"European chub" redirects here. For other fish, see Squalius.
Squalius cephalus[2][1] is a European species of freshwater fish in the carp familyCyprinidae. It frequents both slow and moderate rivers, as well as canals and still waters of various kinds. This species is referred to as the common chub, European chub, or simply chub.[2]
It is a stocky fish with a large rounded head. Its body is long and cylindrical in shape and is covered in large greenish-brown scales which are edged with narrow bands of black across the back, paling to golden on the flanks and even paler on the belly. The tail is dark brown or black, the dorsal fin is a greyish-green in colour and all the other fins are orange-red.[3] The dorsal fin has 3 spines and 7-9 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 7-10 rays. The vertebrae count is 42-48. It can grow to 60 cm standard length but most fish are around 30 cm.[2]
Distribution
The chub is distributed throughout most of northern Eurasia, it can be found in the rivers flowing into the North, Baltic, northern Black, White, Barents and Caspian Sea basins, the Atlantic basins south to Adour drainage in France and in Great Britain north to 56 °C, in Scandinavia in southern Finland and southern Sweden north to around Stockholm. In the Mediterranean basin it is found in France from the Var to the Hérault, and may also be present in the Aude, drainages.[2] It is absent as a native species from Ireland and Italy but has been introduced to both countries;[4] in Italy S. cephalus is present and acclimatised since decades, but it seems marginally found here and there (mainly in the Po river basin), never forming well established populations.
Habitat and ecology
It is most abundant in small rivers and large streams in the "barbel zone" where there are riffles and pools. It occurs along the banks of slow-flowing lowland rivers in large lake and even in mountain streams. Chub in lakes undertake spawning migrations into inflowing streams. The adult fish are solitary but the juvenile fish are sociable and occur in shoals. The larvae and juveniles prefer rather shallow habitats along shorelines and these smaller fish have a varied diet of aquatic and terrestrial animals[5] while the large, solitary adults prey mainly on freshwater shrimp and small fishes.[6][2] In the United Kingdom, chub have been recorded feeding on worms, molluscs, crustaceans, and various insect larvae while large chub eat considerable numbers of small fish, such as chub, eels, common dace, common roach, gudgeon and minnows as well as frogs, crayfish, voles and young water birds.[4] They have also been observed eating berries such as blackberries[7] and elderberry from trees overhanging the water. They feed throughout the year if there are opportunities, even in the coldest days of midwinter.[3]
Scales taken from chub
Spawning happens when the water temperature reaches 14 °C, and lasts from May to September.[4] They spawn in fast-flowing water above gravel substrates but only infrequently will they spawn among submerged vegetation. The females spawn more than once during a season and each female will mate with several males. The males aggregate at spawning sites and will follow the ripe females, often with much splashing, to shallow riffles. Females lay pale yellow sticky eggs which adhere to the gravel, weed and stones in flowing water.[2] Sexual maturity in chub is influenced by environmental factors with males reaching sexual maturity at the age of 2–4 years while females reach it at 4-6 although some individuals may mature much later than this.[4] The fish can live for up to 22 years in the wild,[8] where the age of fish can be assessed through by the number of rings that are visible in scales, these represent seasonal growth patterns.
Threats
Recent work has shown that chub ingest microplastic particles. Whereas many as 25% of sampled fish contained particles, these particles were not found in muscles.[9] Many of the particles found were fibres that are released from clothes during washing, these are also ingested by macroinvertebrates such as Daphnia[10]. Chub can also be contaminated by metal pollution such as copper, magnesium and sodium which can accumulate in tissues like the muscle, gills and liver.[11] Young of the year fish contained particularly high levels of metal contaminants.[11]
Fishing for chub
Chub caught from the River Teme, Worcestershire
They are popular with anglers due to their readiness to feed, and thus to be caught, in almost any conditions. Small chub are freely biting fish which even inexperienced anglers find easy to catch. As they become larger, however, chub become more wary and are easily spooked by noise or visual disturbance. Consequently, large chub (in excess of 2 kg) are keenly sought by anglers who prefer to target specific fish.
The British angling record for chub was broken in May 2007 when Steve White caught a 4.82-kg (9.2-lb) fish from a southern stillwater on a mainline boilie.[12] The chub can reach a maximum length of 64–82 cm (24-31.5 in).
