Minnow Family Cyprinidae
 

Central Stoneroller (Campostoma anomalum)
 

Characteristics - Brownish-olive with a brassy luster above and silvery to white beneath, compressed laterally with a definite arch in back, subterminal mouth.
Distribution - small creeks throughout the northeast two-thirds of Iowa and along the entire length of the Mississippi River.
Foods - algae and bottom ooze.
Adult Length - 7 inches

Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio)
 

Characteristics - gray to olive on sides and yellow or white on belly; robust body that is compressed laterally with a long dorsal fin; conspicuous barbel on either side of mouth.
Distribution - statewide in nearly all waters
Foods - all types of plant and vegetable material
State Record - 50 pounds - Glenwood Lake, Mills County, May 1969 - Fred Hougland,Glenwood, Iowa
Expert's Tip - carp love to explore and feed in newly flooded areas, try using worms or dough balls when the river is rising!

Fathead Minnow (Pimephales promelas)
 

Characteristics - dark olive above with coppery tinge behind head and along sides, sides silvery and belly white; back broad and flat in front of dorsal fin; dusky band or blotch in front and rear rays of dorsal fin; maximum length of about 3 inches.
Distribution - statewide in streams, man-made lakes and natural lakes
Foods - microscopic plants, small insects and their larvae
State Record - not recorded
Expert's Tip - Catch these at your bait shop but don't forget your wallet - they are the most common baitfish sold in Iowa!

Suckermouth Minnow (Phenacobius mirabilis)
 

Characteristics - olive-green back with dusky-silver sides and silvery white belly, a greenish lateral band as a faint gold line dorsally and ends in a distinctive elongated spot, subterminal mouth.
Distribution - throughout the entire state with greatest abundance in the Des Moines River basin.
Foods - insect larvae.
Adult Length - 4 - 5 inches.

Plains Minnow (Hybognathus placitus)

Characteristics - pale-yellow to yellow overlaid with silver on the back and sides while the belly is white, the small eye has a diameter of about 5 times the head length.
Distribution - throughout the Missouri River drainage in Iowa.
Foods - feed by scraping bottom ooze.
Adult Length - 4 inches.

Lake Chub (Couesius plumbeus)

Characteristics - light-gray on the back and upper sides shading to silvery below, prominent barbel in the corner of a large sub-terminal mouth.
Distribution - presumed to be exterpated from Iowa.
Foods - aquatic and terrestrial insects.
Adult Length - 8 inches

Flathead Minnow (Hybopsis gracilis)
 
 

Characteristics - straw to brown colored on back shading to silver on the sides and belly, strongly depressed head and large sickle-shaped pectoral fins.
Distribution - Missouri River drainage.
Foods - aquatic insects and young fish.
Adult Length - 10 inches
 
 

Gravel Chub (Hybopsis x-punctata)

Characteristics - light olive-green above with silvery sides and a light blue lateral band, sub-terminal mouth with large eye in comparison with the head.
Distribution - large interior rivers of central and northeast Iowa.
Foods - bottom feeders utilizing plant debris.
Adult Length - 3 1/2 inches

Pallid Shiner (Notropis amnis)

Characteristics - body color is olive-yellow on the back with silvery sides and belly with a lateral band extending from the tip of the snout to the tail, large eliptical shaped eye and an inferior mouth
Distribution - Mississippi River north of Burlington.
Foods - bottom ooze.
Adult Length - 2 inches

Emerald Shiner (Notropis antherinoides)
 
 

Characteristics - emerald green back with a distinctive silver lateral band and a white belly, mouth is large, terminal and oblique, elliptical body shape and slab-sided.
Distribution - Large interior streams and border rivers in Iowa, rare in smaller streams.
Foods - algae, zooplankton.
Adult Length - 3 1/2 inches

Ironcolor Shiner (Notropis chalybaeus)

Characteristics - olive-green to straw on the back shading to white beneath with a sharp distinct lateral stripe which starts on the chin and snout and continues to the tail, conspicuous dark pigment on the inner boarders of the jaw, and a scaleless breast in front of the pectoral fins.
Distribution - considered extirpated in Iowa.
Foods - unknown.
Adult Length - 2 inches

Blackchin Shiner   (Notropis heterodon)

Characteristics - olive-straw overlaid with silvery on the back shading to silvery-white on the belly, prominant lateral band passes from the chin through the eye to the tail, terminal mouth.
Distribution - considered extirpated in Iowa.
Foods - aquatic insects and cladocera.
Adult Length - 2 - 3 inches

Red Shiner  (Notropis lutrensis)
 

Characteristics - olive green with silvery sides and white belly; edges of scales on back and upper sides are outlined with pigment giving diamond-shaped appearance
Distribution - throughout Missouri, Des Moines, and Skunk river drainages
Foods - aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates
State Record - not recorded
Expert's Tip - popular bait minnow and aquarium fish

Silverband Shiner  (Notropis shumardi)

Characteristics - body color is pale olive-yellow on the back with silvery sides, dusky-silver lateral band and silvery-white belly, terminal mouth with high dorsal fin.
Distribution - only sighting was in the Missouri River near Sioux City in 1890.
Foods - unknown.
Adult Length - 3 1/2 inches.

Weed Shiner  (Notropis texanus)
 

Characteristics - The weed shiner is an olive green to straw colored , with a dark lateral band.
Distribution - Listed as "threatened in Iowa" found mostly in eastern Iowa in the Mississippi River were it is rare.
Foods - microscopic plants, small insects and their larvae
State Record - not recorded
Expert's Tip - These fish are an important indicator of environmental health and currently are only rarly found in Iowa waters due to loss of habitat.

Mimic Shiner  (Notropis volucellus)

Characteristics - back is straw colored with silvery sides and whitish belly, scales on back have a light pigment edge giving the fish a cross-hatched appearance, sub-terminal mouth.
Distribution - Mississippi River in Clayton, Allamakee, and Jackson counties and in two northeast Iowa streams.
Foods - insect larvae, terrestrial insects, and zooplankton.
Adult Length - 3 inches

Blacknose Dace  (Rhinicthys atratulus)
 

Characteristics - brownish to blackish above, light beneath and sides speckled with dark scales giving is a mottled appearance, with dusky lateral band outlined by a row of light scales, mouth sub-terminal.
Distribution - found throughout central and northeast Iowa.
Foods - aquatic insects and larvae.
Adult Length - 4 inches