SILVERSTRIPE SHINER
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Notropis stilbius
CHARACTERISTICS: The silverstripe shiner has a terete, compressed body and a large head. its pointed snout has a large, oblique mouth that extends rearward past the front of the eye. The lips are heavily pigmented. A broad silvery-black lateral band extends from the gill opening to the caudal fin and expands into a horizontal oval spot at the caudal fin base. The lateral band is more intense posteriorly and fades toward the head. Lateral line scales are bounded above and below by pigment. Life colors are generally olive on the back becoming silvery on the sides. The scales on the back are well outlined with pigment. Notropis stilbius is grouped in the subgenus Notropis and resembles both the emerald shiner, N. atherinoides, and the silverside shiner, N. candidus. See Jordan (1877a) for original description.
ADULT SIZE: 2 to 3 in (50 to 75 mm)
DISTRIBUTION: This species is endemic to the Mobile basin and is more common above the Fall Line. It also inhabits large tributaries on the Coastal Plain. Specimens have been collected from the lower Bear Creek system in the Tennessee River drainage.
HABITAT AND BIOLOGY: Sometimes common when found, Notropis stilibius prefers moderate current in deep runs or eddies below riffles over sand, gravel, cobble, or boulders. Individuals in spawning conditions have been found from April to August; peak activity is in May and June. Diet is likely stream drift consisting of plant material and adult immature insects. Suprisingly, little else is known about this common forage species.
REMARKS: The type locality of the silverstripe shiner is tributaries to the Etowah, Oostanaula, and Coosa rivers near Rome, Floyd County, Georgia.
ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: The silverstripe shiner was described by Jordan in 1877.
ETYMOLOGY:
Notropis means keeled back.
Stilbius means shining.
The copyrighted information above is from Fishes of Alabama and the Mobile Basin.