German chub catch from the typical environment
Tackle and tactics
Smaller chub are not too difficult to catch and on small or medium-sized rivers, a stick-float fishing approach can be adopted or even a swim-feeder and using almost any bait including maggots, luncheon meat, sweetcorn and even small lures and flies. Chub also eat marine derived fishmeal-based pellets and diets of wild chub diets contain 44% of these pellets.[6] Catching the larger specimens however requires a patient and stealthy approach as most larger chub are caught on the smaller, clearer rivers and as a result, the angler must make their presence as subtle as possible and yet again, not a lot of tackle is required and most anglers may even set their tackle up before they get their favored spot as there is less noise from tackle being set up that may disturb the fish. A classic chub spot is just hanging off (or even inside) branches/bushes brushing through the water as chub are quite sensitive to sunlight and most anglers may fish at sunrise or sunset when the chub leave their entangled home. An angler should also look for where the current is being pushed out, causing a re-circulation pattern behind what ever is pushing the current outwards and this is where much food will wash around and where there will probably be feeding fish. Like with the smaller chub, a range of baits can be used but smaller baits such as maggots may attract small fish like minnows (especially on smaller rivers) so a larger bait such as luncheon meat is best used. In terms of the line setup, line ratings of a range of 4-8 pounds breaking-strain is ideal, less experienced anglers should use the tougher rating until they have gained knowledge about 'playing' the fish.
Feeder/ledger fishing
Traditionally a quiver-tip rod is used with at least four-pound line rating due to the weight of the ledger/feeder (heavier weights need heavier line). In feeder fishing, bait will be put on a hook or a hair rig and inside a swim-feeder which the current will cause to flow out and attract fish to the hook's position so it involves fishing upstream of where the fish are, this usually involves smaller baits like sweetcorn or maggots. The same applies to ledgering except there is a weight (called a ledger) instead of a swim-feeder and usually heavier baits are used here such as luncheon meat. Another method known as touch-ledgering can be used which involves not using a quiver-tip but instead holding the line that is loose off the reel and feeling for any pulls or the line going loose. Some anglers do this without any weights and let the bait slowly drift downstream with the line steadily moving through their hands, slugs and luncheon meat are excellent for this method.
Float fishing
This method could involve fishing under the rod-tip in deep water or letting the float gently drift to where the fish may be situated (known as trotting) whilst throwing portions of bait in the stream to encourage feeding. Usually a lighter rod may be used (no more than ten-foot) and sometimes a centrepin reel is used as it allows the line to smoothly come off the reel. Anglers must strike quickly when trotting as bites can be easy to miss sometimes. Drifting baits such as bread, sweetcorn and maggots are usually used here.
Lure fishing
This method is usually for the larger chub, a light spinning/lure rod with a fixed-spool reel of at least 10 pounds line rating as it is easy to snag onto debris when doing this method. Small lures such as bar-spoons and spoons or even small soft-plastics can imitate the smaller fish such as minnows that the larger chub feed on.
Fly-fishing
Using flies such as damselfly patterns or even larger, dark patterns such as those that imitate slugs can be very good if presented correctly. More obvious, shiny flies that imitate small fish may work for more aggressive chub, this method is all-year but best in warmer months. Nymph patterns also do well.
References
^ abFreyhof, J. (2014). "Squalius cephalus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2014: e.T61205A19009224. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-1.RLTS.T61205A19009224.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
^ abcdefRainer Froese; Daniel Pauly, eds. (2017). "Squalius cephalus (Linnaeus, 1758) Chub". Fishbase. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
^ abcd"Squalius cephalus (European chub)". Invasive Species Compendium. CABI. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
^Gutmann Roberts, Catherine; Britton, J. Robert (2018). "Quantifying trophic interactions and niche sizes of juvenile fishes in an invaded riverine cyprinid fish community" (PDF). Ecology of Freshwater Fish. 27 (4): 976–987. doi:10.1111/eff.12408. ISSN 1600-0633.
^ abGutmann Roberts, Catherine; Bašić, Tea; Trigo, Fatima Amat; Britton, J. Robert (2017). "Trophic consequences for riverine cyprinid fishes of angler subsidies based on marine-derived nutrients" (PDF). Freshwater Biology. 62 (5): 894–905. doi:10.1111/fwb.12910. ISSN 1365-2427. (PDF) from the original on 2020-03-09.
^Jack Perks Wildlife Media, Chub eating blackberries, archived from the original on 2021-12-11, retrieved 2019-01-24
^"All About Chub". Total Fishing. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
^Collard, France; Gasperi, Johnny; Gilbert, Bernard; Eppe, Gauthier; Azimi, Sam; Rocher, Vincent; Tassin, Bruno (2018-12-01). "Anthropogenic particles in the stomach contents and liver of the freshwater fish Squalius cephalus" (PDF). Science of the Total Environment. 643: 1257–1264. Bibcode:2018ScTEn.643.1257C. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.06.313. ISSN 0048-9697. PMID 30189542. (PDF) from the original on 2020-03-06.
