Home/Species/ Cutlip Minnow

Exoglossum maxillingua

(Lesueur, 1817)

Cutlip Minnow

G5Secure Found in 1 roadless area NatureServe Explorer →

G5SecureGlobal Rank

Least concernIUCN

Identity

Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102719

Element CodeAFCJB12020

Record TypeSPECIES

ClassificationSpecies

Classification StatusStandard

Name CategoryVertebrate Animal

IUCNLeast concern

Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations

KingdomAnimalia

PhylumCraniata

ClassActinopterygii

OrderCypriniformes

FamilyLeuciscidae

GenusExoglossum

Other Common Names

Bec-de-lièvre (FR) Cutlips Minnow (EN)

Concept Reference

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. 183 pp.

Conservation Status

Rank MethodExpertise without calculation

Review Date2012-01-27

Change Date1996-09-13

Edition Date2012-01-27

Edition AuthorsHammerson, G.

Range Extent200,000-2,500,000 square km (about 80,000-1,000,000 square miles)

Number of Occurrences81 - 300

Range Extent Comments

Range includes North American Atlantic Slope from the St. Lawrence River, Quebec, to the upper Roanoke River, North Carolina (but absent from most of New England); Lake Ontario drainage, Ontario and New York; and upper New River drainage, West Virginia and Virginia, where apparently introduced (Page and Burr 2011).

Occurrences Comments

This species is represented by a large number of occurrences (subpopulations).

Threat Impact Comments

Range-wide, no major threats are known. In Canada, threats include habitat degradation, competition with increasing populations of common shiners (related to habitat changes), and use as a bait fish (Crossman and Holm 1996).

Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

Habitat includes clear creeks and small to medium rivers with gravel, rubble, and boulder bottom relatively free of rooted plants; usually under or near boulders in quiet pools and runs (Lee et al. 1980, Page and Burr 2011). Spawning occurs over upstream slopes of pebble mounds made by males under or near cover in areas with current. Eggs become lodged and buried in nest mounds. Young emerge from nests about a week after hatching.

Ecology

Common shiner may disrupt spawning activities (Scott and Crossman 1973).

Reproduction

Spawns in spring and early summer. Most live 2 years.

Other Nations (2)

United StatesN5

Province	Rank	Native
Delaware	S4	Yes
Connecticut	S3	Yes
West Virginia	S4	Yes
Vermont	S3	Yes
Pennsylvania	S5	Yes
Maryland	S5	Yes
North Carolina	S1	Yes
District of Columbia	SH	Yes
New Jersey	S4	Yes
Virginia	S5	Yes
New York	S5	Yes

CanadaN4

Province	Rank	Native
Ontario	S2	Yes
Quebec	S3	Yes

Threat Assessments

Threat	Scope	Severity	Timing
No known threats	—	—	—

Roadless Areas (1)

Virginia (1)

Area	Forest	Acres
Broad Run	Jefferson National Forest	10,971

References (21)

Cooper, E. L. 1983. Fishes of Pennsylvania and the northeastern United States. Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park. 243 pp.
Cox, Kenneth M. (District Fisheries Biologist, VT Department of Fish and Wildlife). 2000. Review and annotation of fish watershed distribution maps. Review requested by Anthony E. Zammit, ABI. March 2000.
Crossman, E. J., and E. Holm. 1996. The status of the cutlips minnow, Exoglossum maxillingua, in Canada. Canadian Field-Naturalist 110:470-477.
Haase, R. and B. L. Haase. 1975. Feeding ecology of the cutlips minnow, Exoglossum maxillingua, in the Delaware River at Bushkill, Pennsylvania. Proceedings of the Pennsylvania Academy of Sciences 49: 67-72.
Jenkins, R. E., and N. M. Burkhead. 1994. Freshwater fishes of Virginia. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland. xxiii + 1079 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. i-x + 854 pp.
Maurakis, E. G., W. S. Woolcott, and M. H. Sabaj. 1991. Reproductive behavior of Exoglossum species. Bulletin of the Alabama Museum of Natural History 10:11-16.
Menhinick, E. F. 1991. The freshwater fishes of North Carolina. North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission. 227 pp.
Nelson, J. S., E. J. Crossman, H. Espinosa-Perez, L. T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, R. N. Lea, and J. D. Williams. 2004. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 29, Bethesda, Maryland. 386 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.
Page, L. M., and B. M. Burr. 2011. Peterson field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Second edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston. xix + 663 pp.
Page, L. M., H. Espinosa-Pérez, L. T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, R. N. Lea, N. E. Mandrak, R. L. Mayden, and J. S. Nelson. 2013. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Seventh edition. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 34, Bethesda, Maryland.
Page, L. M., K. E. Bemis, T. E. Dowling, H.S. Espinosa-Pérez, L.T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, K. E. Hartel, R. N. Lea, N. E. Mandrak, M. A. Neigbors, J. J. Schmitter-Soto, and H. J. Walker, Jr. 2023. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Eighth edition. American Fisheries Society (AFS), Special Publication 37, Bethesda, Maryland, 439 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. 183 pp.
Scott, W. B., and E. J. Crossman. 1973. Freshwater fishes of Canada. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Bulletin 184. 966 pp.
Smith, C. L. 1983. Fishes of New York (maps and printout of a draft section on scarce fishes of New York). Unpublished draft.
Smith, C. L. 1985. The inland fishes of New York State. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Albany, New York, xi + 522 pp.
Stauffer, J. R., Jr., J. M. Boltz, and L. R. White. 1995. The fishes of West Virginia. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 146:1-389.
Van Duzer, E.M. 1939. Observations on the breeding habits of the cutlips minnow, Exoglossum maxillingua. Copeia (2): 65-75.
Whittier, Thomas R. 2000. Review and annotation of fish watershed distribution maps. Review requested by Anthony E. Zammit, ABI. March 2000.
Whitworth, W. R., P. L. Berrien, and W. T. Keller. 1976. Freshwater fishes of Connecticut. Bulletin of the Connecticut Geological and Natural History Survey 101. vi + 134 pp.

Exoglossum maxillingua

Habitat

Ecology

Reproduction

—