Streamline Chub

Streamline Chub (Erimystax dissimilis)

A species associated with the riffles and bars of moderate sized streams, this species is one of the rarer of the 8 species of chubs inhabiting Ohio streams.

Populations are found in several of the upper tributaries of the Scioto River including Paint Creek, Deer Creek, and Big and Little Darby creeks.

Other populations are found in the upper Muskingum River and its larger tributaries including the Walhonding, Mohican, Kokosing and lower Tuscarawas rivers.

They prefer a position just at the foot of a riffle where the water is deeper and the current is just starting to slow down. Preferred substrates are normally composed of sand, gravel and small cobbles.

They are somewhat intolerant of turbid waters and will disappear from a stream if the gravel substrates become coated with silt or otherwise polluted. Thus, the presence of the Streamline Chub within a stream is often an indicator of good water quality.

The streamline chub can be distinguished from other chubs by noticing the series of 5 to 11 dark spots along the lateral band.