The life history of the stoneroller minnow, Campostoma a. anomalum (Rafinesque), in five streams in East Tennessee

Campostoma is a detritivorous species feeding on the ubiquitous aufwuchs community that occurs on the hard substrates of the streams studied. The jaw structure and the intestine of Campostoma are specialized for feeding and assimilating detritus and algae. An estimated 70-90% of the gut contents were detritus, primarily organic ooze and fiberous plant material.

Male stonerollers live longer (four years versus three), and grow slightly faster than females. However, females generally outnumber males. The largest male collected was 173.8 mm SL and was four years old. The largest female collected was 130.0 mm SL and was three years old. No differences in length-weight relationships between sexes were detected within each study stream, but significant differences, sexes combined and within sexes were detected in the slopes of the length-weight regressions between streams. The latter is attributed to variation in males.

Campostoma spawned in the spring between April and June, and peak activity occurred in about mid-April. Aggregations of Campostoma congregated over concentrations of clean swept gravel to perform the spawning ritual. Males dug shallow pits, maintained them, and defended them against intrusion by other males. Spawning was brief and occurred in these pits.

Development of gonads was highly correlated with the spawning season. Numbers of mature ova were significantly correlated with the size of females, thus age Campostoma is generally more fecund than other cyprinids of similar to smaller sizes, but is considerably less fecund than larger cyprinids.