The red shiner, abundant in 1952 (early stage of drought), was
consistently the most abundant fish in my collections in the Marais des
Cygnes and at the lower and middle Neosho stations. However, the
abundance declined from 1957 to 1959 at the two Neosho stations. At the
upper Neosho station the species was fourth in abundance in 1957, and
third in 1958 and 1959 (Table 12).
The red shiner is pelagic in habit and occurs primarily in pools, though
it frequently inhabits adjacent riffles. Collections by seining along a
gravel bar at the lower station showed this fish to be most abundant in
shallow, quiet water over mud bottom, or at the head of a gravel bar in
relatively quiet water. At the lower end of the gravel bar in water one
to four feet deep, with a shallow layer of silt over gravel bottom and a
slight eddy-current, red shiners were replaced by ghost shiners or river
carpsucker young-of-the-year as the dominant fish.
Fifty-nine dyed individuals were released in an eddy at the lower end
of a gravel bar at the middle Neosho station on 5 June, 1959. Some of
these fish still were present in this area when a collection was made 30
hours later. No colored fish were taken in collections from quiet water
at the upper end of the gravel bar. A swift riffle intervening between
the latter area and the area of release may have impeded their movement.
Forty-six individuals, released at the head of the same gravel bar on 10
June, 1959, immediately swam slowly upstream through quiet water and
were soon joined by other minnows. These fish did not form a
well-organized school, but moved about independently, with individuals
or groups variously dropping out or rejoining the aggregation until all
colored fish disappeared about 50 feet upstream from the point of
release.
Evidence of inshore movement at night was obtained on 8 June, 1959, in a
shallow backwater, having gravel bottom, at the head of a gravel bar at
the middle Neosho station. A collection made in the afternoon contained
no red shiners, but they were abundant in the same area after dark.
In Kansas, red shiners breed in May, June, and July. Minckley
(1959:421-422) described behavior that apparently was associated with
spawning. Because of its abundance, the red shiner is one of the most
important forage fishes in Kansas streams, and frequently is used as a
bait minnow.
#Notropis volucellus# (Cope)