Overview
The beautiful shiner (Cyprinella formosa) is one of eight species of fish known as the Rio Yaqui Fishes, some of which include: Yaqui chub (Gila purpurea), Yaqui topminnow (Poeciliopsis occidentalis sonoriensis), Yaqui catfish (Ictalurus pricei), Yaqui sucker (Catostomus bernardini), Longfin Dace (Agostia chrysogaster sp.), Mexican stoneroller (Campostoma ornatum) and the roundtail chub (Gila robusta). In 1856, C. Girard described the beautiful shiner from the San Bernardino Creek, Rio Yaqui, just south of the Arizona-Sonora border and C. Rutter confirmed that in 1896. The beautiful shiner inhabits small streams and ponds in the Rio Yaqui drainage of Arizona and Mexico.
The beautiful shiner consists of two forms: the Yaqui form, which inhabits the Yaqui Basin, and the Guzman form, which inhabits the Guzman Basin.
Scientific Name
Identification Numbers
Characteristics
Life Cycle
The average life span of small minnows, like the beautiful shiner, is 2 to 3 years in the wild, as documented by S.J. Herrington and D.R. DeVries in 2008.
Habitat
The beautiful shiner occurs in small to medium streams with sand, gravel and rock bottoms below 4,500 feet (1,371 meters) in elevation. Although found in a variety of habitats, the largest populations occur in the riffles of small streams.
A natural body of running water.
Areas where ground water meets the surface.
Food
Like other Cyprinella species, beautiful shiners feed on invertebrates that are the appropriate size range.
Behavior
The beautiful shiner is considered a midwater fish that often occupies areas near aquatic vegetation, but rarely found in vegetation. Adult beautiful shiner will school in these more open waters.
Physical Characteristics
Beautiful shiner are small minnows, with pointed snouts, and compressed bodies that do not extend far above the head. The lateral line, which is a sensory system used to detect movement, vibration and pressure gradients, is curved downward with 36 to 40 scales.
Measurements
Length: 2.5 in (6.3 cm)
Non-breeding coloration of beautiful shiner is a tan-like coloration dorsally, meaning on the back, with metallic silver laterally, meaning on the sides, and pale white ventrally, meaning underneath. Breeding males exhibit bright yellow to orange coloration on caudal, or tail, and lower fins, with a blueish body, as documented by W. Minckley in 1973.
Similar Species
The red shiner (Cyprinella lutrensis) is a non-native similarly sized species that is considered invasive in Arizona. Both species have striking breeding colors and occupy similar niches.
Geography
Historically, the beautiful shiner was found in the Rio Yaqui, Casas Grandes, Santa Maria and Santa Clara drainages in Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico; the Rio Yaqui (San Bernardino Creek/Black Draw) in Arizona; and the Mimbres river in New Mexico.
The Rio Yaqui Basin comprises approximately 73,000 square kilometers, of which only 2% occurs in the United States. The United States portion of the Rio Yaqui drainage receives runoff from the Swisshelm, Chiricahua, Mule, Pedregosa, Perilla and Peloncillo mountains.
Currently, the Yaqui form of the beautiful shiner in the United States reside in San Bernardino Creek and several artificial ponds on San Bernardino National Wildlife Refuge and in Leslie Creek on Leslie Canyon National Wildlife Refuge. The Southwestern Native Aquatic Resources Recovery Center maintains a captive population of Guzman beautiful shiner for potential reintroduction efforts.
Timeline
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