The hitch (Lavinia exilicauda) is a
cyprinidfish endemic to central
California, and was once very common. The common name may derive from a
Pomoan word for this species.[a] It is the only species in the
monospecific genusLavinia.
These common names or DPS correspond to the subspecies Lavinia exilicauda chi Hopkirk, 1974,[13][14]Lavinia exilicauda harengus Girard, 1856[15]: 183–184 [16] and Lavinia exilicauda exilicauda Baird and Girard in Girard, 1854,[17]: 137 respectively.
Description
The hitch shape is deep and laterally compressed, with a small head, and a terminal mouth pointing upwards. They are generally silver all over; younger fish have a black spot at the base of the tail, losing it as they age, and becoming generally darker as well. The anal fin is noticeably longer than for other California minnows, with 11–14 rays, while the dorsal fin has 10–13 rays, and is placed further back, the base being positioned between pelvic and anal fins. The tail fin is large and deeply forked. They can get large for minnows, with lengths of up to 36 centimetres (14 in)
total length.[3] All of these features make them look much like the
golden shiner. The hitch is closely related to the
California roach (Hesperoleucus symmetricus complex), and these taxa can hybridize with each other.[7]
Hitch are omnivores of the open water, eating a combination of filamentous algae, insects, and
zooplankton. They can be found in lakes, sloughs, and slow-moving sections of rivers and streams. With the highest temperature tolerance among the native fish of the Central Valley, they can be found in both warm and cool water; they also have considerable salt tolerance, for instance occurring in
Suisun Marsh (7–8 ppt salinity), and
Salinas River lagoon (9 ppt).
^Gobalet, Kenneth W. (1989). "Remains of Tiny Fish from a Late Prehistoric Pomo Site Near Clear Lake, California". Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology. 11 (2). Malki Museum Press: 231–239.
JSTOR27825386.
^Hopkirk, J.D. (1988). "Fish evolution and the late Pleistocene and Holocene history of Clear Lake, California". In Sims, John D. (ed.). Late Quaternary Climate, Tectonism, and Sedimentation in Clear Lake, Northern California Coast Ranges. The Geological Society of America. pp. 183–194.
ISBN0-8137-2214-4. Special Paper No. 214.
^
abJason Baumsteiger & Peter B. Moyle (2019). "A reappraisal of the California Roach/Hitch (Cypriniformes, Cyprinidae, Hesperoleucus/Lavinia) species complex". Zootaxa. 4543 (2): 221–240.
doi:
10.11646/zootaxa.4543.2.3.
PMID30647303.
S2CID58561676.
^Schönhuth, Susana; Vukić, Jasna; Šanda, Radek; Yang, Lei; Mayden, Richard L. (October 2018). "Phylogenetic relationships and classification of the Holarctic family Leucisidae (Cypriniformes: Cyprinoidei)". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 127: 781–799.
doi:
10.1016/j.ympev.2018.06.026.
PMID29913311.
S2CID49292104.
^Baumsteiger, Jason; Young, Matthew; Moyle, Peter B. (2019). "Using the Distinct Population Segment (DPS) Concept to Protect Fishes with Low Levels of Genomic Differentiation: Conservation of an Endemic Minnow (Hitch)". Transactions of the American Fisheries Society. 148 (2): 406–416.
doi:
10.1002/tafs.10144.
S2CID92315840.
^Hopkirk, John D. (1974). Endemism in Fishes of the Clear Lake Region of Central California. University of California Press.
ISBN0520094042. University of California Publications in Zoology Vol. 96.
^Fricke, Ron, ed. (1 November 2022).
"Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: References". Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes. Reference no. 2199. Retrieved 13 December 2022 – via California Academy of Sciences.
^Girard, C.F. (1856). "Researches upon the cyprinoid fishes inhabiting the fresh waters of the United States, west of the Mississippi Valley, from specimens in the museum of the Smithsonian Institution". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 8: 165–213.
JSTOR4059153.
^Miller, Robert B. (1945). "The Status of Lavinia ardesiaca, a Cyprinid Fish from the Pajaro-Salinas River Basin, California". Copeia. 1945 (4): 197–204.
doi:
10.2307/1438351.
JSTOR1438351.
^Girard, Charles (1854). "Descriptions of new fishes, collected by Dr. A.L. Heermann, naturalist attached to the survey of the Pacific Railroad Route, under Lieut. R.S. Williamson, U.S.A.". Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. 7: 129–140.
JSTOR4059036.