[1] The yellow Shiner is a small fish with a deep, broad body which is at its deepest just in front of the origin of the dorsal fin and which has an extended caudal peduncle which is twice as long as it is deep.

It has a brown back with a silver belly, the difference between the two being quite marked, although there is a subtle dark band running from the snout to the caudal peduncle which is darker at its ends.

The lateral line is incomplete and ends at the rear edge of the pectoral fins.

These fish grow to a maximum length of 5 centimetres (2.0 in) and the females are larger than the males.

[2] The yellow shiner has not been evaluated by the IUCN's The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species[3] but it should be considered as near threatened as there has been a considerable degradation in habitat quality in the 20th Century and they are preyed upon by a number of species of introduced fish including guppies, tilapia, sunfish and species of black bass.