Fallfish - Semotilus corporalis
Habitat requirements and life history: The fallfish is native fish and a large member of the minnow family. The fallfish prefers large streams and small rivers with gravel, sand or rubble bottoms. They are also sometimes found in silt-bottomed pools. Fallfish are rare in waters that exceed 82° F. Fallfish feed primarily on insects and fishes. They spawn in the spring over gravel in flowing streams. The male builds and defends stone mound nests that can be over five feet in diameter. (Sources: Freshwater Fishes of Canada and Freshwater Fishes of the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland, & Delaware)
Total length: about 9 inches (MA record 19 inches)
Pollution tolerance (US EPA): Intermediate tolerance
Classification: Fluvial specialist
Number of fish found during 1954 & 2001 fish surveys:*
Location | No. of Fish 1954 | No. of Fish 2001 |
Assabet River | 133 | 83 |
Danforth Brook | 30 | |
Fort Meadow Brook | 54 | |
Elizabeth Brook | 1 | |
Fort Meadow Brook | 1 | |
Great Brook | 16 | |
Hop Brook | 55 | 7 |
Nashoba Brook | 4 | |
North Brook | 24 | 6 |
Total | 316 | 98 |
*Sources:
DFW. 2001. Assabet Watershed Fish Survey. Mass. Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife), Westborough, MA.
Schlotterbeck, L.C. and W.A. Tompkins. 1954. "A Fisheries Investigation of the Merrimack and Ipswich River Drainages." Bureau of Wildlife Research and Management, Mass. Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, Westborough, MA.