^Jemec, Anita; Horvat, Petra; Kunej, Urban; Bele, Marjan; Kržan, Andrej (2016-12-01). "Uptake and effects of microplastic textile fibers on freshwater crustacean Daphnia magna". Environmental Pollution. 219: 201–209. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2016.10.037. ISSN 0269-7491. PMID 27814536.
^ abNyeste, Krisztián; Dobrocsi, Patrik; Czeglédi, István; Czédli, Herta; Harangi, Sándor; Baranyai, Edina; Simon, Edina; Nagy, Sándor Alex; Antal, László (2019-06-01). "Age and diet-specific trace element accumulation patterns in different tissues of chub (Squalius cephalus): Juveniles are useful bioindicators of recent pollution" (PDF). Ecological Indicators. 101: 1–10. doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.01.001. ISSN 1470-160X. (PDF) from the original on 2020-03-05.
squalius, cephalus, european, chub, redirects, here, other, fish, squalius, european, species, freshwater, fish, carp, family, cyprinidae, frequents, both, slow, moderate, rivers, well, canals, still, waters, various, kinds, this, species, referred, common, ch. European chub redirects here For other fish see Squalius Squalius cephalus 2 1 is a European species of freshwater fish in the carp family Cyprinidae It frequents both slow and moderate rivers as well as canals and still waters of various kinds This species is referred to as the common chub European chub or simply chub 2 Squalius cephalusConservation statusLeast Concern IUCN 3 1 1 Scientific classificationKingdom AnimaliaPhylum ChordataClass ActinopterygiiOrder CypriniformesFamily CyprinidaeSubfamily LeuciscinaeGenus SqualiusSpecies S cephalusBinomial nameSqualius cephalus Linnaeus 1758 SynonymsCyprinus cephalus Linnaeus 1758 Leuciscus cephalus Linnaeus 1758 Cyprinus capito Scopoli 1786 Cyprinus chub Bonnaterre 1788 Cyprinus lugdunensis Walbaum 1792 Cyprinus orthonotus Hermann 1804 Cyprinus albula Nardo 1827 Leuciscus cabeda Risso 1827 Cyprinus kietaibeli Reisinger 1830 Cyprinus rufus Vallot 1837 Leuciscus albus Bonaparte 1838 Leuciscus cavedanus Bonaparte 1838 Leuciscus brutius Costa 1838 Leuciscus orientalis Nordmann 1840 Squalius orientalis Nordmann 1840 Leuciscus rissoi Schinz 1840 Squalius pareti Bonaparte 1841 Squalius tyberinus Bonaparte 1841 Leuciscus nothulus Bonaparte 1841 Squalius cephalopsis Heckel 1843 Leuciscus albiensis Valenciennes 1844 Leuciscus frigidus Valenciennes 1844 Leuciscus squalius Valenciennes 1844 Squalius meunier Heckel 1852 Cyprinus salmoneus Gronow 1854 Leuciscus latifrons Nilsson 1855 Squalius meridionalis Blanchard 1866 Squalius clathratus Blanchard 1866 Leuciscus ruffoi Bianco amp Recchia 1983 Leuciscus lapacinus Stefani Serra Loffredo amp Fossa 1987 Contents 1 Description 2 Distribution 3 Habitat and ecology 4 Threats 5 Fishing for chub 5 1 Tackle and tactics 6 References 7 External linksDescription EditIt is a stocky fish with a large rounded head Its body is long and cylindrical in shape and is covered in large greenish brown scales which are edged with narrow bands of black across the back paling to golden on the flanks and even paler on the belly The tail is dark brown or black the dorsal fin is a greyish green in colour and all the other fins are orange red 3 The dorsal fin has 3 spines and 7 9 soft rays while the anal fin has 3 spines and 7 10 rays The vertebrae count is 42 48 It can grow to 60 cm standard length but most fish are around 30 cm 2 Distribution EditThe chub is distributed throughout most of northern Eurasia it can be found in the rivers flowing into the North Baltic northern Black White Barents and Caspian Sea basins the Atlantic basins south to Adour drainage in France and in Great Britain north to 56 C in Scandinavia in southern Finland and southern Sweden north to around Stockholm In the Mediterranean basin it is found in France from the Var to the Herault and may also be present in the Aude drainages 2 It is absent as a native species from Ireland and Italy but has been introduced to both countries 4 in Italy S cephalus is present and acclimatised since decades but it seems marginally found here and there mainly in the Po river basin never forming well established populations Habitat and ecology EditIt is most abundant in small rivers and large streams in the barbel zone where there are riffles and pools It occurs along the banks of slow flowing lowland rivers in large lake and even in mountain streams Chub in lakes undertake spawning migrations into inflowing streams The adult fish are solitary but the juvenile fish are sociable and occur in shoals The larvae and juveniles prefer rather shallow habitats along shorelines and these smaller fish have a varied diet of aquatic and terrestrial animals 5 while the large