Description
The Cape Fear shiner is a small but stocky minnow of about 5 centimeters (2 in) long with a maximum length of 7.7 centimeters (3 in). It is mostly a silvery yellowish shade with a black stripe running down the middle of the fish’s side to its caudal peduncle and a lighter stripe above this one. The scales are outlined in black. The shiner's fins are clear to yellow and moderately pointed. The dorsal fin's origin is over or slightly before the pelvic fin's origin. During the spawning season, the males become more golden in color while the females become more silvery. The Cape Fear Shiner's snout is acute and rounded and has a black upper lip and a lower lip that has a thin black bar stretching across its margin. The upper lip always overhangs above the lower lip.
The shiner only has pharyngeal teeth (teeth located on the back of the fish's throat on its gill arches), similar to the teeth of other omnivorous shiners. The Cape Fear Shiner's eyes are moderately sized and on the side of the fish's head. It has eight anal fin rays. The shiner's distinctive long dark intestines are coiled and visible through the fish's belly wall and it also has a distinctive black peritoneum.
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