The Silver Shiner Notropis photogenis

This specimen was captured by boat electrofishing on the New River at Eggleston Virginia September 21 2010.  It is a Silver Shiner Notropis photogenis    It was large, ~ 6 inches.   You can see the bright silver coloration on the ventral part of this specimen.     This species occurs in the Lake Erie drainage, Ohio, Tennessee and New River drainages.     As you can see it is very streamlined and can  be found in fast currents in the mid and upper parts of the water column where it feeds on drifting aquatic and terrestrial insects.    In the bright sunlight and turbulent waters it is well camouflaged and this habitat keeps predation by fishes relatively low.