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Photo by John Lyons, WDNR
Goldeye (Hiodon alosoides), listed as Endangered in Wisconsin, prefers the quiet, turbid waters of large rivers and their connecting lakes ponds and marshes. Spawning occurs from May through early-July.
The table below provides information about the protected status - both state and federal - and the rank (S and G Ranks) for Goldeye (Hiodon alosoides). See the Working List Key for more information about abbreviations. Counties shaded blue have documented occurrences for this species in the Wisconsin Natural Heritage Inventory database. The map is provided as a general reference of where occurrences of this species meet NHI data standards and is not meant as a comprehensive map of all observations.
Note: Species recently added to the NHI Working List may temporarily have blank occurrence maps.
| Summary Information | |
|---|---|
| State Status | END |
| Federal Status in Wisconsin | none |
| State Rank | S2 |
| Global Rank | G5 |
| Tracked by NHI | Y |
| WWAP | SGCN |
Note: a species guidance document is not available at this time. Information below was compiled from publication ER-091.
Identification: Compressed, white or silvery blue, streamline body. Bluntly-rounded snout, large mouth, large eyes with bright yellow iris, set in a small head. Adult length: 8-12 inches (20-30cm).
Habitat: Quiet, turbid (cloudy) waters of large rivers and associated small lakes, ponds and marshes, and the muddy shallows of larger lakes.
State Distribution: The Mississippi River, lower St. Croix River (to St. Croix Falls), lower Wisconsin River and lower Chippewa River form the eastern edge of its range, which covers the great plains. A map outlining Pre-1977 and 1997 to Present Distribution is available.
Phenology: Goldeyes overwinter in deeper areas of lakes and rivers. They move toward shallow, firm-bottomed spawning sites from May to the first week in July. Essentially nocturnal, their eyes are adapted to dim light conditions and turbid habitat.
Diet: Mainly surface feeders in shallow water, they eat grasshoppers, moths, fireflies, crustaceans, mollusks, frogs, shrews, mice, trout perch, shiners, darters and perch. Young-of-year feed mainly on smaller, microscopic crustaceans.
Management Guidelines: The major cause of decline is deterioration of water quality in the upper Mississippi River. Not only are they voracious hunters, goldeyes are also preyed upon by northern pike, walleye, birds and mammals. This species is also vulnerable to heavy fishing.
Click to view a larger version. Please considering donating a photo to the Natural Heritage Conservation Program for educational uses. Photo use
Side view adult.
Photo by John Lyons, WDNR.
Side view adult.
Photo by John Lyons, WDNR.
Close-up head.
Photo by John Lyons, WDNR.
The table below lists the natural communities that are associated with Goldeye. Only natural communities for which Goldeye is "high" (score=3) or "moderate" (score=2) associated are shown. See the key to association scores for complete definitions. Please see the Wildlife Action Plan to learn how this information was developed.
| Natural community | Score |
|---|---|
| Riverine Impoundment - Reservoirs | 2 |
| Warmwater rivers | 2 |
The table below lists the ecological landscape association scores for Goldeye. The scores correspond to the map (3=High, 2=Moderate, 1=Low, 0=None). For more information, please see the Wildlife Action Plan.
Ecological priorities are the combinations of natural communities and ecological landscapes that provide Wisconsin's best opportunities to conserve important habitats for a given Species of Greatest Conservation Need. The 10 highest scoring combinations are considered ecological priorities and are listed below. More than 10 combinations are listed if multiple combinations tied for 10th place. For more information, please see the Wildlife Action Plan.
* Ecological priority score is a relative measure that is not meant for comparison between species. This score does not consider socio-economical factors that may dictate protection and/or management priorities differently than those determined solely by ecological analysis. Further, a low ecological priority score does not imply that management or preservation should not occur on a site if there are important reasons for doing so locally.
Conservation actions respond to issues or threats, which adversely affect species of greatest conservation need (SGCN) or their habitats. Besides actions such as restoring wetlands or planting resilient tree species in northern communities, research, surveys and monitoring are also among conservation actions described in the WWAP because lack of information can threaten our ability to successfully preserve and care for natural resources.