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Rosyface

ROSYFACE SHINER

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Notropis rubellus

CHARACTERISTICS: The rosyface shiner is a slender, terete species with a pointed snout. The dusky lateral band extends from the gill opening to the caudal fin, expanding to form a distinct, quadrate caudal spot. The anterior lateral line scales are bounded above and below by weakly developed pigment spots. The lips are dark, but the chin is typically unpigmented. In life, Notropis rubellus has an olive back with silvery sides and a narrow emerald stripe similar to that of the emerald shiner, N. athernoides, which the rosyface shiner also resembles in body form. The two can be distinguished by the anal fin margin, which is straight in rubellus and concave in atherinoides. Breeding male rosyface shiners acquire a red flush throughout the body and on the snout, lips, chin, and top of the head.

ADULT SIZE: 2.2 to 3 in (55 to 75 mm)

DISTRIBUTION: Two distinct populations are known for the rosyface shiner. One population is found throughout the upper Mississippi basin from the Tennessee River drainage north to the Great Lakes in Canada. The other population is found in the Ozark region in Arkansas and Missouri.

HABITAT AND BIOLOGY: Notropis rubellus inhabits small streams to relatively large rivers, preferring swift, clean waters flowing over hard substrates of bedrock, gravel, and cobble near riffles or in pools. It commonly occurs in large schools. Spawning is over gravel nests of other species from April to July, with peak activity in May and June. Pfeifer (1955) reports spawning over gravel depressions and a life span of more the three years in New York. A sight feeder, this minnow consumes algae, immature stoneflies, mayflies, dipterans, and plant material.

ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: The rosyface shiner was described by Agassiz in 1850.

ETYMOLOGY:
Notropis means keeled back.
Rubellus means reddish.