BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Richardsonius balteatus
Redside Shiner
| Scientific Name: | Richardsonius balteatus (Richardson, 1836) | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | Redside Shiner | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | F-RIBA | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Feb 2016) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S5 (Jul 2025) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2005) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Spawning often occurs in June or July. Individual females lay eggs over a period of several days. Eggs hatch in about 15 days (Brown 1971). Sexually mature in 2-3 years, lives maximum of about 5 years. | ||||||||||
| Global Ecology Comments: | A schooling species. | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
N / Y / N / na / |
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| Global Migration Comments: | Lake populations may migrate to inlet streams to spawn. | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
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| Global Habitat Comments: |
Lakes, ponds, ditches, springs, sloughs, headwaters, creeks, and small to medium rivers, usually where current is slow or lacking; usually over mud or sand, often near vegetation (Lee et al. 1980, Page and Burr 1991). In lakes, may move into deep water at night and in winter. Spawning takes place over gravel substrate in streams or in submerged vegetation along lakeshores. No nest is built. The broadcast eggs sink and adhere to rocks, vegetation, or detritus. |
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| Food Habits: |
Herbivore: Adult, Immature
Invertivore: Adult, Immature Piscivore: Adult, Immature |
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | Feeds mainly on aquatic and terrestrial insects; also eats molluscs, plankton, and some small fish and fish eggs. Fry eat zooplankton and algae. | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 8/ / | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | Pacific Slope drainages from Nass River, British Columbia, to Rogue, Klamath, and Columbia river drainages, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, and Wyoming; Bonneville basin, southern Idaho, western Wyoming, Utah, and eastern Nevada (Andersen and Deacon 1996); Peace River system (Arctic basin), Alberta and British Columbia; introduced in upper Missouri River system (Montana), and upper Colorado River drainage (Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Arizona); common, often abundant (Page and Burr 1991). | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | Hammerson, G. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Jan 20, 1995 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
Andersen, M. E., and J. E. Deacon. 1996. Status of endemic non-salmonid fishes in eastern Nevada. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science 29:124-133. |
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Brown, C. J. D. 1971. Fishes of Montana. Big Sky Books, the Endowment and Research Foundation, Montana State University, Bozeman. MT. 207 pp. |
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Gold, J. R., and Y. C. Li. 1994. Cytosystematic evidence that the genus Richardsonius belongs in the western clade of phoxinin cyprinids. Copeia 1994:815-818. |
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Lee, D. S., C. R. Gilbert, C. H. Hocutt, R. E. Jenkins, D. E. McAllister, and J. R. Stauffer, Jr. 1980. Atlas of North American freshwater fishes. North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, North Carolina. i-x + 854 pp. |
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McPhail, J.D. and C.C. Lindsey. 1970. Freshwater fishes of northwestern Canada and Alaska. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Bulletin 173, Ottawa. |
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Page, L. M., and B. M. Burr. 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes: North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 432 pp. |
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Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp. |
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Scott, W. B., and E. J. Crossman. 1973. Freshwater fishes of Canada. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Bulletin 184. 966 pp. |
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Sigler, W. F., and R. R. Miller. 1963. Fishes of Utah. Utah State Department of Fish and Game, Salt Lake City, Utah, 203 pp. |
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Simpson, J. and R. Wallace. 1982. Fishes of Idaho. The University Press of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho. 238 pp. |
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Wydoski, R. S., and R. R. Whitney. 1979. Inland fishes of Washington. The University of Washington Press, Seattle. 220 pp. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 1995. Species Summary: Richardsonius balteatus. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 4, 2026).