Spottail Shiner or is a small to medium sized freshwater minnow. Spottail Shiners are members of the phylum Chordata and class Actinopterygii, which are the ray-finned and spiny ray fish. It is a member of the order Cypriniformes and family Cryprinidae, which consist of the carps and minnows. The spottail shiner can usually be found as far north as the Canada or as far south as the Chattahoochee River in Georgia. These shiners live in lakes, rivers, and creeks. They occupy the rocky or sandy shorelines and bottoms of the water. One of the defining features of a spottail shiner is the black spot found at the base of the caudal fin. These shiners generally spawn from late June through July. There is a lack of information regarding life history due to little research done in these areas. Some causes of death for the shiners are water pollution, parasites, and harvesting for bait.

Geographic Distribution

The family of minnows called Cyprinidae contain the most number of species of freshwater fish in the entire world with about 2,000 species. Around 200 of those species live in North America. There are around 46 species of minnows in the Northeastern region of the United States. The genus Notropis is the second largest genus of fish and contains the most number of species in the northeastern region of the United States. Notropis mainly live in streams and rivers but can be found in larger lakes. They can be found from 3 to 60 feet just above the sand and gravel of the water beds. The spottail shiner is one of more common species of the genus Notropis. Spottail Shiners are native to Canada and the United States. They are found in the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, Chattahoochee River and Altamaha River in Georgia, the Mackenzie River basin in Canada, Ohio Illinois, the Hudson Bay, some lakes throughout Montana, and the Great Lakes. They can also be found in some lakes in the upper northeast region of the United States. These spottail shiners seem to have only occupied the areas of Canada and United States that they are currently distributed today, with the exception of Montana. It seems that the shiners have been introduced in lakes through Montana in order to become bait for some of the larger gaming fish such as the walleye.

Description

Spottail shiners are typically small to medium sized minnows. The average size ranges from around 2 to 3.5 inches. They can reach up to 6 inches at their maximum length. They have a slightly elongate, compressed body with a horizontal, sub-terminal mouth. The defining feature of a spottail shiner is the distinct black spot at the base of the caudal fin. The lower edge of the caudal fin can be white in color with all of the other fins lacking pigment. The dorsal fin sits directly above the pelvic fins. The dorsal side of this shiner can range from a silvery to pale green or olive color, where the ventral side is white. The spottail shiner has a complete lateral line running horizontally along it's sides. The best way to distinguish this shiner from other shiners in the field is observing the prominent black spot at the base of the caudal fin.

Ecology

Spottail Shiners are generally omnivorous fish that feed on plants, aquatic invertabrate, and zoobenthos. Zoobenthos are the invertebrates that occupy the benthos of the riverbeds and lakebeds. This shiner is said to feed on green algae, plant debris, vascular plants, water fleas, caddis flies, mayflies, nematocerans, and the remains of macroinvertabrates. Given the small size of the fish it does not usually prey on other fish species. The spottail shiner obtains much of its food by scavenging on the floor of the river, lakes, and streams that it occupies.

The spottail shiner also has a significant amount of predators as well. Since these shiners are smaller minnows there are many different varieties of fish that can prey upon them. Some of the predators include: rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), northern pike (Esox lucius), walleye (Sander vitreus), brown trout (Salmo trutta), lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), and the bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix).

In areas where the spottail shiner lives, there can be ample numbers of individuals causing an increase in competition with other species of fish. The spottail shiner mainly competes with species that have the same diet and live in the areas. These competitors can include other species of shiners, yellow perches, or white perches.

There are certain abiotic factors that the spottail shiners must live in. The spottail shiner's highest activity levels are usually seen in areas where the pH value range between 5.6 and 6.6, maximizing at a pH value around 6.1. Spottail shiners generally live in waters that temperatures range from 10 degrees Celcius (50 degrees Fahrenheit) to 24 degrees Celcius (75.2 degrees Fahrenheit).

Life History

The life history of the spottail shiner has not been studied much. Spottail shiners breeding season usually occurs in the summertime during the months of June and July. They are thought to spawn in the sandy bottoms and shorelines of the rivers, lakes, and creeks where they live. Females are thought to produce anywhere from 100 to 2,600 eggs per spawning event. The mature age of a spottail shiner is around one or two years of age. The maximum age recorded for a spottail shiner to live is 5 years. Since there has not been a lot of research involving the life history of the spottail shiner not a lot of information can be given on spawning and reproduction.

Current Management

Spottail Shiners are currently listed as of least concern. These shiners are not vulnerable in the wild yet. The primary causes for death is being preyed upon, pollution of their natural habitat, and parasites. Minnows are used as bait for game fishing. These shiners are caught and used as bait fish throughout the area they occupy. They are one of the most popular minnow used to lure walleyes. Their shiny scales and small bodies attract specific species of game fish that anglers frequently try to catch. Currently there are conservation agencies at the state-level protecting these shiners from being harvested for fish bait. Pollution of many different toxic chemicals into the areas that these shiners live is one of the main causes of death. It is found that water pollution from wastewater and runoff affect the immune system of spottail shiners. There are certain parasites that also affect the life of these shiners. The parasites are also found to affect the immune system in spottail shiners.

Management Recommendations

Since one of the main causes of deaths for these minnows is from being harvested for bait, there should be a limit on how many of the shiners can be harvested each fishing season. If the amount of spottail shiners harvested was managed each season then it was prevent some decline of the species due to human interactions. Since another cause of death of these shiners is water pollution, greater conservation efforts to monitor the wastewater in the areas the shiners occupy should be placed. Water pollution is currently a large problem across the globe and there needs to be a greater movement to clean up the streams, rivers, lakes, and ponds. In order to measure the species densities of spottail shiners electroshock could be used, and they could be collected via netting and measured.