The bluehead shiner (''Pteronotropis hubbsi'') is a species of fish in the carp family,

Cyprinidae Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family and the largest verte ...

. It is a true minnow. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the central United States, where it is found in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, and

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. It was also once known from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

.Ranvestel, A. W. and B. M. Burr
Conservation Assessment for Bluehead Shiner (''Pteronotropis hubbsi'').
USDA Forest Service, Eastern Region. June 15, 2002. In 2014, the status changed from

Data Deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

Near Threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...

. It is threatened by draining, filling, farming and flooding of backwater swamp habitat and overcollection for the aquarium trade.

Description

This minnow grows up to about 60 millimeters in maximum length. It is a dusky reddish orange along the back with a lighter belly. The chin is black and the top of the head is blue with a green

iridescence Iridescence (also known as goniochromism) is the phenomenon of certain surfaces that appear to gradually change color as the angle of view or the angle of illumination changes. Examples of iridescence include soap bubbles, feathers, butterfl ...

. The larger males have some iridescence on the dark dorsal fin. There is a broad, dark lateral stripe from the chin to the tail base. The mouth is upturned. The

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial ...

is incomplete. This species is closely related to ''

Pteronotropis welaka The bluenose shiner (''Pteronotropis welaka'') is a species of freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found only in the United States, mostly in Florida and parts of Alabama and Georgia; its habitat is deep, slow-moving coastal creeks an ...

'', and the two form a monophyletic group.

Distribution

This fish lives in several drainages emptying into the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

, including the Ouachita and Atchafalaya Rivers. It has not been collected in Illinois since the 1970s and is likely extirpated there.

Biology

The species is sexually dimorphic, with females lacking the iridescent blue coloration of the males. The males change in appearance as they age. In its "non-flag" or "initial" phase, a male is small with a shiny blue head and fins. When it enters its "flag" or "terminal" phase the following year, the male is larger with a deeper body and dark vertical bars along its sides, and its blue coloration fades. The terminal males are aggressive and

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

. Females are sexually mature at one year of age and spawn in May through July, probably producing multiple clutches. The yellow-orange eggs are up to 1.2 millimeters wide and are adhesive on the substrate. Spawning activity has not been observed in nature. This species sometimes shares nesting sites with sunfishes such as the

warmouth The warmouth (''Lepomis gulosus'') is a freshwater fish of the sunfish family (Centrarchidae) that is found throughout the eastern United States. Other local names include molly, redeye, goggle-eye, red-eyed bream, and strawberry perch. Descript ...

(''Lepomis gulosus''). The male minnow may defend the nest site. The life span of the fish is generally less than two years. Adults of this species eat mainly tiny

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

s such as

water fleas The Diplostraca or Cladocera, commonly known as water fleas, are a superorder of small crustaceans that feed on microscopic chunks of organic matter (excluding some predatory forms). Over 1000 species have been recognised so far, with many more ...

and

copepod Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthos, benthic (living on the ocean floor) ...

s, as well as chironomid fly larvae. Juvenile minnows may also eat

rotifer The rotifers (, from the Latin , "wheel", and , "bearing"), commonly called wheel animals or wheel animalcules, make up a phylum (Rotifera ) of microscopic and near-microscopic pseudocoelomate animals. They were first described by Rev. John H ...

nematode The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-Parasitism, parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhab ...

diatom A diatom (Neo-Latin ''diatoma''), "a cutting through, a severance", from el, διάτομος, diátomos, "cut in half, divided equally" from el, διατέμνω, diatémno, "to cut in twain". is any member of a large group comprising sev ...

s, and

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular mic ...

. The fish lives in slow-moving and stagnant waters in muddy and sandy well-vegetated habitat types where there are hiding spots.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Pteronotropis Fish described in 1978 Fish of the United States Cyprinid fish of North America Taxonomy articles created by Polbot