Iowa Fish Atlas

Native: Yes

State Rank: S4

ITIS Code: 163421          

National Rank:  N5

Global Rank: G5

Modeled By: Anna Loan-Wilsey

State Range:

The mimic shiner is found primarily in the upper pools of the Mississippi River.  It has also been collected in the upper Wapsipinicon and lower Cedar river watersheds.  In the Central Plains Aquatic Subregion, there have only been a few collections of the mimic shiner, in the Iowa, Winnebago and Little Sioux Rivers.  Two specimens were recently collected at a sampling site in the Missouri River (Berry et al. 2004).  In all collections, it is considered rare (Harlan et al. 1987).

Habitat Affinities:

The mimic shiner is most often found in clear, medium streams and large rivers with low to moderate gradients, and firm substrates composed of gravel, sandy silt, or clayey silt, as long as silt deposition is minimal (Robison and Buchanan 1988; Trautman 1981). In streams, it prefers gently flowing riffles or pools with little current (Clay 1975, Trautman 1981), while in large rivers it is often taken near creek mouths over sandy bottoms (Robison and Buchanan 1988). In its northern range, the mimic shiner is more common in lakes, preferring sheltered areas with silty bottoms (Eddy and Underhill 1974; Pflieger 1997; Phillips et al. 1982; Trautman 1981).  Etnier and Starnes (1993) found that the mimic shiner was quite tolerant of reservoirs and consistently avoided small creeks and marshy or swampy lowland areas. In Iowa, the mimic shiner inhabits streams and rivers with low to moderate current over sand bars or spoil banks (Harlan et al. 1987).  In Missouri, the mimic shiner prefers ditches with moderately clear water and noticeable current or the main channel of large, moderately turbid rivers flowing from upland areas (Pflieger 1971; Pflieger 1997).

Predictive Model(s):

Statewide Model: by 8-digit HU [Decision Tree Analysis n=6]

The distribution is based upon existing collection records.

 ("FLOW" = 1 AND "TEMP_CODE" = 2 AND "GRADSEGR" <= 1)

Mississippi River Model:

The distribution is based upon existing collection records and professional review.

("pool" >= 'S08' AND "pool" <= 'S14')

Missouri River Model

The distribution is based upon existing collection records and professional review.

("pool" = 'O17')

Overall Prediction:

("FLOW" = 1 AND "TEMP_CODE" = 2 AND "GRADSEGR" <= 1) OR ("pool" >= 'S08' AND "pool" <= 'S14') OR ("pool" = 'O17')

Literature Cited:

Berry, C.R., D.L. Galat, and M.L. Wildhaber.  2004.  Fish distribution and abundance. 

Volume 3.  Population structure and habitat use of benthic fishes along the Missouri and lower Yellowstone rivers.  U.S. Geological Survey, Cooperative Units, South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota.

Clay, W.M.  1975.  The fishes of Kentucky.  Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Frankfort, Kentucky.  416 pp.

Eddy, S., and J.C. Underhill.  1974.  Northern fishes; with special reference to the upper Mississippi Valley.  University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  414 pp.

Etnier, D.A., and W.E. Starnes.  1993.  The fishes of Tennessee.  University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, Tennessee.  681 pp.

Harlan, J.R., E.B. Speaker, and J. Mayhew.  1987.  Iowa fish and fishing. Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa. 323pp.

Pflieger, W.L.  1971.  A distributional study of Missouri fishes.  University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History  20(3):225-570.

Pflieger, W.L.  1997.  The fishes of Missouri.  Missouri Department of Conservation, Jefferson City, Missouri.  372 pp.

Phillips, G.L., W.D. Schmid, and J.C. Underhill.  1982.  Fishes of the Minnesota region.  University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  248 pp.

Robison, H.W., and T.M. Buchanan. 1988.  Fishes of Arkansas.  University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, Arkansas.  536 pp.

Trautman, M.B.  1981.  The fishes of Ohio.  Revised Edition.  Ohio State University Press in collaboration with the Ohio Sea Grant Program Center for Lake Erie Area Research,  Columbus, Ohio.  782 pp.

Data Sources:

Berry, C.R., D.L. Galat, and M.L. Wildhaber.  2004.  Fish distribution and abundance. 

