Red River Shiner

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.

Habitat preferences

Reported habitat associations include streams and small rivers.

The source records associations with clay or silt, sand. An association indicates reported use, rather than an exclusive requirement.

Reproduction and parental care

Recorded spawning months are Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug for the source’s reporting region (AR). This is a regional calendar, not a range-wide schedule.

Size and recorded longevity

FishTraits reports a maximum total length of 8 centimetres. Some entries use an estimated asymptotic length; this value should not be treated as a certified record catch.

Native range

Red River drainage from southwestern Arkansas to western Oklahoma and northwestern Texas (Page and Burr 1991).

Introduction history

Unknown; probable bait bucket release. It was first collected from the Cimarron in Oklahoma in 1976 (Cross et al. 1983).

Ecological impacts

Notropis bairdi has become common in the Cimarron River and is apparently displacing the native Arkansas River shiner Notropis girardi which is proposed for listing as an endangered species (Cross et al. 1983; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1997).