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A Virtual Museum on the State's Fish Biodiversity

Luxilus cornutus

Common Shiner
NS G5
Collection Details

Specimens

Photos

Records

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes) Cypriniformes (Carps and Minnows) Cyprinidae (Carps and Minnows) Luxilus Luxilus cornutus (Common 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.) and processed using AI-assisted text extraction. It may contain errors in spelling, punctuation, or formatting. When citing, please reference the original source rather than this page. Learn more about our species accounts.

Characters

Body shape: fusiform / normal.

Distribution

North America: Atlantic, Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and Mississippi River basins from Nova Scotia to southeastern Saskatchewan, Canada and south to James River drainage in Virginia, northern Ohio, central Missouri and Colorado, USA.

Habitat Associations

Freshwater. demersal. Found in: streams, lakes.

Biology

Inhabits rocky pools near riffles in clear, cool creeks and small to medium rivers. Sometimes occurs in lakes in northern part of range (Ref. 86798). Oviparous (Ref. 205), nest spawners (Ref. 52559). Frequently hybridizes with Luxilus chrysocephalus in areas where the ranges of these two species overlap (Ref. 86798).
Max length: 18.0 cm TL; common length: 8.3 cm TL; max age: 6 years.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; guarders (nesters).
IUCN Red List Status: Least Concern (LC), assessed 2012-03-03. Resilience: Medium (tm=1; tmax=4).

References

Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Vadas, Robert L. (1990) The importance of omnivory and predator regulation of prey in freshwater fish assemblages of North America. Environ. Biol. Fishes 27(4):285-302.
Keast, A. (1968) Feeding of some Great Lakes fishes at low temperatures. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 25(6):1199-1218.
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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