I thought that too at first glance. But, I noticed the tail was pointed on the top lobe and rounded on the bottom. Is that not characteristic of River Redhorse?
Ignoring the small head, that mouth is way too small to be a River's, especially considering the size of the fish. Rivers eat mussels and clams - they have big, powerful heads and mouths.
2018 Goals:
Quillback (Check)
Musky
10#+ Flathead Catfish
5 New Standard Species (Current Count: 6 - Check)
The main reason for looking at the pointed upper tail of the river redhorse is to distinguish them from greater redhorse. Both shortheads and rivers can have a pointed tail fin like that, but the greater has big wide, fairly equal tail lobes.
And now the picture has changed. I'd say the main pic now posted is a River and the second original pic is the shorthead. Congrats on getting a River afterall! They are such cool fish.
I understand now - these images were taken with a wide-angle GoPro camera. The wide angle lens and the angle of the fish being held makes the head look tiny in the first pic; way too small compared to body size to ever be a river. But it's just the distortion from the GoPro lens; I think that fish is a river looking at the video.
Comments
River redhorse
That's a cool lifer! Looks like a pretty solid fish, too.
Susquehannock
Its a Shorthead Redhorse
Its a Shorthead Redhorse
Tail
I thought that too at first glance. But, I noticed the tail was pointed on the top lobe and rounded on the bottom. Is that not characteristic of River Redhorse?
Cookie cutter shorthead in my
Cookie cutter shorthead in my opinion. Their tails can vary in shape sometimes.
Mouth
Ignoring the small head, that mouth is way too small to be a River's, especially considering the size of the fish. Rivers eat mussels and clams - they have big, powerful heads and mouths.
2018 Goals:
Quillback (Check)
Musky
10#+ Flathead Catfish
5 New Standard Species (Current Count: 6 - Check)
Tail fin
The main reason for looking at the pointed upper tail of the river redhorse is to distinguish them from greater redhorse. Both shortheads and rivers can have a pointed tail fin like that, but the greater has big wide, fairly equal tail lobes.
Excellent to know. Still
Excellent to know. Still looking for my lifer River and Greater, will help me to recognize them when they come.
And now the picture has
And now the picture has changed. I'd say the main pic now posted is a River and the second original pic is the shorthead. Congrats on getting a River afterall! They are such cool fish.
ID
I updated the photo to a better one. Happy to have my ID confirmed. Although a 24 inch shorthead would still be awesome. Thanks dudes!
Head Size Distortion
I understand now - these images were taken with a wide-angle GoPro camera. The wide angle lens and the angle of the fish being held makes the head look tiny in the first pic; way too small compared to body size to ever be a river. But it's just the distortion from the GoPro lens; I think that fish is a river looking at the video.