Iowa Fish Atlas

Native: Yes

State Rank: S3?

ITIS Code: 163360          

National Rank:  N5

Global Rank: G5

Modeled By: Anna Loan-Wilsey

State Range:

The Mississippi silvery minnow is found in the Mississippi River, and is widely distributed in the nearly all the major river systems in Mississippi River drainage basin including the Cedar, Des Moines, Iowa, Maquoketa, Raccoon, Shellrock, Skunk, Turkey, Wapsipinicon and Winnebago rivers.  As its name implies, it is found only in the Mississippi River system and is thus absent from the Missouri River drainage basin in Iowa (Harlan et al. 1987).

Habitat Affinities:

In Iowa, the Mississippi silvery minnow inhabits the main channels of the larger, more turbid rivers (Harlan et al. 1987).  In Missouri, the Mississippi silvery minnow  prefers clear, moderately large streams with low gradients and is most abundant in pools and backwaters with substrates of silt or sand (Pflieger 1997). Elsewhere it is found in bayous, oxbow lakes, lowland lakes and silty creeks and rivers where the current is gentle or non-existent and bottoms are composed of gravelly-sand, silty-sand, organic debris, or muck (Etnier and Starnes 1993; Robison and Buchanan 1988; Trautman 1981). Trautman (1981) found that Mississippi silvery minnow was most abundant in waters rich in phytoplankton. He also notes that excessive turbidity, or the smothering of aquatic vegetation and substrates by silt, can negatively impact the Mississippi silvery minnow.  Where it does occur, it is usually abundant and found in large schools (Smith 1979). 

Predictive Model(s):

Statewide Model: by 8-digit HU [Decision Tree Analysis n=34]

The distribution is based upon existing collection records and professional review.

(("STRAHLER" <= 3 AND "MINELEVR" <= 1) OR

( "STRAHLER" <= 3 AND "MINELEVR" > 1 AND ("SDISCR_11C" > 1 AND

"SDISCR_11C" <= 2 )) OR

"STRAHLER" > 3)

Mississippi River Model:

The distribution is based upon existing collection records and professional review.

 (("pool" >= 'S08' AND "pool" <= 'S14') OR ("pool" >= 'S18' AND "pool" <= 'S20'))

Overall Prediction:

(("STRAHLER" <= 3 AND "MINELEVR" <= 1) OR

( "STRAHLER" <= 3 AND "MINELEVR" > 1 AND ("SDISCR_11C" > 1 AND "SDISCR_11C" <= 2 )) OR "STRAHLER" > 3) OR (("pool" >= 'S08' AND "pool" <= 'S14') OR ("pool" >= 'S18' AND "pool" <= 'S20'))

Literature Cited:

Etnier, D.A., and W.E. Starnes.  1993.  The fishes of Tennessee.  University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, Tennessee.  681 pp.

Harlan, J.R., E.B. Speaker, and J. Mayhew.  1987.  Iowa fish and fishing. Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa. 323pp.

Pflieger, W.L.  1997.  The fishes of Missouri.  Missouri Department of Conservation, Jefferson City, Missouri.  372 pp.

Robison, H.W., and T.M. Buchanan. 1988.  Fishes of Arkansas.  University of Arkansas Press, Fayetteville, Arkansas.  536 pp.

Smith, P.W.  1979.  The fishes of Illinois.  University of Illinois Press, Urbana, Illinois.  314 pp.

Trautman, M.B.  1981.  The fishes of Ohio.  Revised Edition.  Ohio State University Press in collaboration with the Ohio Sea Grant Program Center for Lake Erie Area Research,  Columbus, Ohio.  782 pp.

Data Sources:

Call, R.E.  1890.  The fishes of the Des Moines basin.  Iowa Academy of Sciences 1 pt.2

(1890, 1891):43-56.

Guttenberg Fish Management.  2002.  Field notes and unpublished reports.  Northeast

Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Guttenberg, Iowa.

Helms, D.R., and W.D. Wickham.  1989.  Environmental assessment of Cedar Creek in

Wapello County near Ottumwa, Iowa.  The City of Ottumwa on behalf of Allen Water and Waste Water Engineering, Inc., Ottumwa, Iowa.

Iowa State University Museum.  1985.  Collection of fishes catalog, 1878-1985.   Iowa

State University, Ames, Iowa.

Lake Darling Fish Management.  2002.  Field notes and unpublished reports.  Southeast

Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Brighton, Iowa.  

LGL Ecological Research Associates.  1981.  Study of fish in the main channel of the

Mississippi River between river miles 500 and 513.5.  Final Report.  Great II Fish and Wildlife Management Work Group and Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers, Rock Island, Illinois.

Long Term Resource Monitoring Program.  2002.   Pool 13 database, 1990-2001.  Upper

Midwest Environmental Science Center, Bellevue, Iowa.

Manchester Fish Management.  2002.  Field notes and unpublished reports.  Northeast

Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Manchester, Iowa.

Meek, S.E.  1892.  Report upon the fishes of Iowa, based upon observations and

collections mad during 1889, 1890, 1891.  Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission 10(1890):217-248.

