Blacktail shiner
| Blacktail shiner | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Cypriniformes |
| Family: | Cyprinidae |
| Subfamily: | Leuciscinae |
| Clade: | Pogonichthyinae |
| Genus: | Cyprinella |
| Species: | C. venusta
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| Binomial name | |
| Cyprinella venusta Girard, 1856
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| Synonyms | |
The blacktail shiner (Cyprinella venusta) is a small freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae native to the United States.
Description and anatomy
The blacktail shiner is a somewhat slender
Geographic distribution
The blacktail shiner occurs in
Blacktail shiners are found in the southern United States west of the
The blacktail shiner has also been found from the Rio Grande basin in Texas, east to the Suwannee River, and north through the Mississippi River basin to the confluence of the
Ecology and habitat
The blacktail shiner feeds primarily on
The blacktail shiner is most common in pools and runs of clear, sandy-bottomed, small to medium rivers, typically in areas with sparse vegetation and strong current, but upland populations occur in creeks over
The blacktail shiner hybridizes with the red shiner (C. lutrensis) in Texas[10] and in Illinois.[11]
Life history
The lifespan of the blacktail shiner is up to 4 years in the Leaf River system, Mississippi and up to 5 years in the Blanco River, Texas.[7][unreliable source?]
In Texas, the blacktail shiner spawning season is April through September.[7] In Mississippi, it is late March through early October, with most females reproductive from April to early September.[12][13] In Village Creek, Texas, blacktail shiners revealed size distribution patterns consistent with a protracted spawning season.[8]
Prime spawning habitat for the blacktail shiner is in fractional crevices; generally located in flowing water, preferring crevices in current velocities of 0.30 meters per second (0.98 ft/s).[14] Populations in reservoirs chose crevice sites in locations of much lower current speeds.[14] In the Blanco River, Texas, blacktail shiners were observed depositing eggs underneath small boulders and large cobble in a bedrock riffle in the swiftest current velocities available. Males respond to sounds produced by spawning females and are able to distinguish these sounds from those produced by related female red shiners. Males are territorial, defending a crevice from other males. Breeding pair swims along the crevice, the female deposits eggs; usually the sperm has already been released into the crevice, so the eggs are deposited into a crevice with viable sperm. Immediately after spawning, the male doubles back and eats any eggs that failed to make it into the crevice. Small males (sneakers) try to fertilize eggs by darting between the dominant male and spawning female. Both large and small males will enter another male's territory and deposit sperm in a crevice before the male courts a female to lay eggs in the crevice.[12]
One study in the Blanco River, Texas found that female blacktail shiners had up to 340 ova.[7] Another study in southwestern Mississippi found that clutch sizes ranged between 139 and 459 ova in females 48.6–72.0 millimeters (1.91–2.83 in); average mature ovum diameter was 1.15 millimeters (0.045 in); ovaries in mature females constituted 5.8-19.1% of the somatic body weight.[12] Females from the Pearl River, Mississippi, spawned 20-46 clutches during the reproductive season.[14] The size of sexual maturation is between 32 millimeters (1.3 in) and 42 millimeters (1.7 in).[12]
In the Leaf River system, Mississippi, average length was 24 millimeters (0.94 in) for age 1, 46 millimeters (1.8 in) for age 2, and 72 millimeters (2.8 in) for age 3; populations consisted mainly of age classes 0 and I[14] In the first year, blacktail shiners reach about 45 to 60 millimeters (1.8 to 2.4 in).[14] Average length was 45 millimeters (1.8 in) for age 0, 66 millimeters (2.6 in) for age 1, 90 millimeters (3.5 in) for age 3 and older in the Blanco River, Texas.[7]
Management
The blacktail shiner is of relatively low conservation concern.[1] Their populations are stable, but some issues of concern include habitat changes associated with flood control projects, siltation from development sites, deterioration of water quality, and recent water drawdown for mining and irrigation.[15][16] Activities such as construction and operation of hydroelectric facilities, flood control, additional irrigation diversions, bank stabilization, oil and gas drilling, mining, grazing, stocking or introduction of nonnative fishes may jeopardize the continued existence of the blacktail shiner.[citation needed] Another potential impact on the population could be hybridization.[10][11]
References
- ^ . Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- ^ "Cyprinella venusta summary page".
- ^ a b Page, L.M. and Burr, B.M. 2011. Peterson field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, Massachusetts.
- ^ "Blacktail shiner Cyprinella venusta". Archived from the original on 2015-09-09. Retrieved 2013-11-25.
- ^ Gibbs, R.H., Jr. 1957. Cyprinid fishes of the subgenus Cyprinella of Notropis III variation and subspecies of Notropis venusta (Girard). Tulane Stud. Zool. 5:175-203.
- ^ "Blacktail Shiner (Cyprinella venusta) - Species Profile".
- ^ a b c d e f Littrell, B.M. 2006. Can Invasiveness of Native Cyprinids Be Predicted From Life History Traits? A Comparison Between a Native Invader and a Regionally Endemic Cyprinid and Status of an Introgresses Guadalupe Bass Population in a Central Texas Stream. Master of Science Thesis, Texas State University-San Marcos.61 pp.
- ^ a b c Moriarty, L.J., and K.O. Winemiller. 1997. Spatial and temporal variation in fish assemblage structure in Village Creek, Hardin County, Texas. Texas Journal of Science 49(3):85-110.
- ^ Lee, D.S., Gilbert, C.R., Hocutt, C.H., Jenkins, R.E., McAllister, D.E. and Stauffer, J.R. Jr. 1980. Atlas of North American freshwater fishes. North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, North Carolina.
- ^ a b Hubbs, C., and K. Strawn. 1956. Infertility between two sympatric fishes, Notropis lutrensis and Notropis venustus. Evolution 10(4):341-344.
- ^ a b Smith, P.W. 1979. The Fishes of Illinois. University of Illinois Press, Urbana. 314 pp.
- ^ a b c d Heins, D.C. and Dorsett, D.R. 1986. Reproductive traits of the blacktail shiner, NOTROPIS VENUSTUS (Girard) in southern Mississippi. Southwest Naturalist 31: 185-189.
- ^ Heins, D.C. 1990. Mating behaviors of the blacktail shiner, Cyprinella venusta, from southeastern Mississippi. Proc. S.E. Fishes Council 21:5-7.
- ^ a b c d e Baker, J.A., K.J. Kilgore, and S.A. Foster. 1994. Populations variation in spawning current speed selection in the blacktail shiner, Cyprinella venusta (Pisces: Cyprinidae). Env. Biol. Fish. 39:357-364.
- ^ Walser, C.A. and H.L. BART. 1999. Influence of agriculture on in-stream habitat and fish community structure in Piedmont watersheds of the Chattahoochee River system. Ecol. Fresh. Fish 8:237-246.
- ^ Johnston, C.E. and T.M. Farmer. 2004. Status of fish species of high conservation concern in the Uchee Creek system (Chattahoochee River 39 drainage), Alabama. Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Report.