Black Redhorse (Moxostoma duquesnei) - Ecology

In October 2007 a large pool in the Grand River near Kitchener, Ontario was sampled using seine nets for adult black redhorse.  Backpack electrofishing gear was used to collect juveniles.  Several adult black redhorse were tagged and released.  In late October, this region of the river was sampled with a large boat electrofisher.  A total of 117 black redhorse were anchor-tagged and PIT tagged and released.  Golden redhorse and greater redhorse were also observed at these sites as well as walleye, smallmouth bass, and common carp.  From October 30 to November 1, the river was seined and an additional 54 black redhorse were anchor-tagged and PIT tagged. Several juvenile (size range 83-117 mm), and 1+ (195-206 mm) black redhorse, were observed.  Fish were recaptured in late November.  Data from this tagging exercise will be used to generate a population estimate for black redhorse in the middle Grand River, and long-term tracking data will be collected from all PIT-tagged fish.  Fish were tracked at two fishways upstream from the collection site and at a river-wide underwater antenna downstream from the collection site to characterize temporal migration patterns related to climate change, water quality and river discharge. This project continued until 2013.