Abstract:
Cyprinid fishes are an important part of many freshwater aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, knowledge of minnow habitat and behavior can be important to many other species. In this study the objective was to determine if minnows preferred a debris filled habitat or an open habitat and determine if the use of natural and unnatural debris affected this choice. During the study two experimental tanks were half filled with debris. One received natural debris and the other unnatural debris. Observations of groups of ten fathead minnows were recorded for each tank and the data was analyzed using a t-test. The results were not significant. However, due to the small sample size more research is needed to validate these results.
