Cyprinella caerulea
Blue Shiner
Federal:
Threatened
NS
G2
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Cypriniformes (Carps and Minnows)
Cyprinidae (Carps and Minnows)
Cyprinella
Cyprinella caerulea (Blue Shiner)
Description
This species account was compiled from
FishBase (Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2025. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication. www.fishbase.org, version 04/2025.)
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Characters
Body shape: fusiform / normal.
Distribution
North America: Coosa and Cahaba River systems in southeast Tennessee, northwest Georgia and Alabama, USA.
Habitat Associations
Freshwater. benthopelagic. Found in: streams.
Biology
Found in rocky runs of small to medium rivers (Ref. 5723, 86798). Adults feed on terrestrial insects and sometimes supplemented with mayfly and caddisfly immatures (Ref. 10294).
Max length: 10.0 cm TL; common length: 6.0 cm TL.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders.
IUCN Red List Status: Endangered (EN), assessed 2011-11-15. Resilience: High (tm<1; Fec=152-610).
References
Riehl, R. and H.A. Baensch (1991) Aquarien Atlas. Band. 1. Melle: Mergus, Verlag für Natur-und Heimtierkunde, Germany. 992 p.
Etnier, D.A. and W.C. Starnes (1993) The fishes of Tennessee. The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. (pls. check date).
Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr (2011) A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 663p.
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