Hybognathus regius
Leuciscidae · freshwater water fish
2 minute read · Species guide
The eastern silvery minnow (Hybognathus regius) is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, the shiners, daces and minnows. They are characterized by their lack of barbels. In appearance, they are similar to shiners, but the lower jaw is crescent-shaped rather than U-shaped and there is a secondary loop in the gut, which is sometimes visible through the body wall of preserved specimen.
The eastern silvery minnow has more angulate fins than the other members of the genus Hybognathus. The dorsal margin is more concave. Its scales have a radius of 10–12 mm. It has circuli with sharp angles at the basal corners of the scale. Its head is pointed. They grow to be about 6 inches in length at maximum.
Article text: Wikipedia contributors, Eastern silvery minnow (source revision). Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
The FishTraits compilation records these diet categories for this species: algae or phytoplankton; aquatic or other vascular plants; detritus or unidentified plant material; 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.
Reported habitat associations include medium to large rivers, streams and small rivers, creeks.
The source records associations with muck, clay or silt, sand, organic debris. An association indicates reported use, rather than an exclusive requirement.
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.
Recorded spawning months are Mar, Apr, May for the source’s reporting region (NC). This is a regional calendar, not a range-wide schedule.
The reproductive-guild classification includes spawning on open substrates without guarding the brood.
FishTraits reports a maximum total length of 12 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 3 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.
Atlantic Slope from St. Lawrence River drainage, Quebec, to Altamaha River drainage, Georgia; Lake America drainage, Ontario and New York (Page and Burr 1991).
First observed in Maine in 1982, probably bait bucket release of illegally imported baitfish (Kircheis 1994).
Range
A blank area on the dot layer usually means nobody sampled there, not that the fish is absent. Turn on “every survey site” to see where the survey looked.
The USGS stream survey caught it at 119 of its sites, in 8 states. That survey and the GBIF records are two different counts of two different things, so the site keeps them apart.
Habitat
Classification
Closest relatives
Same family
