The striped shiner (''Luxilus chrysocephalus'') is a member of the family Cyprinidae.Page, L. M., H. Espinoa-Pérez, L. T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, R. N. Lea, N. E. Mandrak, R. L. Mayden, and J. S. Nelson. 2013. Common and scientific names of the fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico, 7th edition. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 34, Bethesda Maryland. It a silvery fish with three to four dorsolateral stripes and dark crescents on the sides. The scales and sensory pores on the snout can be outlined in black. Fins are milky to clear in color while the caudal fins have a milky base with a black or gray spot. Males can have pink snouts with areas of red or pink on the rest of the body. They have large, terminal mouths and can get up to nine inches in length.Ross, Stephen T., and William M. Brenneman. "Species Accounts." The inland fishes of Mississippi. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2001. 449-451. Print.

Diet

Striped shiners eat and wide range of items. Mostly they feed up in the water column on a range of insects including:

termites Termites are small insects that live in colonies and have distinct castes (eusocial) and feed on wood or other dead plant matter. Termites comprise the infraorder Isoptera, or alternatively the epifamily Termitoidae, within the order Blattod ...

mayflies Mayflies (also known as shadflies or fishflies in Canada and the upper Midwestern United States, as Canadian soldiers in the American Great Lakes region, and as up-winged flies in the United Kingdom) are aquatic insects belonging to the order ...

dragonflies A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threa ...

caddisflies The caddisflies, or order Trichoptera, are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults. There are approximately 14,500 described species, most of which can be divided into the suborders Integripalpia and Annulipalpia on the ...

, beetles and terrestrial midges. They also feed on the bottom materials like algae.Froese, Rainer, and Auda Ortanez. "Luxilus chrysocephalus summary page." FishBase. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 May 2014. . They feed continuously day and night but feed more on the bottom at night.

Habitat

These shiners can be found in the mid to upper regions of streams and rivers. They can also be found in rocky pools in clear and turbid creeks.

Distribution

They can be found in the Gulf Coast drainages from Texas to Alabama and upwards to Tennessee. Striped shiners can be found in the Great Lakes, New York and Wisconsin.

Reproduction and Life Cycle

The breeding season of striped shiners occurs from March to July but can extend into October. During this time male and female colours change from silver to gold and all fins change to orange with the exception of their tail, They spawn in shallow waters over gravelly bottom streams with depressions and over other fishes nests. The males make the depressions by pushing the gravel out with their nose or picking up pieces with their mouths. Males are aggressive towards other males and may bite or attack them with the breeding tubercles they develop on the head and body. The males swim down and tilt to the side while the females swim up along the side of the males. The males then swing their caudal peduncle onto the females back. This posture lasts for several seconds but may be interrupted by other aggressive males.

Etymology

''Luxilus'' is derived from ''lux'' meaning "light" and ''illus'' meaning "little" while ''chrysocephalus'' means "golden head".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6413408 Luxilus Freshwater fish of the United States Fish described in 1820 Taxa named by Constantine Samuel Rafinesque