Mississippi Silversides (Menidia audens), Inland Silverside

The Mississippi Silversides was introduced into Clear Lake California in 1967, and they proliferated. They are an important zooplankton predator, and are also an important forage fish for bass, crappie and a variety of other fish in the lake.

The taxonomy of the species has been revised several times with the following names being used:

Tidewater silverside, Menidia peninsulae, Menidia beryllina
Mississippi silverside, Menidia audens
Inland silverside, Menidia beryllina

The photo here was of an 70-mm long individual that had been held in an aquarium, and was somewhat under-nourished.

See Wurtsbaugh, WA and H.W. Li. 1985. Diel migrations of a zooplanktivorous fish (Menidia beryllina) in relation to the distribution of its prey in a large eutrophic lake. Limnol. Oceanogr. 30: 565-576.