Article text: Wikipedia contributors, Blackmouth shiner (source revision). Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
Blackmouth Shiner
Notropis melanostomus
Leuciscidae · freshwater water fish
2 minute read · Species guide

About Blackmouth Shiner
The blackmouth shiner (Miniellus melanostomus) is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, the shiners, daces and minnows. It is endemic to the United States. It is found in the Blackwater - Yellow river systems in Florida, Bay Minette Creek in Alabama, and the lower Pascagoula River system in Mississippi.
Diet and feeding
The FishTraits compilation records these diet categories for this species: algae or phytoplankton; invertebrates or larval fish. 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, streams and small rivers, creeks, still-water habitats.
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 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.
Recorded spawning months are Apr, May, Jun, Jul for the source’s reporting region (FL). This is a regional calendar, not a range-wide schedule.
The reproductive-guild classification includes spawning on open substrates without guarding the brood.
Size and recorded longevity
FishTraits reports a maximum total length of 3.8 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 2 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
- Notropis
- Species
- Notropis melanostomus
- ITIS TSN
- 163485
- WoRMS AphiaID
- 1011565
- GBIF key
- 2362243
Common questions about Blackmouth Shiner
What is the scientific name of Blackmouth Shiner?
Does Blackmouth Shiner live in fresh water or salt water?
Where has Blackmouth Shiner been recorded in the United States?
Closest relatives
Other Notropis species
Same family