Distribution of Fishes in the Red River of the North Basin on Multivariate Environmental Gradients

Cyprinidae

Blacknose Dace

Rhinichthys atratulus (Hermann), the blacknose dace, was reported by Scudder from the Sandhill River in 1860 (UMMZ 1994) and was listed as R. atronasus by Hankinson (1928), who collected it from the Park River (Figure A43). Hubbs and Schultz reported it from the Sheyenne River in 1926 (UMMZ 1994); and Olson (1932) listed the species from the Wild Rice, Sandhill, and Poplar (Clearwater) Rivers in Minnesota, where the species was rare to common in the samples. Another early record was by Deason and Nelson from the Mud River (Red Lake River) in 1938 (UMMZ 1994). The blacknose dace has been reported from the midstream and headwater reaches of most tributaries in the basin. It has never been taken from the Red, Elm, Rush, Bois de Sioux, Mustinka, or Rabbit Rivers, or the Wild Rice River in North Dakota; and although it has been taken in abundance at glacial Lake Agassiz beach ridge sites on the South Branch Buffalo River, the species has never been taken in the Buffalo River itself. The blacknose dace has been found at 22% of the stream sites sampled in the Red River basin since 1962 (Table 4). Where it is found, the species has usually been abundant in the site collections, with 20-30 individuals in a sample not uncommon. Several hundred individuals have been collected at sites on the Forest and Turtle Rivers in recent years.

Figure A43. Distribution of the blacknose dace in streams of the Red River of the North basin.

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