Silver Redhorse

At a glance

Silver Redhorse (Moxostoma anisurum) is an IUCN Least Concern species regulated in 3 of 66 jurisdictions tracked by CatchRules across the U.S. and Canada.

Confirmed by 613 research-grade iNaturalist observations, with Minnesota, Ontario, and Quebec the top jurisdictions by observation count.

Notable details

• Silver redhorse have an unusually high number of dorsal fin rays, making them easy to distinguish from other redhorse species.
• Their pharyngeal teeth are built to crush snails and clams rather than simply grip prey.
• They spawn in spring, gathering in groups over clean gravel riffles in swift current.
• The reddish-orange tail fin gives all redhorse suckers their distinctive common name.
• They are highly sensitive to siltation and are considered indicators of good water quality.

Where Silver Redhorse are seen

• Minnesota150 iNat obs
• Ontario110 iNat obs
• Quebec105 iNat obs
• Wisconsin59 iNat obs
• Ohio40 iNat obs
• Michigan37 iNat obs

Jurisdictions with rules for Silver Redhorse

• AlabamaUnited States · official source
• IllinoisUnited States · official source

Background

Sometimes called redhorse or sucker for short, the silver redhorse is in the Catostomidae family with other suckers. The silver redhorse (Moxostoma anisurum: Maxostoma= mouth to suck; anisurum = unequal tail) is a species of freshwater fish endemic to Canada and the United States. The silver red horse is distributed from Quebec to Alberta and is also in the Mississippi River, St. Lawrence River,…

Background excerpt adapted from Wikipedia's Silver Redhorse article (CC BY-SA). Visit Wikipedia for the full entry.

Other species on CatchRules

• River RedhorseMoxostoma carinatum