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coosa chub (Macrhybopsis sp. cf. aestivalis)
Status: Likely candidate for Federal listing
Description:
The Coosa chub is one of several related species of minnow collectively known as speckled chubs. It is silver with purple highlights and black speckles, with barbels on either side of its mouth, and grows to a little over two inches. The Coosa chub has not been extensively studied. In fact, like the Coosa madtom and the Holiday darters, the Coosa chub was only discovered to be a distinct species in recent decades and has not yet formally been described. It is only found in parts of the Coosa and Tallapoosa system: the Tallapoosa, Cahaba, upper Conasauga and Etowah Rivers. Within the Etowah basin, the Coosa chub is restricted to the mainstem of the river between Canton and Dawson counties, as well as the lower reaches of some larger tributaries in this region. The Coosa chub is typically found in areas where water is moving at moderate velocity over a streambed of sand and gravel.
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Distribution of Macrhybopsis sp. cf. aestivalis within the Etowah basin
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Complete known range of Macrhybopsis sp. cf. aestivalis
For more information on this species, see Description and Distribution of Species Covered by the Etowah Aquatic HCP, November 2006, Byron Freeman and Seth Wenger.
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