Diet and Feeding Behavior
Sand shiners are omnivorous fish, feeding on aquatic and terrestrial insects, bottom ooze and diatoms and are often observed in large schools which frequently feeding in shallow waters. Overall, this species is an opportunistic feeder primarily taking bottom particulate matter, as well as plant material and terrestrial and aquatic insects. More explicitly, their summer diet consists of bottom ooze (68% of volume), aqatic nymphs and larvae, Ephemeroptera nymphs, Tricoptera larvae, adult terrestrial insects, adult and emerging Ephemeroptera, dipterans, corixids, and a small amount of plant matter. During late summer, sand shiners show more surface-oriented feeding behaviors, feeding on adult aquatic and terrestrial insects. These feeding habits are similar to the closely related Cape Fear shiner and swallowtail shiner.
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