solitary adults prey mainly on freshwater shrimp and small fishes 6 2 In the United Kingdom chub have been recorded feeding on worms molluscs crustaceans and various insect larvae while large chub eat considerable numbers of small fish such as chub eels common dace common roach gudgeon and minnows as well as frogs crayfish voles and young water birds 4 They have also been observed eating berries such as blackberries 7 and elderberry from trees overhanging the water They feed throughout the year if there are opportunities even in the coldest days of midwinter 3 Scales taken from chub Spawning happens when the water temperature reaches 14 C and lasts from May to September 4 They spawn in fast flowing water above gravel substrates but only infrequently will they spawn among submerged vegetation The females spawn more than once during a season and each female will mate with several males The males aggregate at spawning sites and will follow the ripe females often with much splashing to shallow riffles Females lay pale yellow sticky eggs which adhere to the gravel weed and stones in flowing water 2 Sexual maturity in chub is influenced by environmental factors with males reaching sexual maturity at the age of 2 4 years while females reach it at 4 6 although some individuals may mature much later than this 4 The fish can live for up to 22 years in the wild 8 where the age of fish can be assessed through by the number of rings that are visible in scales these represent seasonal growth patterns Threats EditRecent work has shown that chub ingest microplastic particles Whereas many as 25 of sampled fish contained particles these particles were not found in muscles 9 Many of the particles found were fibres that are released from clothes during washing these are also ingested by macroinvertebrates such as Daphnia 10 Chub can also be contaminated by metal pollution such as copper magnesium and sodium which can accumulate in tissues like the muscle gills and liver 11 Young of the year fish contained particularly high levels of metal contaminants 11 Fishing for chub EditThis article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Squalius cephalus news newspapers books scholar JSTOR June 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message Chub caught from the River Teme Worcestershire They are popular with anglers due to their readiness to feed and thus to be caught in almost any conditions Small chub are freely biting fish which even inexperienced anglers find easy to catch As they become larger however chub become more wary and are easily spooked by noise or visual disturbance Consequently large chub in excess of 2 kg are keenly sought by anglers who prefer to target specific fish The British angling record for chub was broken in May 2007 when Steve White caught a 4 82 kg 9 2 lb fish from a southern stillwater on a mainline boilie 12 The chub can reach a maximum length of 64 82 cm 24 31 5 in German chub catch from the typical environment Tackle and tactics Edit Smaller chub are not too difficult to catch and on small or medium sized rivers a stick float fishing approach can be adopted or even a swim feeder and using almost any bait including maggots luncheon meat sweetcorn and even small lures and flies Chub also eat marine derived fishmeal based pellets and diets of wild chub diets contain 44 of these pellets 6 Catching the larger specimens however requires a patient and stealthy approach as most larger chub are caught on the smaller clearer rivers and as a result the angler must make their presence as subtle as possible and yet again not a lot of tackle is required and most anglers may even set their tackle up before they get their favored spot as there is less noise from tackle being set up that may disturb the fish A classic chub spot is just hanging off or even inside branches bushes brushing through the water as chub are quite sensitive to sunlight and most anglers may fish at sunrise or sunset when the chub leave their entangled home An angler should also look for where the current is being pushed out causing a re circulation pattern behind what ever is pushing the current outwards and this is where much food will wash around and where there will probably be feeding fish Like with the smaller chub a range of baits can be used but smaller baits such as maggots may attract small fish like minnows especially on smaller rivers so a larger bait such as luncheon meat is best used In terms of the line setup line ratings of a range of 4 8 pounds breaking strain is ideal less experienced anglers should use the tougher rating until they have gained knowledge about playing the fish Feeder ledger fishingTraditionally a quiver