SILVERSIDE SHINER
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Notropis candidus
CHARACTERISTICS: This slender species has a compressed body and an eye diameter that is about equal to the length of the pointed snout. The lateral stripe, lightly outlined above and below with melanophores anterior to the dorsal fin, is darkest on the peduncle and fades toward the head. This species is sometimes confused with the sympatric emerald shiner, Notropis atherinoides, and silverstripe shiner, N. stilbius, but it is distinguished from them by its lack of dark pigment on the mouth.
ADULT SIZE: 1.6 to 3.1 in (40 to 80 mm)
DISTRIBUTION: This species is endemic to main channel habitats in the Alabama, Black Warrior, Tombigbee, Cahaba, and Tallapoosa rivers and the lower portions of large tributaries in the lower Mobile basin. There are no records above the Fall Line. Specimens have been taken in tidally influenced rivers in the lower Mobile Delta.
HABITAT AND BIOLOGY: Notropis candidus is an abundant shiner that favors large, clear to turbid rivers and impoundments. It is commonly found in water up to 5 feet deep over sand and gravel bars. Large schools of silverside shiners are often captured close to riverbanks in 1 or 2 feet of water. R.D. Suttkus (1980) describes this species" diurnal movements, from deeper habitats during the day to shallower areas during the night. Spawning occurs in open water, probably over hard sand to fine gravel, from June to mid-August. Few individuals live for more than two or three years. Little is known about the silverside shiner's feeding habits, but it presumably eats stream drift composed of terrestrial insects, adult and immature aquatic insects, and plant material.
REMARKS: The type of locality of the silverside shiner is the Alabama River near Holly Ferry crossing, Wilcox County, Alabama.
ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: The silverside shiner was described by Suttkus in 1980.
ETYMOLOGY:
Notropis means keeled back.
Candidus means glittering white, referring to this species’ white sides.
The copyrighted information above is from Fishes of Alabama and the Mobile Basin.
