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Burrhead Shiner
Notropis asperifrons
Leuciscidae · freshwater water fish
2 minute read · Species guide

About Burrhead Shiner
The burrhead shiner (Alburnops asperifrons) is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish in the family Leuciscidae, the shiners, daces and minnows. It is endemic to the United States and occurs in the Alabama and Black Warrior River systems in southeastern Tennessee, northwestern Georgia, and Alabama, mostly above the Fall Line. It grows to 7.5 cm (3.0 in) total length. It can be locally common and occurs in rocky and sandy pools and runs of clear creeks and small rivers, usually on or near bottom. It is state threatened in Georgia, however.
Diet and feeding
The FishTraits compilation records these diet categories for this species: 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. The compilation combines published observations; diets can vary with age, locality, and available food.
Habitat preferences
Reported habitat associations include streams and small rivers, creeks.
The source records associations with muck, clay or silt, 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.
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 Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul for the source’s reporting region (AL). 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 7.5 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 asperifrons
- ITIS TSN
- 163426
- WoRMS AphiaID
- 1383556
- GBIF key
- 2362215
Common questions about Burrhead Shiner
What is the scientific name of Burrhead Shiner?
Does Burrhead Shiner live in fresh water or salt water?
Where has Burrhead Shiner been recorded in the United States?
Closest relatives
Other Notropis species
Same family