tip rod is used with at least four pound line rating due to the weight of the ledger feeder heavier weights need heavier line In feeder fishing bait will be put on a hook or a hair rig and inside a swim feeder which the current will cause to flow out and attract fish to the hook s position so it involves fishing upstream of where the fish are this usually involves smaller baits like sweetcorn or maggots The same applies to ledgering except there is a weight called a ledger instead of a swim feeder and usually heavier baits are used here such as luncheon meat Another method known as touch ledgering can be used which involves not using a quiver tip but instead holding the line that is loose off the reel and feeling for any pulls or the line going loose Some anglers do this without any weights and let the bait slowly drift downstream with the line steadily moving through their hands slugs and luncheon meat are excellent for this method Float fishingThis method could involve fishing under the rod tip in deep water or letting the float gently drift to where the fish may be situated known as trotting whilst throwing portions of bait in the stream to encourage feeding Usually a lighter rod may be used no more than ten foot and sometimes a centrepin reel is used as it allows the line to smoothly come off the reel Anglers must strike quickly when trotting as bites can be easy to miss sometimes Drifting baits such as bread sweetcorn and maggots are usually used here Lure fishingThis method is usually for the larger chub a light spinning lure rod with a fixed spool reel of at least 10 pounds line rating as it is easy to snag onto debris when doing this method Small lures such as bar spoons and spoons or even small soft plastics can imitate the smaller fish such as minnows that the larger chub feed on Fly fishingUsing flies such as damselfly patterns or even larger dark patterns such as those that imitate slugs can be very good if presented correctly More obvious shiny flies that imitate small fish may work for more aggressive chub this method is all year but best in warmer months Nymph patterns also do well References Edit a b Freyhof J 2014 Squalius cephalus IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014 e T61205A19009224 doi 10 2305 IUCN UK 2014 1 RLTS T61205A19009224 en Retrieved 19 November 2021 a b c d e f Rainer Froese Daniel Pauly eds 2017 Squalius cephalus Linnaeus 1758 Chub Fishbase Retrieved 3 December 2017 a b Chub Fish UK Retrieved 3 December 2017 a b c d Squalius cephalus European chub Invasive Species Compendium CABI Retrieved 3 December 2017 Gutmann Roberts Catherine Britton J Robert 2018 Quantifying trophic interactions and niche sizes of juvenile fishes in an invaded riverine cyprinid fish community PDF Ecology of Freshwater Fish 27 4 976 987 doi 10 1111 eff 12408 ISSN 1600 0633 a b Gutmann Roberts Catherine Basic Tea Trigo Fatima Amat Britton J Robert 2017 Trophic consequences for riverine cyprinid fishes of angler subsidies based on marine derived nutrients PDF Freshwater Biology 62 5 894 905 doi 10 1111 fwb 12910 ISSN 1365 2427 Archived PDF from the original on 2020 03 09 Jack Perks Wildlife Media Chub eating blackberries archived from the original on 2021 12 11 retrieved 2019 01 24 All About Chub Total Fishing Retrieved 3 December 2017 Collard France Gasperi Johnny Gilbert Bernard Eppe Gauthier Azimi Sam Rocher Vincent Tassin Bruno 2018 12 01 Anthropogenic particles in the stomach contents and liver of the freshwater fish Squalius cephalus PDF Science of the Total Environment 643 1257 1264 Bibcode 2018ScTEn 643 1257C doi 10 1016 j scitotenv 2018 06 313 ISSN 0048 9697 PMID 30189542 Archived PDF from the original on 2020 03 06 Jemec Anita Horvat Petra Kunej Urban Bele Marjan Krzan Andrej 2016 12 01 Uptake and effects of microplastic textile fibers on freshwater crustacean Daphnia magna Environmental Pollution 219 201 209 doi 10 1016 j envpol 2016 10 037 ISSN 0269 7491 PMID 27814536 a b Nyeste Krisztian Dobrocsi Patrik Czegledi Istvan Czedli Herta Harangi Sandor Baranyai Edina Simon Edina Nagy Sandor Alex Antal Laszlo 2019 06 01 Age and diet specific trace element accumulation patterns in different tissues of chub Squalius cephalus Juveniles are useful bioindicators of recent pollution PDF Ecological Indicators 101 1 10 doi 10 1016 j ecolind 2019 01 001 ISSN 1470 160X Archived PDF from the original on 2020 03 05 Chub Record Broken FishingMagic Catch Reports Archived from the original on 2007 12 29 External links EditAll About Chub Article Coarse Fishing For Chubb Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Squalius cephalus amp oldid 1124516112, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