Meek, S.E.  1894.  Notes on the fishes of Western Iowa and Eastern Nebraska.  Bulletin

of the United States Fish Commission 14(1894):133-138.

Menzel, B.W.  1984.  Field notes: Des Moines-Skunk.  Iowa State University, Ames,

Iowa.

Menzel, B.W.  1984.  Field notes: Iowa-Cedar.  Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

Museum of Natural History.  2002.  Freshwater fish collection.  Division of Zoology,

University of Louisiana at Monroe, Monroe, Louisiana.

Museum of Zoology.  2002.  Division of Fishes collection database.  University of

Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. http://www.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/. (May, 2002)

Nord, R.C.  1967.  A compendium of fishery information on the Upper Mississippi River.

Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Rock Island, Illinois.

Olson, J.R.  1998.  Historic fish survey database.  Water Quality Bureau, Iowa

Department of Natural Resources, Des Moines, Iowa.

Spirit Lake Fish Management.  2002.  Field notes and unpublished reports.  Northwest

Management District, Fisheries Bureau, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Orleans, Iowa.

Sullivan, D.J.  2000.  Fish communities and their relation to environmental factors in the

Eastern Iowa Basins in Iowa and Minnesota, 1996.  Water-Resources Investigations Report 00-4194.  U.S. Geological Survey, Iowa City, Iowa.

UMRCC.  1953.  Revised species list- northern section of the river.  Pages 19-32 in

Proceedings of the Ninth Annual Meeting, Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Rock Island, Illinois.

UMRCC.  1964.  Proceedings of the twentieth annual meeting, January 7, 1964.  Upper

Mississippi River Conservation Committee, Rock Island, Illinois.

Wilton, T., K. Krier, and J. Mootz.  2003.  Stream Biological Assessment Database.

Environmental Services Division, Water Quality Bureau, TMDL and Water Quality Assessment Section, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Des Moines, Iowa.

Additional References:

Becker, G.C.  1983.  Fishes of Wisconsin.  University of Wisconsin Press, Madison. 1052 pp.

Clay, W.M.  1975.  The fishes of Kentucky.  Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Frankfort, Kentucky.  416 pp.

Cross, F.B.  1967.  Handbook of fishes of Kansas.  University of Kansas Museum of Natural History Miscellaneous Publication  No. 45, Lawrence, Kansas.  357 pp.

Cross, F.B., and J.T. Collins.  1995.  Fishes in Kansas.  University of Kansas Natural History Museum, Public Education Series No. 14, Lawrence, Kansas.   315 pp.

Douglas, N.H.  1974.  Freshwater fishes of Louisiana.  Claitor’s Publishing Division, Sponsored by Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  443 pp.

Echelle, A.A., and G.D. Schnell.  1976.  Factor analysis of species associations among fishes of the Kiamichi River, Oklahoma.  Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 105(1):17-31.

Eddy, S., and J.C. Underhill.  1974.  Northern fishes; with special reference to the upper Mississippi Valley.  University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  414 pp.

Forbes, S.A., and R.E. Richardson.  1920.  The fishes of Illinois.  Natural History Survey of Illinois, Springfield, Illinois.  Volume 3,  357 pp.

Kelly, G., editor.  1986.  Animal habitat relations handbook.  Missouri Department of Conservation and U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Jefferson City, Missouri.  293 pp.

Lee, D.S., C.R. Gilbert, C.H. Hocutt, R.E. Jenkins, D.E. McAllister, and J.R. Stauffer, Jr.  1980.  Atlas of North American freshwater fishes.  North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, North Carolina.  867 pp.

Page, L.M., and B.M. Burr.  1991.  A field guide to freshwater fishes: North America north of Mexico.  Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 432 pp.

Pflieger, W.L.  1971.  A distributional study of Missouri fishes.  University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History  20(3):225-570.

Pflieger, W.L.  1989a.  Aquatic community classification system for Missouri.  Missouri Department of Conservation.  Jefferson City, Missouri.  Aquatic Series No. 19. 70 pp. plus Supplement.

Pflieger, W.L.  1989b.  The stream resources of Missouri.  D-J Project - F-1-R-28.  Study S-20.  Missouri Department of Conservation, Columbia, Missouri.  

Phillips, G.L., W.D. Schmid, and J.C. Underhill.  1982.  Fishes of the Minnesota region.  University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota.  248 pp.

Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott.  1991.  Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada.  American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20, Bethesda, Maryland. 183 pp.

Schmidt, T.R.  1994.  Phylogenetic relationships of the genus Hybognathus (Teleostei: Cyprinidae).  Copeia 1994:622-630.

Sublette, J.E., M.D Hatch, and M. Sublette.  1990.  The fishes of New Mexico.  University New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico.  393 pp.

Thom, R.H., and J.H. Wilson.  1980.  The natural divisions of Missouri.  Transactions of the Missouri Academy of Science  14:9-24.

Tibbs, J.E.  1995.  Habitat use by small fishes in the lower Mississippi River related to foraging by least terns, Sterna altillarum.  Master’s thesis, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri.  184 pp.

Photo Credits:

Upper Left:       Photo courtesy of Konrad P. Schmidt, copyright Konrad P. Schmidt.