Evidence
Where all of this came from.
39 reference records rest on 224 published pages, and 109 of those come from state and provincial natural-resources departments. That suits a set of records about what lives in the water those departments survey. The rest is federal survey work, university and extension guides, and interagency reports. The counts are below. Every reviewed line sits behind a record or a search, with the sources standing behind its record.
How to read this
A line is cited as precisely as someone checked it.
Where a reviewer traced a line to the pages that carry it, the line names those pages and, when the evidence is narrower than the record, where it comes from — one coast, one lake, one region. 605 of 1049 of the lines below are traced that way. The rest show the sources standing behind their whole record, marked “record’s sources”, because nobody has yet checked which page carried which line, and printing a single citation there would be a mapping nobody made.
National
52
A federal or national government body — USGS, NOAA, EPA, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Park Service, Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
State
109
A state, provincial or commonwealth natural-resources department. Most of this carrier rests here, which suits it: these are the bodies that survey the water the records describe.
Interagency
12
A commission or joint survey run across several agencies, such as the Great Lakes Fishery Commission's forage task groups.
University
45
A university research programme, cooperative extension service or Sea Grant office. Published work, but not the agency that manages the water.
Journal
6
A peer-reviewed paper, or a curated scientific register such as the World Register of Marine Species. Added with the 2026-09-25 evidence review, which went to the primary study where no agency page said what a claim needed.
Probe leftovers
What the weekly check could not treat as ordinary.
These addresses are still the citations. The check named what it saw. None of them is a gone page in the MISIN sense, so the records were not rewritten to hide a redirect, a timeout, or a bot wall.
Iowa DNR — BluegillMoved
The cited address answers through a permanent redirect. GET on the page that lands still names Bluegill.
A same-site move that still names the animal is not the MISIN case. The citation stays until a reviewer reads the new address into the record.
CASG — market squidUnreachable from this network
The California Sea Grant market-squid page times out from the probe network.
NOAA still covers the same animal on this record. The CASG address stays; a timeout is not a reason to drop a citation.
Mass.gov — menhaden and longfin squidRefused the probe
Both creature-feature pages answered 403 from the probe network.
A bot wall is not evidence the page is gone. The citations stay; the weekly check does not fail the build on unverifiable.
Michigan DNR — crayfish identification PDFRefused the probe
The cited PDF answered 403 from the probe network.
A refused PDF is not a 404. The citation stays on the crayfish record until a reviewer can open it.
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute — silversidesRefused the probe
The Menidia page answered 500 from the probe network.
A 500 is not a 404, and it is not a 403. The citation stays.
Claims
Every reviewed line in the app.
Shiners and minnows →27 lines
- What you can seeA single soft dorsal fin, never preceded by a spine — all fins of native species are soft-rayedMANITOBA-BAITFISH-GUIDE, CTDEEP-MINNOWSEvidence from: Native species (carp and goldfish excepted)
- What you can seePelvic fins sit on the belly, beneath the dorsal fin, rather than forward under the throatCTDEEP-MINNOWS, MANITOBA-BAITFISH-GUIDE
- What you can seeThin lips and no teeth in the jawsMANITOBA-BAITFISH-GUIDE, DFO-BAITFISH-PRIMER
- What you can seeNo sawtooth belly keel — the golden shiner's keel is soft and scaleless — and no adipose finMANITOBA-BAITFISH-GUIDE, MDC-GOLDEN-SHINER, DFO-BAITFISH-PRIMER
