Need Help identifying fish
 

Hello i was up river rafting on sat up at the american river in sacramento ca, usa and i was catching sme crawdads when i ran across a fish under a rock that was sitting in the mud, he was about 2-3inches and dark brown with darker spots with two small fins up front, he looks like a pleco but im preatty sur he is not i will try to get a picture up but if you have any clue what type of fish this is please let me know thanks

sounds a bit like a goby, but i dont know if they live up there

thank you
 

as per your advice i checked in on the goby and i believe it to be eathier a round goby or a Tubenose goby or even a sculpin but im preatty sure it is one of them and thanks gain i will still try to get a pic up but im not sure when but i just didnt know that they were found in the area i found them and thanks

Re: Need Help identifying fish
 

If you search sculpin I think you will find your answer. There are many kind of sculpins in the USA. Which one you are seeing/saw I do not know but as soon as you described it as looking like a pleco I knew you saw a sculpin. I am a member of NANFA = North American Native Fish Association. You also described his habitat to a "T" also. He likes rocks with a mud substrate. His protection is to hold very still when threatened because he blends in so well,, only one with a trained eye can spot him. Very seldom someone outside the fish hobby or native fish hobby will see such a fish in the wild. The Kind I see here in Tennessee near Chattanooga and surounding areas are the banded and mottled sculpin.
No fresh water goobies in the US. You may see some in brackish and salt water but I am not a salt water enthusiast.

I see where somone said it could be a goby. Lets put it this way I am not aware off of the top of my head of any freshwater gobys. I can say with almost 100 percent certainty but I will check the book.

Kind Regards,
Daniel / AKA nativecajun, here and on the NANFA site.

Edit: I checked the Petersons guide so far and it lists no gobies. I will check a book I have that is about seven inches thick to make sure but I do not think there are fresh water gobies. I am also not familier with this body of water you speak of and if it is close to the ocean I suppose there could be a brackish water or even a salt water goby up stream a bit.

yea the fish i found was in freshwater but te river i found him in also has samon in it so i kow it connects to the ocean so it might have some salt but i am preatty sure its what you said it is

Re: Need Help identifying fish
 

where i found him was a good 150-200 miles away from the ocean but i figured if the salmon can get up there maybe this little fish can, and you were right about it staying still as when i turned over the rock it made no movement at all, but i have him in one of my tankes so i am going to see if my brother can take a pic for me as i am at work right now but ass soon as i get a pic i will put it up if not today hopefully tomorrow

Round gobies took over the great lakes so it wouldn't be impossible to find one in a freshwater river. Especially one so close to the ocean? But I could be 100% wrong and not know what I'm talking about :lol: