Record of a Creek Chub, Semotilus atromaculatus 



(Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae), Preying on a Jumping Mouse 



(Zapodidae) in Bruffey Creek, Pocahontas County, 



West Virginia 



William J. Poly 



Department of Zoology 



Southern Illinois University 



Carbondale, Illinois 62901 



AND 



Charles E. Boucher 



Ohio Environmental Protection Agency 



1685 Westbelt Drive 



Columbus, Ohio 43228 



ABSTRACT — In Bruffey Creek, West Virginia, we collected a creek 

 chub, Semotilus atromaculatus, that had consumed a jumping mouse 

 (Zapodidae). Small mammals have not been reported in the diet of 

 creek chubs. 



On 30 September 1995, while capturing fishes in Bruffey Creek 

 as part of a study involving Bruffey-Hills Creek Cave fishes, we collected 

 a creek chub, Semotilus atromaculatus (Mitchill), excreting the remains 

 of a rodent. We preserved the creek chub and remains for later identification. 

 The creek chub measured 156.6 mm SL, 189.0 mm TL, 16.5 mm 

 gape width, 46.2 mm head length, and 37.8 mm body depth. The 

 skeleton of the prey was intact except for the skull. Fur and internal 

 organs were still present as well. Examination of the creek chub's 

 gut revealed no sign of the skull. Since the mouse was being excreted 

 tail first, we believe the head was severed and expelled during ingestion. 

 The feet were completely intact, and the tail appeared to be undigested 

 as well, but also apparently had been broken. Based on feet (24.9 

 and 25.1 mm) and tail (88.2 mm) lengths the mouse was a jumping 

 mouse (Zapodidae), either meadow jumping mouse, Zapus hudsonius 

 (Zimmerman) or woodland jumping mouse, Napaeozapus insignis (Miller). 

 A specific determination can not be made without the skull. 



S. atromaculatus food habits have been studied by a number of 

 investigators, and food items include algae, plant material, terrestrial 

 and aquatic insects, Mollusca, Crustacea, fishes, and frogs (Forbes 

 1888; Hankinson 1910; Forbes and Richardson 1920; Leonard 1927; 



Brimleyana 24:29-32, April 1997 29 



