Males in breeding condition have pale to bright red fins, giving the fish the common name cherryfin shiner.

It has a fairly large eye with a deep, compressed body that is pale olive above with a dusky stripe on its back.

Adults reach lengths up to 3 inches (7.6 cm) and have 11-12 anal rays and 36-49 lateral scales.

This fish is very similar to the pretty shiner, and their ranges meet north of Mobile Bay in southern Alabama, but are otherwise geographically separated.

[1][2] The cherryfin shiner occupies headwater streams and small rivers with moderate currents that provide riffle and riffle-pool habitats with sand or sand-gravel bottoms.