They could be guppies

Could it be a banded killifish? Here is a link that might be useful: banded killifish

Hm..Joyce..don't know how you came up with Arroyo Chub as they are native mostly to southern California to particular drainages - they aren't found in northern California (don't even come close to Monterey which is still central California). Don't really see how "creek", "three inches", and "northern California" would turn up the definitive answer of "Arroyo Chub" in your research... Here's what we can tell: Its definitely a Cyprinid - the shape, orientation of the mouth, and scalation give that much away. Here's a good site to help you identify it: http://calfish.ucdavis.edu/calfish/CalSpec.asp It sadly doesn't have pics of everything but is a good starting point. Don't worry about looking at any trout, sculpin, lampreys, etc... Also, it isn't necessarily native, either...so that makes things much more difficult. What I can say with certainty is that what you have there isn't an Arroyo Chub. ~Mike

Slinger, sorry about your fish! I just had my annual visit by a migrating heron and it's very worry-some to see a bird after you fish. We put the leaf net on right away. The fish are hiding, so I can't tell the damage. At least Demetrius (my big koi) is still there. Pk & Brenda, cormorants and anhingas are much larger than 8 or so inches. Maybe it's a young pied-billed that doesn't have the typical adult coloring yet. :) Mary