Strange Fish II - Common Shiner

The weather outside will no longer kill you on contact so I've started the 2021 geocache season.  There's old ones to check up on after a long damp winter.  And as today, new ones to hide.  Welcome to the second installment of the Strange Fish geocache series.  This one honors the Common Shiner.

Here's one I caught last year at the spot I'm placing the Strange Fish geocache.  Alas, the orange background is distracting...

Here's a nicer image:

The red fins are pretty.  Note the large silvery scales.  They are surprisingly delicate.  To pay homage to the Common Shiner, here's my geocache container.  Of course it contains a waterproof log book and small pencil.

It has a section of fence wire threaded through it.  This helps secure the cache in it's hiding place. And should eliminate any chance of someone claiming they did not make the "catch" because the line broke!

Common Shiner.  The name just sounds like an Average Joe kind of fish, and that's about right.  They are plentiful in small creeks, and generally a less assertive species than the Creek Chubs they often have as next door neighbors.  They are usually four or five inches long.  An 8 inch long shiner would be exceptional.  By the way, they have an interesting arrangement going on with the Chubs.  Shiners usually don't make their own nesting beds, but lay their eggs in the nest of other species such as Chubs.  But then they are good neighbors and help guard the combined nursery from predators!

In making a quick study of all things Shinery I discovered that there was a folk group called The Common Shiners that was around for a few years.  Naturally they live on in You Tube.  For your morning entertainment:  The Common Shiners.  (Nice sound, and I like any music recorded in part from a tree, but the serious Man Bun look of their main guy is a little weird for my tastes!)