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

About Silverside Shiner
The Silverside shiner (Alburnops candidus) is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish in the family Leuciscidae, the shiners, daces and minnows. It is endemic to the southern United States and occurs in the Mobile Basin in Alabama and Mississippi. It occurs in sand-gravel runs of medium to large rivers. It lives in small schools, escaping to deeper water when disturbed. It grows to 11 cm (4.3 in) total length, although is commonly only half of that size.
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.
The source records associations with muck, clay or silt, sand, vegetation, organic debris. An association indicates reported use, rather than an exclusive requirement.
Reproduction and parental care
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 Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep for the source’s reporting region (MS). 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 11 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.
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 candidus
- ITIS TSN
- 163433
- WoRMS AphiaID
- 1383697
- GBIF key
- 2362273
Common questions about Silverside Shiner
What is the scientific name of Silverside Shiner?
Does Silverside Shiner live in fresh water or salt water?
Where has Silverside Shiner been recorded in the United States?
Closest relatives
Other Notropis species
Same family