Sand Shiner, Notropis stramineus
Sand Shiner, Notropis stramineus. Fish caught in Kickapoo Creek, Peoria, Illinois, February 2017. Length: 3.7 cm (1.5 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Ryan Crutchfield, Tampa, Florida.
Sand Shiner, Notropis stramineus. Fish caught in Sandy Creek, Henry, Illinois, February 2017. Length: 5.0 cm (2.0 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Kenneth Tse, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Sand Shiner, Notropis stramineus. Fish caught in Sandy Creek, Henry, Illinois, February 2017. Length: 8.1 cm (3.2 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Ben Cantrell, San Diego, California.
Sand Shiner, Notropis stramineus. Fish caught in Sandy Creek, Henry, Illinois, February 2017. Length: 8.1 cm (3.2 inches). Catch, photograph and identification courtesy of Eli (obsessiveangling.wordpress.com).
Sand Shiner, Notropis stramineus. Fish caught from the Yahara River, Madison, Wisconsin, July 2007. Length: 8.1 cm (3.2 inches). Catch, photograph, and identification courtesy of Josh Leisen (joshadventures.com), Gaylord, Michigan.
The Sand Shiner, Notropis stramineus, is a member of the Carps and Minnows or Cyprinidae Family, and is known in Mexico as carpita arenera. Globally, there are eighty-eight species in the genus Notropis, with more than twenty species being widespread throughout Mexico’s freshwater systems.
The Sand Shiner is a slender compressed body. They are an olive color dorsally that transitions to silvery on the sides and whitish ventrally. They have a silvery head with a dark mid dorsal stripe that extends from the dorsal fin that turns into two distinct black dashes separated by a clear space. Their caudal fin has indistinct spots at the base. They are dimorphic with males being highly colored when breeding. Their head has a rounded blunt snout, large eyes, and a subterminal horizontal mouth. Their anal fin has 7 rays; their caudal fin is forked with rounded lobes; their dorsal fin has 9 rays with the height in males greater than in females. They are covered with large scales. Their lateral line is complete and is straight or has a broad arch.
The Sand Shiner is small freshwater species that is a resident of open clear vegetation free water in medium to large streams with sandy bottoms. They reach a maximum of 8.2 cm (3.2 inches) in length. They are opportunistic feeders that feed in schools in shallow waters during daylight hours on aquatic and terrestrial insects, particulate matter and diatoms. Reproduction is oviparous and occurs in large schools in waters that range from 21oC (65oF) to 37oC (99oF). They are broadcast spawners with each female releasing between 150 and 1,000 demersal eggs that are adhesive and attached to the bottom. They have lifespans of three years. The Sand Shiner is poorly studied with very limited information available about their lifestyle and behavioral patterns including specific details on age, growth, longevity, movement patterns, diet, habitat use, and reproduction.
The Sand Shiner is a resident of the Mexican freshwater system of northern Mexico within the Rio Grande drainage.
The Sand Shiner can be confused with the Ghost Shiner, Notropis buchanani (8 anal fin rays, lacks mid-lateral stripe).
From a conservation perspective the Sand Shiner is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They are very small in stature and of limited interest to most. However, they are utilized as good bioassay animals as they are easy to transport, can withstand low oxygen conditions and will consume dry food.