BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Notropis hudsonius
Spottail Shiner
| Scientific Name: | Notropis hudsonius (Clinton, 1824) | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | Spottail 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-HUHU | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G5 (Aug 2015) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S1S2 (May 2019) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Red | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | |||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2005) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | |||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Spawns in spring or early summer. Sexually mature in 1-2 years (Becker 1983) | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
Y / Y / N / na / |
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| Global Migration Comments: | May migrate up tributary streams to spawn (Becker 1983). | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | Atlantic slope: large sluggish coastal rivers and brackish water to small clear rapidly flowing montane streams. Western populations: more closely restricted to large rivers and lakes, usually over sandy or rocky shallows with scant vegetation (Lee et al. 1980). Spawns in aggregations over areas of gravelly riffles near mouths of brooks, or along sandy shoals of lakeshores (Becker 1983). | ||||||||||
| Provincial Habitat Comments: | In Maxhamish Lake, N. HUDSONIUS were collected along the south shore of the lake; one collection was made at the mouth of a stream. | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Herbivore: Adult, Immature
Invertivore: Adult, Immature |
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | Eats mainly insects, crustaceans, and filamentous algae. | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | Y | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 13/ / | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | One of the most widely ranging North American freshwater fishes (Lee et al. 1980). Atlantic and Gulf Slope drainages from St. Lawrence River, Quebec, to Altamaha and upper Chattahoochee River, Georgia; Hudson Bay, Great Lakes, and Mississippi River basins from Ontario to Mackenzie River drainage (Arctic basin), Northwest Territories and Alberta, and south to northern Ohio, southern Illinois, and northeastern Montana; common, locally abundant (Page and Burr 1991). | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | Hammerson, G. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Sep 01, 1993 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | CANNINGS, S.G. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Mar 02, 1992 | ||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
Becker, G. C. 1983. Fishes of Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison. 1,052 pp. |
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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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McCann, J.A. 1959. Life history studies of the spottail shiner of Clear Lake, Iowa, with particular reference to some sampling problems. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 88(4):336-343. |
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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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Seaman, W. Jr. 1968. Distribution and variation of the American cyprinid fish, Notropis hudsonius (Clinton). M.S. Thesis, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida. |
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Shapiro, S. M. 1975. A bibliography of the spottail shiner, Notropis hudsonius (Clinton) (Pisces: Cyprinidae). Massachusetts Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Publication No. 43, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. 47 pp. |
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Smith, L.L. Jr. and R.H. Kramer. 1964. The spottail shiner in lower Red Lake, Minnesota. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 93(1): 35-45. |
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Wells, L. and R. House. 1974. Life history of the spottail shiner, Notropis hudsonius, in southeastern Lake Michigan, the Kalamazoo River and western Lake Erie. U.S. Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife Research Report 78. 10 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. 1993. Species Summary: Notropis hudsonius. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 8, 2026).