Iowa DNR
BioNet
River & Stream Biological Monitoring
Fish and Benthic Macroinvertebrate Surveys
Physical Habitat Assessments

Golden Redhorse Moxostoma erythrurum

Family
Catostomidae (Suckers)
Tolerance
Intermediate
Trophic Class
Benthic Invertivore
Is Exotic to Iowa?
False
Is Lithophilous Spawner?
True
Is Hybrid?
False
State Listing Status
Not Listed
Assessment Program Statistics

This species was found at 231 bioassessment sites, 8 rapid fish bioassessment sites, 95 fisheries assessment sites, and 9 fisheries presence-only assessment sites. In total, it was collected at 335 distinct sites, or 22.1% of the 1513 total sites monitored by the bioassessment program. It is the 25th most commonly collected species.

The Golden Redhorse was collected in 538 bioassessment sampling sessions and 277 fisheries assessment sessions. It was present in 8 rapid bioassessment sessions and 9 presence-only sessions.

The biological assessment program has collected a total of 32,568 individual Golden Redhorse specimens, ranking it the #15 most collected fish.

Species Characteristics

A slightly chubby, coarse-scaled sucker colored light-yellow to bronze. The scales on the back and sides are without dark spots on the base. It can be separated from the Silver Redhorse by the outer margin of the dorsal fin, which is slightly curved inward and has 12 to 13 (rarely 14) rays. The ridges on the lips are continuous and not broken by transverse creases into small papillae. The lateral line is complete with 39 to 42 scales. The tail fin is slate or pale-yellow, and the air bladder has three chambers.

Species Distribution Maps

HUC12 watersheds where this species has been found