Menidia extensa
Waccamaw Silverside
Federal:
Threatened
NS
G1
Collection Details
Specimens
Photos
There are no photos available for this taxon yet.
Records
Taxonomic Hierarchy
Actinopterygii (Ray-finned Fishes)
Atheriniformes (Silversides)
Atherinopsidae (New World Silversides)
Menidia
Menidia extensa (Waccamaw Silverside)
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. Silvery-white with black melanophores surrounding each scale on the dorsal two-thirds of the body. The dorsal half of the body is almost translucent. Striking features: none.
Distribution
North America: occurs only in the Lake Waccamaw in North Carolina, USA.
Habitat Associations
Freshwater. pelagic. Found in: lakes.
Biology
Usually occur in large schools near surface in open water, over dark sandy bottom (Ref. 35360). Well adapted to a life of heavy predation (Ref. 35360). Frequent skipping over the water surface is observed apparently in avoidance of predators (Ref. 35360).
Max length: 8.0 cm TL; common length: 4.8 cm TL; max age: 3 years.
Reproductive mode: dioecism; fertilization: external; nonguarders (open water/substratum egg scatterers); parental care: none. Based on otolith data, these species spawn after their first winter and that only a small segment of the population lives through the second winter (Ref. 35360).
IUCN Red List Status: Vulnerable (VU), assessed 2012-03-01. Resilience: High (K=1.04-1.36; tmax=3).
Commercial or Environmental Importance
Fisheries: commercial.
References
Breder, C.M. and D.E. Rosen (1966) Modes of reproduction in fishes. T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, New Jersey. 941 p.
Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr (1991) A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 432 p.
Davis, J.R. and D.E. Louder (1969) Life history and ecology of Menidia extensa. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 98(3):466-472. DOI: 10.1577/1548-8659(1969)98[466:LHAEOM]2.0
Comments On Menidia extensa