What's In a Name?
Common shiner: refers to its widespread distribution and abundance of "shinny" minnow

Notropis (No-trope´-iss) means "back keel" in Greek, referring to the keel shape of the back of a dried out specimen used to describe this genus
cornutus (cor-new´-tuss) means "horned" in Latin;, referring to the tubercles (little horns) on the heads of breeding males

How Big Do They Get?
How Long Do They Live?
The common shiner is one of the "Big Three" native Minnesota minnows (the other two are creek chub and hornyhead chub). It can reach a length of 300 mm (12 in), but lengths of 75-125 mm (3-5 in) are more usual. Normally this fish lives for 4-6 years but there is a record of a 9-year-old (not in Minnesota).

What Eats Them?
Common shiners are preyed upon heavily by northern pike, muskies, largemouth bass and smallmouth bass, larger yellow perch, and walleyes. Grebes, bald eagles, herons, and kingfishers also eat them. Humans do not normally eat them, but they do harvest them to use as bait.

How Do They Reproduce?
Common shiners begin spawning in late May in southern Minnesota and a week or two later in the north. Spawning can occur over a 4-6 week period in any one area. During and before this time, males change coloration and develop tubercles (breeding bumps) on their heads. Males build nests by piling up small pebbles and gravel at the heads of riffles. Sometimes they use the nests of creek chubs or hornyhead chubs instead of making their own. A male will chase all other male common shiners from its nest. When a female enters the nest the male moves to her side and they spawn shortly afterward. As soon as the female finishes, she darts out of the nest, which sometimes causes her to jump out of the water. The male also leaves the nest, so the eggs and young have no parental care. The average number of eggs a female spawns is about 3,000-4,000. The fertilized eggs drop to the bottom and adhere to the gravel.

Conservation and Management
As it name implies the common shiner is one of our most common minnows. Consequently, it has no special conservation status in Minnesota. Commercial bait dealers and individual anglers harvest it for bait, and it occasionally ends up on an angler's hook.