Shorthead Redhorse - Ecology

Ecology

Shorthead Redhorse have a wide habitat range. They live in fresh water and are found in streams, lakes and rivers. Shorthead Redhorse can tolerate clear to cloudy water and likes loose substrate like gravel and sand. These fish are benthic feeders that like to feed in rifles and rifle margins. During a study done in Illinois by Sule et al., they found that “shorthead redhorse consumed items from approximately 60 food categories, primarily in vertebrate taxa”. Twenty-four to sixty-eight percent of their diet was unidentified when stomach contents were analyzed. Also found, 21-50% of the unidentified matter, or 13% of their total diet, was organic matter. Shorthead Redhorse eat the most insects out of all the fish in the sucker family. They can also eat microcrustacea and plant matter. Predators of Shorthead Redhorse vary depending on size. Juveniles can be eaten by northern pike, walleyes, and smallmouth bass. Adult or larger Shorthead Redhorse are eaten by northern pike and muskellunge. The Shorthead Redhorse does not actively compete for food. Because of their wide range of prey and eating the most vertebrates of all the suckers, they do not have a competitor. Humans impact Shorthead Redhorse habitat. The construction of dams blocked free flowing rivers like the Mississippi in which they live, disrupting their spawning migration routes. Shorthead Redhorse are killed easily by pollutants in the water. “The upstream migratory range of shorthead redhorse in a Maryland river decreased due to an increase in chlorinated sewage outfalls”. Factory pollutants are dumped into streams or rivers and will settle onto the bottom. Because such a large portion of the Shorthead Redhorse’s diet is sediment, it ingests high concentrations of the chemicals and can die.