GEOGRAPHIC-VARIATION IN NUPTIAL COLORS OF RED SHINER (CYPRINELLA-LUTRENSIS, CYPRINIDAE) WITHIN THE UNITED-STATES

Cyprinella lutrensis is a widespread and complex minnow taxon of the c entral United States and Mexico. Nuptial chromatics have been consider ed important in definitions of taxa within this complex in Mexico, but geographic variation in color of C, lutrensis north of Mexico has not been detailed until now. During the reproductive season for C, lutren sis, I collected peak nuptial males from Iowa and Nebraska southward t hrough its range to the Rio Grande, and documented color characteristi cs for 17 discrete parts of the body and fins. A preliminary principal components analysis (PCA) of 42 locations indicated that previously i dentified ''yellow'' populations in Kansas and Missouri were extreme o utliers. Reduction of the data set to 39 sites with best developed ''r ed'' red shiners resulted in a PCA in which populations from the centr al Great Plains formed a homogeneous core group with respect to male c hromatics. Geographically more isolated populations in central and wes t Texas and New Mexico were more peripheral in multivariate space; i.e ., they were more distinctive with respect to nuptial coloration.