Article text: Wikipedia contributors, Bannerfin shiner (source revision). Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
Bannerfin Shiner
Cyprinella leedsi
Leuciscidae · freshwater water fish
2 minute read · Species guide

About Bannerfin Shiner
The bannerfin shiner (Cyprinella leedsi) is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish in the family Leuciscidae, the shiners, daces and minnows. It is endemic to the United States, where it occurs on the Atlantic Slope from the Edisto River drainage in South Carolina to the Altamaha River drainage in Georgia. It also occurs on the Gulf Slope in the Suwannee and the Oklockonee drainages in southern Georgia and northern Florida.
Diet and feeding
The FishTraits compilation records these diet categories for this species: invertebrates or larval fish; larger animal prey (a source category covering fish, crayfish, crabs, or frogs). These are broad categories, not a claim that every individual consumes every example in a category.
Reported feeding positions include bottom feeding and surface or water-column feeding. The compilation combines published observations; diets can vary with age, locality, and available food.
Habitat preferences
Reported habitat associations include medium to large rivers.
The source records associations with sand. An association indicates reported use, rather than an exclusive requirement.
Reproduction and parental care
The compilation reports a representative maturity age of 1.5 years. Its maturity field summarizes mean, median, or modal estimates, usually for females; male estimates can be used when female data are unavailable. It is not a fixed age at which every fish first breeds.
Batch or serial spawning has been reported somewhere in the species’ range. This does not establish the same spawning pattern for every population.
Recorded spawning months are May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep for the source’s reporting region (GA). This is a regional calendar, not a range-wide schedule.
The reproductive-guild classification includes hiding a brood without subsequent guarding.
Size and recorded longevity
FishTraits reports a maximum total length of 10 centimetres. Some entries use an estimated asymptotic length; this value should not be treated as a certified record catch.
Recorded longevity in the compilation is 4 years. Wild observations were preferred, but captive records were accepted where wild records were unavailable, and unspecified records were assumed wild. The value is not a guaranteed wild lifespan or an aquarium life expectancy.
Range
Where it lives
Share of records by state
Habitat
Water and movement
- Water
- WoRMS records this species in fresh water.
- Migration
- Undetermined
Classification
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Superclass
- Actinopterygii
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Cypriniformes
- Family
- Leuciscidae
- Genus
- Cyprinella
- Species
- Cyprinella leedsi
- ITIS TSN
- 163788
- WoRMS AphiaID
- 1014722
- GBIF key
- 5207690
Common questions about Bannerfin Shiner
What is the scientific name of Bannerfin Shiner?
Does Bannerfin Shiner live in fresh water or salt water?
Where has Bannerfin Shiner been recorded in the United States?
Closest relatives
Other Cyprinella species
Same family