The troubled nomenclatural history of Notropis shumardi (Girard) of the Mississippi basin is recounted, with the conclusion that N. illecebrosus (Girard) is a synonym. The species is redescribed, and its geographic variation in several characters is studied. In the Alabama River, in the Red River, and in the Brazos, Colorado, and several smaller rivers of Texas the silverband shiner has a reduced number of anal rays and of vertebrae, but the pattern of variation and the lack of consistency in counts furnish evidence to deny nomenclatural recognition to these geographically peripheral stocks. Notropis brazosensis Hubbs and Bonham is accordingly placed in the synonymy of N. shumardi. Notropis shumardi is an inhabitant of large, usually turbid rivers and ranges from South Dakota to Indiana, Alabama, and Texas; it has probably dispersed from an origin in the Mississippi Valley. The record stations are listed and are mapped. Notropis shumardi may be placed among the species centering in Notropis atherinoides; it is probably most intimately related to N. perpallidus.