Notropis semperasper
Leuciscidae · freshwater water fish
2 minute read · Species guide
The roughhead shiner (Notropis semperasper) is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish beloinging to the family Leuciscidae, the shiners, daces and minnows. It is found only in the upper James River drainage, Virginia, USA.
In March 2022, the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the roughhead shiner as endangered.
Article text: Wikipedia contributors, Roughhead shiner (source revision). Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
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 and surface or water-column 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.
The source records associations with sand, gravel, cobble. An association indicates reported use, rather than an exclusive requirement.
The compilation reports a representative maturity age of 2 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 May, Jun, Jul, Aug for the source’s reporting region (VA). 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 7.9 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.
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