# Chiselmouth > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Chiselmouth > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Chiselmouth.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiselmouth > Source revision: 1354644552 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Species of fish}} {{Speciesbox | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = {{cite iucn | author = NatureServe | author-link = NatureServe | year = 2013 | title = ''Gila alutaceus'' | article-number = e.T201940A2730715 | doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T201940A2730715.en}} | status2 = G5 | status2_system = TNC | status2_ref = {{cite web |title=''Acrocheilus alutaceus'' |url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.104857/Acrocheilus_alutaceus |website=NatureServe Explorer An online encyclopedia of life |version=7.1|publisher=NatureServe|access-date=8 August 2023}} | fossil_range = {{fossil range|5.3|0|[Late Miocene](/source/Late_Miocene)/[Early Pliocene](/source/Early_Pliocene)-recent}} | image = Acalu j0.jpg | taxon = Gila alutacea | display_parents = 3 | authority = ([Agassiz](/source/Louis_Agassiz) & [Pickering](/source/Charles_Pickering_(naturalist)), 1855) | synonyms = {{Specieslist | Acrocheilus alutaceus | Agassiz & Pickering, 1855 | Lavinia alutacea | (Agassiz & Pickering, 1855) }} | synonyms_ref = {{Cof genus|genus=Gila|access-date=15 May 2025}} }} The '''chiselmouth''' ('''''Gila alutacea''''') is a species of freshwater [ray-finned fishes](/source/ray-finned_fishes) belonging to the [family](/source/Family_(taxonomy)) [Leuciscidae](/source/Leuciscidae). This fish is found in western [North America](/source/North_America). It is named for the sharp hard plate on its lower jaw, which is used to scrape rocks for [algae](/source/algae). ==Taxonomy== The chiselmouth was first formally [described](/source/Species_description) as ''Acrocheilus alutaceus'' in 1855 by [Louis Agassiz](/source/Louis_Agassiz) and [Charles Pickering](/source/Charles_Pickering_(naturalist)) with its [type locality](/source/Type_locality_(biology)) given as [Willamette Falls](/source/Willamette_Falls), [Oregon City](/source/Oregon_City%2C_Oregon), [Clackamas County, Oregon](/source/Clackamas_County%2C_Oregon) and [Wallawalla River](/source/Walla_Walla_River) at [Whitman](/source/Whitman_County%2C_Washington), then part of [Walla Walla County](/source/Walla_Walla_County%2C_Washington). Agassiz and Pickering classified this species in the [genus](/source/genus) ''Acrocheilus'', of which it was considered the only extant species. In addition to ''A. alutaceus'', an extinct species, ''[Acrocheilus latus](/source/Acrocheilus_latus)'' ([Cope](/source/Edward_Drinker_Cope), 1870) is known from the [Late Miocene](/source/Late_Miocene) and [Early Pliocene](/source/Zanclean)-aged [Glenns Ferry](/source/Glenns_Ferry_Formation) & [Ringold Formation](/source/Ringold_Formation) of Idaho and Washington.{{Cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Gerald R. |last2=Morgan |first2=N. |last3=Gustafson |first3=E. |date=2000 |title=Fishes of the Mio-Pliocene Ringold Formation, Washington: Pliocene Capture of the Snake River by the Columbia River |url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/48664 |journal=Papers on Paleontology |language=en-US |issue=32 |pages=1–47 |hdl=2027.42/48664 }} ''Acrocheilus'' is now considered to be a [synonym](/source/Synonym_(taxonomy)) of ''[Gila](/source/Gila_(fish))'', within the [subfamily](/source/subfamily) [Laviniinae](/source/Laviniinae) of the family [Leuciscidae](/source/Leuciscidae).{{Cof family|family=Laviniinae|access-date=15 May 2025}} == Description == The chiselmouth's body plan generally follows the standard cyprinid form, generally elongated and slightly compressed. The snout is very blunt, with the lower jaw's plate (which consists of cornified [epithelium](/source/epithelium)) jutting out slightly. Coloration is rather drab, dark brown above and lighter lower down. Many individuals also have a pattern of black dots, and younger fish may have a dark area at the base of the tail. The single [dorsal fin](/source/dorsal_fin) has 10 soft rays, while the [anal fin](/source/anal_fin) and well-developed [pelvic fin](/source/pelvic_fin)s each have 9–10 rays. Chiselmouths can reach a length of 30 cm (12 in). == Distribution and habitat == Chiselmouths are typically found in warmer parts of streams and rivers in the drainages of the [Columbia River](/source/Columbia_River), [Fraser River](/source/Fraser_River), and the [Harney-Malheur](/source/Harney-Malheur) system of the [Great Basin](/source/Great_Basin). Some are found in lakes, migrating into streams to spawn. Although abundant in many parts of their range, behavior remains little-known. Chiselmouth were among the fishes typically utilized by the [Nez Perce people](/source/Nez_Perce_people) as food.{{cite book|title=Salmon and His People: Fish & Fishing in Nez Perce Culture|last1=Landeen|first1=Dan|last2=Pinkham|first2=Allen|publisher=Confluence Press|year=1999|isbn=1-881090-32-9|location=Lewiston, Idaho|page=1|oclc=41433913}} == Diet == Young fish feed on surface [insect](/source/insect)s. When the chisel develops (at around 0.6 inches length), they shift to scraping, making short darting movements at the substrate to dislodge whatever is on it, and sucking it in. Although they consume filamentous algae, it seems to not be digested much despite a long coiled intestine, and their primary food actually consists of [diatom](/source/diatom)s. ==References== * {{FishBase|genus=Acrocheilus|species=alutaceus|year=2006|month=March}} * {{aut|Sigler, William F. & Sigler, John W.}} (1987): ''Fishes of the Great Basin'': 149–151. University of Nevada Press, Reno. * {{aut|Simons, Andrew M. & Mayden, Richard L.}} (1997): Phylogenetic Relationships of the Creek Chubs and the Spine-Fins: an Enigmatic Group of North American Cyprinid Fishes (Actinopterygii: Cyprinidae). ''Cladistics'' '''13'''(3): 187–205. {{doi|10.1111/j.1096-0031.1997.tb00315.x}} (HTML abstract) {{Reflist}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q3117415}} {{Authority control}} Category:Gila (fish) Category:Chubs (fish) Category:Fauna of Western Canada Category:Fish of the Western United States Category:Fish described in 1855 Category:Freshwater fish of the United States Category:Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN [nl:Acrocheilus](/source/nl%3AAcrocheilus) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Chiselmouth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiselmouth) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiselmouth?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.