Bullhead Minnow, Pimephales vigilax
Bullhead Minnow, Pimephales vigilax, Juvenile. Fish caught from the Enitachopco Creek, Alexander City, Alabama, September 2023. Length: 7.4 cm (2.9 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Luke Ovgard, Klamath Falls, Oregon.
Bullhead Minnow, Pimephales vigilax. Fish caught in the Embarras River in southeast Illinois, June 2016. Length: 7.8 cm (3.1 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, Peoria, Illinois.
Bullhead Minnow, Pimephales vigilax, Breeding Male. Fish caught in the Embarras River in southeast Illinois, June 2016. Length: 7.8 cm (3.1 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Ryan Crutchfield, Tampa, Florida.
Bullhead Minnow, Pimephales vigilax. Fish caught in the Embarras River in southeast Illinois, June 2016. Length: 7.8 cm (3.1 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).
Bullhead Minnow, Pimephales vigilax. Fish caught from the Grace Creek, Longview, Texas, July 2022. Length: 7.8 cm (3.1 inches). Catch, photograph, and identifications courtesy of Chris Moore, Peoria, Arizona.
The Bullhead Minnow, Pimephales vigilax, is a member of the Carp and Minnow or Cyprinidae Family, and is known in Mexico as carpita cabeza de toro. Globally, there are only four species in the Pimephales genus, of which two are found in Mexico’s freshwater systems.
The Bullhead Minnow is small in stature and has a stout cylindrical body that is slightly compressed laterally with a flat back. The Bullhead is sexually dimorphic with males being a dark brown, tan or olive color with two light vertical lines on the sides with a prominent caudal spot, a silver bar behind the gill cover and a black margin on the white pectoral fin. The females are drab. Their head has a rounded snout and a subterminal mouth that is almost horizontal. Their anal fin has 7 rays; their caudal fin is forked with rounded ends; their dorsal fin has 8 to 10 rays, the first two of which are stout and standalone; their pectoral fins have 14 to 16 rays; and their pelvic fins have 8 rays. They have 6 to 9 gill rakers. They are covered with small scales. Their lateral line is straight or has a broad arch.
The Bullhead Minnow is a sedentary demersal species found in freshwater brooks, streams, ponds, lakes and rivers over sandy muddy bottoms with a low volume flow. They form schools during daylight hours. They are tolerant of turbidity and siltation and water temperatures up to 33oC (92oF) and low oxygen levels. They reach a maximum of 7.2 cm (2.8 inches) in length. The Bullhead Minnow is an omnivore feeding primarily on algae, diatoms, crustaceans, insects and organic detritus. In turn they are preyed upon by larger fish including Largemouth Bass. Reproduction is via dioecism with the males building a nest in a well-protected area, females depositing eggs in an egg-clustering fashion, which are then fertilized and guarded by the males until they hatch in four or five days. They have life spans of up to five years. The Bullhead Minnow is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Bullhead Minnow is found in all of the freshwater systems that drain into the Gulf of Mexico in northeast Mexico. They are utilized extensively as a live bait and are known to have been introduced in numerous areas via bait bucket releases.
The Bullhead Minnow is similar to the Flathead Minnow, Pimephales prolelas (straight lateral line) and the Pughead Minnow, Opsopoeodus emilae, and the Silver Chub, Macrhybopsis storeriana, both of which lack the caudal spot.
From a conservation perspective the Bullhead Minnow is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are prone to loss of habitat which includes the construction of dams and irrigation diversions. They are utilized as a live bait by both recreational and commercial fishermen.