SCIENTIFIC NAME: Moxostoma lachneri
CHARACTERISTICS: The head of this species is long and rather pointed, and the body is cylindrical. The caudal peduncle is long and slender. The dorsal fin contains 12 soft rays, and its free margin is slightly concave. On the caudal fin, the upper lobe is distinctly pointed, while the lower lobe is slightly larger and distinctly rounded. The lower ray in the lower lobe of the caudal fin is usually white. Lateral line scales usually total 45 or 46. The greater jumprock is the only Moxostoma species in Alabama with 16 rows of scales surrounding its caudal peduncle; all other species have 12 to 14 rows. The lips are plicate; the posterior margin of the lower lips is broadly U-shaped. The back is light to dark olive, the venter is cream, and several dark, horizontal stripes, which may be ether indistinct or obvious, may occur along the sides. The anal fin is usually blue-gray in adults, but all other fins are dusky gray. Burr (1979a) notes that on breeding adults the caudal and anal fins are a rich bluish gray; the back is an iridescent, silvery black, fading ventrally; and tubercles occur on the anal fin rays and rays of the lower caudal fin lobe of males only.
ADULT SIZE: 12 to 16 in (300 to 406 mm)
DISTRIBUTION: In Alabama, the greater jumprock is limited to the Chattahoochee River drainage.
HABITAT AND BIOLOGY: The primary habitat includes large and small streams having moderate to swift currents and gravel and rock substrates. Our collections of gravid females indicate that spawning occurs in May and June. Burr (1979a) observed spawning in the Chattahoochee River in White County, Georgia, on 10 and 11 June 1976. Water temperature was 67ºF (19ºC). In swift current over gravel, two males aligned themselves on either side of a female. With their bodies pressed tightly together, the three quivered as the eggs and sperm were released. Shortly thereafter, the trio separated and moved slightly downstream to join other members of the spawning aggregation.
REMARKS: The type locality is an unnamed tributary to Hatchechubbee Creek near Seale, Russell County, Alabama.
ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: Robins and Raney described the greater jumprock in 1956.
ETYMOLOGY:
Moxostoma means mouth to suck.
Lachneri is in honor of Ernest A. Lachner, noted North American ichthyologist.
The copyrighted information above is from Fishes of Alabama and the Mobile Basin.
