High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Sand Shiner (Notropis stramineus) is a species of ray-finned fish in the Cyprinidae family of order Cypriniformes. The specific epithet Notropis means keeled back and stramineus means of straw, making reference to the fishes overall pale amber body color.N. ludibundus is a senior synonym of N. stramineus, however, the specific name N. stramineus is conserved and N. ludibundus is suppressed. They are widespread amongst the central and southern regions of the United States as well as southern Canada. They live in open clear water streams with sandy bottoms where they feed in schools on aquatic and terrestrial insects, bottom ooze and diatoms. On average, the sand shiner has a longevity of three summers.