Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Blue shiner (Cyprinella caerulea), recorded as Endangered
Blue shiner (Cyprinella caerulea). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Endangered

Blue shiner

Cyprinella caerulea

Blue shiner is a minnow in the family Cyprinidae (order Cypriniformes) — Cyprinella caerulea, recorded as Endangered.

Status
Endangered
Scientific name
Cyprinella caerulea
Taxonomy
Cypriniformes · Cyprinidae · Cyprinella

Range and habitat

C. Caerulea is endemic to the basin of the Mobile River. Because of population declines, it is now restricted to the Coosa River system in four disjunct populations in northeast Alabama, northwest Georgia, and southeast Tennessee. Within the Coosa River system, the fish was native to Choccolocco Creek, the Little River, Weogufka Creek, and Big Wills Creek in Alabama. The Coosawattee River the Oostanaula River in Georgia, and the Conasauga River in Georgia and Tennessee.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

In crisis

This is a federally listed threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of the United States. Currently, the largest population of C. Caerulea is in the Conasauga River. Estimations of abundance are made by assessing individual subpopulations.

Blue shiner is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Blue shiner, Wikidata item Q308108. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia · Wikidata · IUCN Red List.

Same genus

Photograph of Cuatro Cienegas shiner (Cyprinella xanthicara), recorded as EndangeredEN

Cuatro Cienegas shiner

Cyprinella xanthicara
Photograph of Vaquita (Phocoena sinus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Vaquita

Phocoena sinus
Photograph of Javan rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Javan rhinoceros

Rhinoceros sondaicus
Photograph of Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Sumatran orangutan

Pongo abelii

Quick answers

What is Blue shiner?
Blue shiner is a minnow in the family Cyprinidae (order Cypriniformes) — Cyprinella caerulea.
What is the conservation status of Blue shiner?
Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Cyprinella caerulea. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Blue shiner live?
It is native to the southeastern United States, where it is endemic to the Cahaba and Coosa River systems of the Mobile River Basin.
Why is Blue shiner in crisis?
This is a federally listed threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of the United States.
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Cyprinella caerulea?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Blue shiner a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.