Volume 3.  Population structure and habitat use of benthic fishes along the Missouri and lower Yellowstone rivers.  U.S. Geological Survey, Cooperative Units, South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota.

Bovbjerg, R.V., N.L. Pearsall, and M.L. Brackin.  1970.  A preliminary faunal study of

the upper Little Sioux River.  Iowa Academy of Science 77:177-184.

Guttenberg Fish Management.  2002.  Field notes and unpublished reports.  Northeast

Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Guttenberg, Iowa.

Long Term Resource Monitoring Program.  2002.   Pool 13 database, 1990-2001.  Upper

Midwest Environmental Science Center, Bellevue, Iowa.

Menzel, B.W.  1984.  Field notes: Iowa-Cedar.  Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Museum of Zoology.  2002.  Division of Fishes collection database.  University of

Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. http://www.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/. (May, 2002)

Nord, R.C.  1967.  A compendium of fishery information on the Upper Mississippi River.

Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Rock Island, Illinois.

Olson, C.L.  1975.  Effects of chlorinated sewage effluent on fish in the Iowa River,

Marshalltown, Iowa.  Master’s thesis.  Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

UMRCC.  1953.  Revised species list- northern section of the river.  Pages 19-32 in

Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Meeting, Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Rock Island, Illinois.

Additional References:

Aadland, L.P.,  C.M. Cook, M.T. Negus, H.G. Drewes, and  C.S. Anderson.  1991.  Microhabitat preferences of selected stream fishes and community-oriented approach to instream flow assessments.  Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Section of Fisheries, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  142 pp.

Becker, G.C.  1983.  Fishes of Wisconsin.  University of Wisconsin Press, Madison. 1052 pp.

Black, J. D.  1945.  Natural History of the northern mimic shiner Notropis volucellus volucellus Cope.  Investigations of Indiana Lakes and Streams 2(18):449-469.

Cross, F.B.  1967.  Handbook of fishes of Kansas.  University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Miscellaneous Publication  No. 45, Lawrence, Kansas.  357 pp.

Cross, F.B., and J.T. Collins.  1995.  Fishes in Kansas.  University of Kansas Natural History Museum, Public Education Series No. 14, Lawrence, Kansas.   315 pp.

Douglas, N.H.  1974.  Freshwater fishes of Louisiana.  Claitor’s Publishing Division, Sponsored by Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  443 pp.

Echelle, A.A., and G.D. Schnell.  1976.  Factor analysis of species associations among fishes of the Kiamichi River, Oklahoma.  Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 105(1):17-31.

Kelly, G., editor.  1986.  Animal habitat relations handbook.  Missouri Department of Conservation and U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Jefferson City, Missouri.  293 pp.

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.  867 pp.

Lobb, M.D., III, and D.J. Orth.  1991.  Habitat use by an assemblage of fish in a large warmwater stream.  Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 120:65-78.

Moyle, P.  1969.  Ecology of the fishes of a Minnesota lake, with special reference to the Cyprinidae. Ph.D. dissertation,  University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minnesota.  169 pp.

Moyle, P.B.  1973.  Ecological segregation among three species of minnows, Cyprinidae, in a Minnesota Lake.  Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 102(4):794-805.

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.

Pflieger, W.L.  1989a.  Aquatic community classification system for Missouri.  Missouri Department of Conservation.  Jefferson City, Missouri.  Aquatic Series No. 19. 70 pp. plus Supplement.

Pflieger, W.L.  1989b.  The stream resources of Missouri.  D-J Project - F-1-R-28.  Study S-20.  Missouri Department of Conservation, Columbia, Missouri.  

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, Bethesda, Maryland. 183 pp.

Scott, W.B., and E. J. Crossman.  1973.  Freshwater fishes of Canada.  Fisheries Research Board of Canada Bulletin No. 184, Ottawa, Canada.  966 pp.

Smith, P.W.  1979.  The fishes of Illinois.  University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Illinois.  314 pp.

Thom, R.H., and J.H. Wilson.  1980.  The natural divisions of Missouri.  Transactions of the Missouri Academy of Science  14:9-24.

Photo Credits:

Upper Left:       Photo courtesy of the Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri Fish and Wildlife Information System, http://www.conservation.state.mo.us.

Upper Right:     Photo courtesy of Konrad P. Schmidt, copyright Konrad P. Schmidt.