edge. Breeding males have a faint yellowish brown stripe along the side. Young striped jumprocks have 4 or 5 blotches along the side and a yellow caudal fin.

Distribution and habitat

The fish is most often found in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Specifically, in the drainages of the Santee River, the drainages of the Altahama River, and the upper Chattahoochee River drainages. It also seems to have been introduced into the Pee Dee River drainages of North Carolina.

The fish inhabits sandy to rocky riffles and runs of small or medium sized rivers.

Article text: Wikipedia contributors, Striped jumprock (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 streams and small rivers.

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

Reproduction and parental care

The compilation reports a representative maturity age of 3 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 Mar for the source’s reporting region (NC). 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 28 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 10 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.

Identification and appearance

Menhinick (1991); Page and Burr (1991). The genus Moxostoma was revised by Smith (1992), and Scartomyzon, a subgenus of Moxostoma, was elevated to genus. However, Harris et al. (2002) suggest that Scartomyzon is not a distinct lineage and its species are within the Moxostoma lineage (Nelson et. al, 2004).

Native range

Atlantic Slope from Santee River drainage, North Carolina, to Altamaha River drainage, Georgia; Gulf Slope in upper Chattahoochee River drainage, Georgia. Recently discovered in and possibly introduced to the extreme upper Pee Dee River drainage, North Carolina (Page and Burr 1991).

Range

Where it lives

52.3%of mapped records

Share of 982 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 169 of its sites, in 3 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.
USGS NAS habitat: Freshwater
US status: Native transplant — native to part of the United States, moved to other waters inside it.
Migration: Migratory
Pattern: Potamodromous — migrates within fresh water

Classification

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Superclass: Actinopterygii
Class: Teleostei
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Catostomidae
Genus: Moxostoma
Species: Moxostoma rupiscartes
ITIS TSN: 163946
WoRMS AphiaID: 1019681
GBIF key: 2358974

Common questions about Striped Jumprock

What is the scientific name of Striped Jumprock?

The scientific name is Moxostoma rupiscartes, in the family Catostomidae. Classification follows ITIS.

Does Striped Jumprock live in fresh water or salt water?

WoRMS records this species in fresh water.

Where has Striped Jumprock been recorded in the United States?

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

Closest relatives