Steelcolor Shiner (Fishes of the Upper Green River, KY)

Steelcolor Shiner

Cyprinella whipplei

Summary ²

Cyprinella whipplei, the steelcolor shiner, is a freshwater fish species found in North America. It is common throughout Mississippi River basin and in the Black Warrior River system in Alabama.

Distribution ³

Global Range: (200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)) Range includes the Mississippi River basin, from Ohio, West Virginia, and western Virginia to Illinois, Missouri, and eastern Oklahoma, south to northern Alabama and northern Louisiana; Black Warrior River system, Alabama; this species is mostly absent from the Coastal Plain (Page and Burr 2011).

Habitat and ecology ⁴

Habitat and Ecology

Habitat includes runs, pools, and backwaters of warm, moderate- to somewhat low-gradient, large creeks and medium-sized to large rivers that typically are clear; this shiner also tolerates streams that generally are turbid (Burkhead and Jenkins 1991). In Illinois, habitat includes clear, gravelly, large creeks and small rivers but generally not small creeks or large rivers; most often it occurs over gravel in large riffles and pools just below them or eddies beside raceways, especially in relatively unmodified, tree-margined streams (Smith 1979). In some areas this fish occurs over silt bottoms. Schools form near the top or middle of the water column. Spawning occurs around logs, brush, and other obstructions, usually near riffles. Eggs are attached to the undersides of obstructions or placed above the bottom under loose bark, in crevices or furrows on logs, or among tree roots. Males maintain territories around spawning surfaces.

Systems

Freshwater

Iucn red list assessment ⁵

Red List Category

Least Concern

Red List Criteria

Version

3.1

Year Assessed

2013

Assessor/s

NatureServe

Reviewer/s

Smith, K. & Darwall, W.R.T.

Contributor/s

Justification

Listed as Least Concern in view of the large extent of occurrence, large number of subpopulations and locations, and large population size, and because the species probably is not declining fast enough to qualify for any of the threatened categories.

Range description ⁶

Range includes the Mississippi River basin, from Ohio, West Virginia, and western Virginia to Illinois, Missouri, and eastern Oklahoma, south to northern Alabama and northern Louisiana; Black Warrior River system, Alabama; this species is mostly absent from the Coastal Plain (Page and Burr 2011).

Sources and Credits

(c) Noel Burkhead, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/51614465@N08/4882877982
Adapted by rkkessler from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprinella_whipplei
(c) NatureServe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), http://eol.org/data_objects/28745236
(c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34414026
(c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34414023
(c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/34414024

More Info

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