The top of a white shiner's body is olive in color while the remainder of the body is silver. Normally, there is a silvery patch on the gill cover of the adult. These fish are very similar to the crescent shiner, but lack, or have very few, dark scales on their sides. This being said, the side of their body may have slight crescents visible. When spawning, females do not display color, where as males show rosy bellies and orange fins with red bands of color outlining the dorsal, tail and anal fins. Pelvic fins will be rosy at the base. The head of the male shiner will also display a blue-ish, grey tint and tubercles will be pronounced.

White shiner males have deep elongated bodies, where as females have more of an elongated torpedo shaped body.  The origin of the dorsal fin is above the front half of their pelvic fin base. They have rounded snouts and a terminal mouth. Their eyes are large and, overall, they considered a larger shiner. They range from 3 to 6 inches (7.6 to 15.2 centimeters) in length.

On average, adult white shiners are around 15 fish to the pound. 

White shiners are freshwater fish which inhabit rocky and sandy pools within streams and runs of headwaters, creeks and small rivers.

White shiners typically spawn between early-May to mid-July when temperatures reach 17.5 to 24 degrees Celsius (63.5 to 75.2 degrees Fahrenheit). Males reach sexual maturity between 1 to 3 years of age. Majority of females reach sexual maturity at age 1, and the remainder by 2 years of age.

These shiners spawn over gravel nests built by bluehead chubs (Nocomis leptocephalus). After the chub nest is built, white shiner males will make furrows in the nests and display themselves over the furrows for female fish. As females approach, male fish will tilt to one side and the female will lay on the substrate. The male clasps her with his body and pushes her into the substrate. The pair will release their gametes and go on their way.

Like many shiner species, white shiners spawn multiple clutches. It is believed that clutch size is correlated with the length of a female. Their eggs are non-adhesive and hatching is temperature dependent. On average, the eggs will hatch within four days.

White shiners are believed to live 4 to 6 years in the wild.

White shiners are quick swimmers that tend to stay in schools. They like to hang around in pools of streams and rivers and can also tolerate more turbid waters better than most shiner species. 

White shiners feed on both aquatic and terrestrial insects. Most feeding activity occurs in the middle of the water column, normally in the afternoon.