The Ocmulgee shiner (''Cyprinella callisema'') is a species of freshwater

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fish or actinopterygians, is a class of bony fish that comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. They are so called because of their lightly built fins made of webbings of sk ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Leuciscidae Leuciscidae is a family of freshwater ray-finned fishes, formerly classified as a subfamily of the Cyprinidae, which contains the true minnows. Members of the Old World (OW) clade of minnows within this subfamily are known as European minnow ...

, the shiners, daces and minnows. It is endemic to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

where it occurs in the Altamaha and Ogeechee river drainages in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. It was first described in a book about fishes of upper Georgia. The author, Davis Starr Jordan, is credited with describing more than 2,500 species of fish in his lifetime. He first described this fish in his book fishes of upper Georgia in 1877.

Physical appearance

The Ocmulgee Shiner is a slender silver minnow with a blue sheen. Its notable lateral line span the entire length of its body. These minnows can grow to a maximum length of 9 cm It possesses six rayed fins: a forked caudal fin to assist in agile swimming, a pair of pectoral fins for vertical movement, a single dorsal, an anal and pelvic fin to maintain stability. These fins are a faint yellow and mostly translucent. It has a terminal mouth, meaning it is in the front and center of the head

Geographic range and habitat

This Georgia native is a subtropical freshwater fish. It is endemic to central Georgia and predominately occupies the Ocmulgee and Oconee river basins. This shiner "Inhabits sandy and rocky runs of small to medium rivers " Its distribution ranges 34°N to 32°N.

Life history

The Ocmulgee Shiner belongs to the family

Cyprinidae Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family, including the carps, the true minnows, and their relatives the barbs and barbels, among others. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family, and t ...

, as all other fish in this family they are egg-layers. Not much is known about their eating habits, but it is assumed that they rely on

invertebrates Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordate subphylum ...

and

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plants and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular Taxon, taxa, life forms, structure, Spatial ecology, spatial extent, or any other specific Botany, botanic ...

Status

According to the

IUCN Red list The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

status shows the likelihood of a species becoming extinct in the future. The Ocmulgee Shiner is a species of least concern and population trends are stable. The last known assessment occurred in 2011. AMDOSDWD

References

Cyprinella Taxa named by David Starr Jordan Fish described in 1877 {{Leuciscinae-stub