- What you can seeSpottail shiner carries a dark spot at the base of the tail, clearest on small fish and sometimes faint on large live adultsDFO-BAITFISH-PRIMER, CTDEEP-SPOTTAIL-SHINER, MANITOBA-BAITFISH-GUIDEEvidence from: Spottail shiner
- What argues against itA spiny front dorsal fin rules out every native minnow — that points to a spiny-rayed fish such as a perch, darter, sunfish, sculpin or sticklebackMANITOBA-BAITFISH-GUIDE
- What argues against itA sawtooth belly keel points to a young shad or alewife rather than a shinerDFO-BAITFISH-PRIMER
- What argues against itAn adipose fin points to a salmonid such as cisco, or to a smelt, trout-perch or catfish — not to a minnowMANITOBA-BAITFISH-GUIDE
- What argues against itCarp and goldfish are cyprinids but carry a stout spine at the front of the dorsal and anal finsCTDEEP-MINNOWS
- Declared limitThis record covers the family, not a species. Separating emerald from spottail from golden shiner in the field is beyond what this reference supports.record’s sources
- Declared limitThe size band spans four common baitfish species: fathead around 38-75 mm, emerald 64-89 mm, spottail 50-150 mm, golden shiner to about 200-230 mm depending on source.MDC-FATHEAD-MINNOW, ILDNR-EMERALD-SHINER, CTDEEP-SPOTTAIL-SHINER, MDC-GOLDEN-SHINER, DFO-BAITFISH-PRIMER
- Declared limitNo source consulted stated whether young-of-year minnows school separately from adults.record’s sources
- Size bandadult: 38-230 mmMDC-FATHEAD-MINNOW, MDC-GOLDEN-SHINER, DFO-BAITFISH-PRIMEREvidence from: Fathead minnow to golden shiner
- Water typelake-marginrecord’s sources
- Water typelake-openrecord’s sources
- Water typeriverrecord’s sources
- Water typestreamrecord’s sources
- Water typereservoirrecord’s sources
- Life stageyoung-of-yearrecord’s sources
- Life stageadultrecord’s sources
- Where it sitslarge schools in midwater or at the surfaceILDNR-EMERALD-SHINER, MDC-FATHEAD-MINNOWEvidence from: Emerald shiner; fathead also near the bottom
- Where it sitsnear shore and around vegetationMDC-GOLDEN-SHINER, MANITOBA-BAITFISH-GUIDEEvidence from: Golden shiner; spottail favours sandy, sparsely vegetated shallows
- How it movesschoolingrecord’s sources
- How it movesemerald shiners spawn at night in shallow water over sand or mudILDNR-EMERALD-SHINEREvidence from: Emerald shiner
- Sources disagreeThe spottail shiner's tail spot is a 'large black caudal spot' to Fisheries and Oceans Canada but 'sometimes inconspicuous' to Connecticut DEEP, and Manitoba says it is not always noticeable on larger live fish.record’s sources
- Sources disagreeSize figures differ between agencies: Missouri gives fathead 1.5 to 2.75 inches and golden shiner to about 8 inches; Fisheries and Oceans Canada gives typical and maximum lengths of 50 and 100 mm for fathead and 100 and 230 mm for golden shiner.record’s sources
- Sources disagreeFamily placement differs: Missouri Department of Conservation and Illinois DNR place these shiners and the fathead in Leuciscidae; Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Manitoba keep them in Cyprinidae.record’s sources
- Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental ProtectionCTDEEP-MINNOWS · State · read 2026-09-02
- Manitoba Natural Resources and Northern DevelopmentMANITOBA-BAITFISH-GUIDE · State · read 2026-09-02
- Fisheries and Oceans CanadaDFO-BAITFISH-PRIMER · National · read 2026-09-02
- Illinois Department of Natural ResourcesILDNR-EMERALD-SHINER · State · read 2026-09-02
- Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental ProtectionCTDEEP-SPOTTAIL-SHINER · State · read 2026-09-02
- Missouri Department of ConservationMDC-GOLDEN-SHINER · State · read 2026-09-02
- Missouri Department of ConservationMDC-FATHEAD-MINNOW · State · read 2026-09-02
The pages themselves
All 224, and what each one is holding up.
- Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
CTDEEP-SPOTTAIL-SHINER
- Fisheries and Oceans Canada
DFO-BAITFISH-PRIMER
- Illinois Department of Natural Resources
ILDNR-EMERALD-SHINER
- Manitoba Natural Resources and Northern Development
MANITOBA-BAITFISH-GUIDE
- Missouri Department of Conservation
MDC-FATHEAD-MINNOW
- Missouri Department of Conservation
MDC-GOLDEN-SHINER
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