Ontario Shore Fishing Forum

I spent yesterday fossil hunting and fishing in SW Ontario. While at the fossil site, I took a couple of breaks from the heat and fished the Ausable River that runs thru it. Of course the only spots I was getting any bites were right beside rotting carp carcasses so the smell was a bit nasty, but who cares, I was getting bites. My first catch was a shiner I need some help with. It looks to me to have 8 anal rays, not much of a dark butt and in person, looked a lot more transparent than the pics show, but that could be just a thin fish being held up to the sun. Anyway, that is all leading me to think ghost shiner, but if I'm wrong on the ray count, then sand shiner. Just to make it more difficult, in the same little area, I caught my first (and 2nd and 3rd etc.) spotfin shiners. They also have 8 rays and juveniles lack the spot on the fin. Any thoughts????
[attachment=1299]no anal pigment
[attachment=1300][attachment=1301]

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At another spot further along, I caught another shiner, maybe the same, maybe not. This one had some beautiful metallic red stripes along the sides and a metallic green stripe along the back. Thoughts???
[attachment=1302][attachment=1303]

The mouth are too big on the two fish to be Mimic Shiner, Sand Shiner or Ghost Shiner (all three should have a subterminal mouth), which both of your fish don't have.

The snout on the second fish is very pointed, and the lower jaw is slightly longer than the upper jaw, so I'm going to rule out Emerald Shiner. In the third picture, the dorsal fin is pretty far back from the pelvic fin, so I'm going to rule out Silver Shiner. I'm pretty sure the second fish is a Rosyface Shiner instead.

The first one I actually counted at least 9 anal rays (using the 2nd picture). Which would rule out Mimic, Sand and Ghost. I can't tell if there is a 10th ray or not. I suspect is is one of Emerald Shiner or Rosyface Shiner. The head doesn't look as pointed and the lower jaw looks just a little shorter than the upper jaw, even if it is considered terminal. I would lean more toward Emerald Shiner for the first fish.