Mimic Shiner
| Mimic shiner | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cypriniformes |
| Family: | Cyprinidae |
| Genus: | Notropis |
| Species: | N. volucellus |
| Binomial name | |
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Notropis volucellus (Cope, 1865) |
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The mimic shiner (Notropis volucellus) is a species of North American cyprinid freshwater fish in the genus Notropis. The genus Notropis is commonly known as the eastern shiners. It is native to areas of the Hudson Bay drainage, Great Lakes drainage, much of the Mississippi River basin including areas of Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, and regions of the Gulf of Mexico extending from Mobile Bay to the drainage of Texas. However, this particular species can be found in other places such as the Atlantic Coast drainage in Connecticut and Housatonic rivers. This genus is usually characterized by almost all having a complete lateral line, 8 dorsal fin rays, a premaxillae protactile, and a silvery or speckled peritoneum. As the common name indicates, this species is difficult to classify in the wild because it looks similar to many other shiners. In fact, some even hypothesize that this species is actually a complexity of many cryptic species. While this is the case, it is important to take more caution to not misidentify this species and to understand its impact on introduced areas.
The diet of N. volucellus consists of some terrestrial insects, small crustaceans, and midge pupae and larvae. Mimic shiners are reported to only live a total of three years, and are suspected to reach sexual maturity after one year. In lakes, fish spawn in large schools located over beds of aquatic plants. When found in small streams N. volucellus are generally in clear pools over gravel substrate in moderate current but they can be seen along shorelines over gravel, sand, and mud substrates usually in slow to moderate current when found in large lakes. The diet of N. volucellus consists mostly of Daphnia in early spring and late fall while mostly small crustaceans, filamentous algae, and small invertebrates when Daphnia is not as abundant in the summer.
This fish is suspected to have been introduced to many areas via bait bucket release. Because negative impacts of the introduction of this species have not been documented and because this species is not listed as threatened, there is not much immediate need for conservation efforts of this species.
Historically, this species has been mostly found in the southern Hudson Bay drainage, Great Lakes drainage, and much of Mississippi River basin except in the northern Great Plains region and is oddly missing from many of its tributaries. The mimic shiner is also in Atlantic Coast drainage in Connecticut, Virginia, North Carolina, and Housatonic rivers along with the region of the Gulf of Mexico extending from Mobile Bay to the drainage of Texas.
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Wikipedia