{{Short description|Species of fish}} {{Speciesbox | image = Notropis topeka.jpg | image_caption = At Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=NatureServe |date=2014 |title=''Notropis topeka'' |article-number=e.T184092A19034321 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T184092A19034321.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> | status2 = LE | status2_system = ESA | status2_ref = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://ecos.fws.gov/ecp/species/4122|title=Topeka shiner (''Notropis topeka (=tristis)'')|website=Environmental Conservation Online System|publisher=U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service|access-date=20 January 2025}}</ref> | taxon = Miniellus topeka | authority = (C. H. Gilbert, 1884) | synonyms = {{Specieslist |Cliola topeka|C. H. Gilbert, 1884 |Notropis topeka|(C. H. Gilbert, 1884) |Moniana tristis|Girard, 1856 |Notropis tristis|(Girard, 1856) |Notropis aeneolus|Hay, 1887 }} | synonyms_ref = <ref name = "Cof genus">{{Cof genus|genus=Miniellus|access-date=15 March 2025}}</ref> }}

The '''Topeka shiner''' ('''''Miniellus topeka''''') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae, the shiners, daces and minnows.<ref name = "Cof genus"/> This species is found in North America.

== Description == The Topeka shiner is a type of minnow that does not grow longer than a few inches. This minnow is a shiny silver color. Its main physical characteristic is the black colored stripe that runs along the side of the body.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

{{Multiple image | image1 = Notropis topeka Breeding Male black background.jpg | image2 = Notropis topeka Breeding Male white background (2).jpg | footer = Breeding males | total_width = 500 | align = center }}

== Distribution and habitat == ''Miniellus topeka'' was formerly broadly distributed in the northwestern Mississippi River basin, from southern Minnesota and eastern South Dakota south to central Missouri and western Kansas.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105369/Miniellus_topeka|title=''Miniellus topeka''|website=NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer|author=NatureServe|publisher=NatureServe|location=Arlington, Virginia|date=2 May 2025|access-date=5 May 2025}}</ref>

The Topeka shiner lives mainly in prairie streams. In order for the Topeka shiner to survive the water must be cold and clear. The streams in which this Minnow lives are typically consistent and run year long. In cases in which the stream does dry up, the Topeka Shiner needs to find a new stream or permanent body of water to survive. Oxbow lakes are especially important habitat for Topeka shiners, as in faster moving bodies of water, they are easily picked off.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Miller |first=Matthew L. |date=2024-07-11 |title=Restoring River Oxbows Benefits Endangered Fish |url=https://blog.nature.org/2024/07/10/restoring-river-oxbows-benefits-endangered-fish/ |access-date=2024-07-11 |website=Cool Green Science |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Conservation and threats == The Topeka shiner was listed as Endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1998. The species is endangered primarily because of the water quality need. This species relies on clean water to survive. When the streams water quality changes the Topeka shiner has difficulty adjusting to the changes. The water quality can change due to both environmental and human impact. A main cause for the decline in population is human activity. The water quality changes and the minnow are impacted when natural plant life is taken away. Any type of construction such as road work, new homes and other types of development can affect the habitat in which the Topeka shiner lives.

In particular, the infilling of oxbow lakes due to agricultural runoff-induced erosion and channelization robbed the shiners of slow currents and vegetation to spawn in and hide from predators.<ref name=":0" /> However, thanks to oxbow restoration efforts by the Iowa Topeka Shiner Recovery Partnership, comprising the Iowa Soybean Association, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the Practical Farmers of Iowa, and The Nature Conservancy of Iowa, the US Fish and Wildlife Service recommended that the Topeka shiners be downlisted to Threatened status in 2021.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-07-21 |title=Topeka shiner 5-year status review {{!}} U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |url=https://www.fws.gov/node/263231 |access-date=2024-07-11 |website=www.fws.gov |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=2023 Recovery Champions {{!}} U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service |url=https://www.fws.gov/program/recovery/2023-recovery-champions |access-date=2024-07-11 |website=www.fws.gov |language=en}}</ref> Oxbow restoration can be as simple as digging out excess sediment and connecting rivers to oxbows.<ref name=":0" />

==References== {{Reflist}}

== External links == * USFWS Fact Sheet [https://www.fws.gov/midwest/endangered/fishes/TopekaShiner/index.html] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120401082609/http://www.agriculture.state.ia.us/livingOnTheEdge/topekaShiner.asp Iowa Dept. Agriculture and Land Stewardship] * Robert Jay Goldstein, Rodney W. Harper, Richard Edwards: ''American Aquarium Fishes''. Texas A&M University Press 2000, {{ISBN|978-0-89096-880-2}}, p.&nbsp;95 ({{Google books|UB0vJ7ssqDUC|restricted online copy|page=95}})

{{Taxonbar|from1=Q133282962|from2=Q3761503}} {{Authority control}}

Category:Miniellus Category:Endemic fish of the United States Category:Fish of the Eastern United States Category:Freshwater fish of the United States Category:Fauna of the Plains-Midwest (United States) Category:Natural history of Kansas Category:Fish described in 1884 Category:Taxa named by Charles Henry Gilbert