BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Hybognathus hankinsoni
Brassy Minnow
| Scientific Name: | Hybognathus hankinsoni Hubbs, 1929 | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | Brassy Minnow | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | F-HYHA | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Aug 2015) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S4 (Aug 2011) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | No Status | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2005) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Spawns in spring. Eggs hatch in a week to 10 days. Sexually mature at age 1-2 (Becker 1983). | ||||||||||
| Global Ecology Comments: | A schooling species (Becker 1983). | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
N / N / N / na / |
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| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Habitat includes small, clear, sluggish weedy creeks or small rivers with sand, gravel, or mud bottom overlain with organic sediment; this species also is common in cool, stained or acid waters of boggy streams, ponds, and lakes, and it is common in overflow ponds near rivers. Spawning occurs among vegetation in shallows and in flooded marshes. Eggs are scattered on vegetation and on the bottom (Becker 1983). | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Herbivore: Adult, Immature
Invertivore: Adult, Immature |
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | Eats algae, phyto- and zooplankton, benthic invertebrates, surface drift, bottom ooze (Becker 1983). | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: | |||||||||||
| Global Phenology Comments: | Winters in pools and deep runs under shelter or buried in debris (Becker 1983). | ||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 10/ / | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | Range extends from the St. Lawrence River and Lake Champlain drainages, Quebec and Vermont, across the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and Missouri-upper Mississippi river basins of southern Canada and northern U.S. south to Colorado and Missouri (Scheurer et al. 2003); MacKenzie River system (Arctic Basin), Alberta; Fraser River system (Pacific Slope), British Columbia (Page and Burr 2011). | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | Hammerson, G. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Feb 14, 2012 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | CANNINGS, S.G. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Jan 23, 1992 | ||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
Bailey, R. M. 1954. Distribution of the American cyprinid fish, Hybognathus hankinsoni, with comments on its original desription. Copeia (4):289-291. |
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Becker, G. C. 1983. Fishes of Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison. 1,052 pp. |
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Brassy Minnow. 1999. B.C. Fish Facts. Conserv. Sect., Fish. Manage. Branch, B.C. Minist. Fish. 2pp. |
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Copes, F. 1975. Ecology of the brassy minnow, Hybognathus hankinsoni (Hubbs). Univ. Wis., Stevens Point, Mus. Nat. Hist.Fauna and Flora Wis. Part III Rep. No. 10:46-72f. |
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Lee, D. S., C. R. Gilbert, C. H. Hocutt, R. E. Jenkins, D. E. McAllister, and J. R. Stauffer, Jr. 1980. Atlas of North American freshwater fishes. North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, North Carolina. i-x + 854 pp. |
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Page, L. M., and B. M. Burr. 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes: North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 432 pp. |
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Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp. |
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Schmidt, T. R. 1994. Phylogenetic relationships of the genus Hybognathus (Teleostei: Cyprinidae). Copeia 1994:622-630. |
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Scott, W. B., and E. J. Crossman. 1973. Freshwater fishes of Canada. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Bulletin 184. 966 pp. |
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Smith, P. W. 1979. The fishes of Illinois. University of Illinois Press, Urbana. 314 pp. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2012. Species Summary: Hybognathus hankinsoni. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 5, 2026).