ToL-Reviewed

Hiodon alosoides

Goldeye

Guo-Qing Li and Mark V. H. Wilson
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Containing group: Hiodon

Introduction

The goldeye, Hiodon alosoides (Rafinesque), one of only two living species in the genus, is widely distributed in the fresh waters of the interior of North America, from the Mackenzie River in the north to Louisiana in the south, and from northeastern British Columbia in the west to northwestern Quebec in the east.

Goldeye prefer turbid waters of lakes, ponds, and rivers. Food includes diverse aquatic invertebrates and small fishes, as well as other vertebrates and flying insects that fall in the water.

Goldeye live up to 17 years. Sexual maturity varies with latitude, being much earlier for fish in the south than in the north.

They are taken by both sport and commercial fishers, though they are not of great commercial importance except as a gourmet delicacy known as "Winnipeg goldeye."

Characteristics

Goldeye are silvery herring-like fishes named for their conspicuous golden iris. They differ from mooneye in that their fleshy ventral keel extends in front of the pelvic fins (Nelson, 1994). Also unlike mooneye, the dorsal-fin originates over or behind the anal-fin origin, and the mouth extends posteriorly beyond the middle of the eye. Hiodon alosoides also differs from other species in the genus in the following features:

  1. More vertebrae (58-63 vs. 55-58 in Hiodon tergisus and 52-53 in †Hiodon consteniorum).
  2. More principal anal-fin rays (31-33 vs. 26-30 in Hiodon tergisus and 18 in †Hiodon consteniorum).
  3. More anal pterygiophores (31-36 vs. 27-31 in Hiodon tergisus and 20 in †Hiodon consteniorum).
  4. Fewer principal dorsal-fin rays (9-11 vs. 11-13 in Hiodon tergisus and 13 in †Hiodon consteniorum).
  5. Fewer dorsal pterygiophores (10-12 vs. 13-15 in Hiodon tergisus and 14 in †Hiodon consteniorum).

In addition, Hiodon alosoides has a relatively longer predorsal length, a longer anal-fin base, a relatively lower body depth, and a shorter dorsal-fin base for its size than Hiodon tergisus.

Other Names for Hiodon alosoides

References

Coad, B. W. (1995). Encyclopaedia of Canadian fishes. Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa. 928 pp.

Nelson, J. S. (1994). Fishes of the World (3rd edition). John Wiley and Sons, New York. 600 pp.

Nelson, J. S. and M. J. Paetz (1992). The fishes of Alberta (2nd ed.). University of Alberta Press / University of Calgary Press, Edmonton/Calgary. 437 pp.

See the Hiodon page for other references.

Title Illustrations
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Scientific Name Hiodon alosoides
Location Red Deer River near Red Deer, Alberta, Canada
Sex female (top), male (bottom)
Copyright © 1998 Wayne E. Roberts, University of Alberta Museum of Zoology
About This Page


Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing , China


University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Correspondence regarding this page should be directed to Guo-Qing Li at and Mark V. H. Wilson at

All Rights Reserved.

Citing this page:

Li, Guo-Qing and Mark V. H. Wilson. 1998. Hiodon alosoides. Goldeye. Version 01 January 1998. http://tolweb.org/Hiodon_alosoides/15149/1998.01.01 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

edit this page
close box

This page is a Tree of Life Leaf Page.

Each ToL leaf page provides a synopsis of the characteristics of a group of organisms representing a leaf at the tip of the Tree of Life. The major distinction between a leaf and a branch of the Tree of Life is that a leaf cannot generally be further subdivided into subgroups representing distinct genetic lineages.

For a more detailed explanation of the different ToL page types, have a look at the Structure of the Tree of Life page.

close box

Hiodon alosoides

Page Content

articles & notes

collections

people

Explore Other Groups

random page

  go to the Tree of Life home page
top