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Freshwater Fishes - Endangered, Threatened or of Special Concern | |
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) classifies listed (imperiled) species in three categories - endangered, threatened and species of special concern. The final report to the US Fish and Wildlife Service on "Florida Imperiled Fish Species Investigation" (1.8 mb PDF file) was submitted in November 2004 by Gray Bass, et al. However, based on changes made to the state listing process in 1999, the protection a listed species gets from the state is based on a management plan - not on the species' classification. The FWC uses well-defined criteria to determine where a species should appear on the list. When the population trends or range of a listed species changes, anyone can petition the FWC to reconsider its classification. If the FWC determines the petition is credible, the agency's seven Commissioners direct their staff to develop a comprehensive biological status report for the species to determine whether reclassification may be warranted. The list is designed to be dynamic and change when situations change. The management plan can change too, but only when the species' needs change. For a current list of threatened species, see the Florida Wildlife Codebook Chapter 68 Section 27. An endangered species is one that is facing impending extinction. If it's not in danger of extinction, it should not be on the endangered species list. The list fosters public awareness, but that doesn't dictate what the state will do to protect the species. The management plan does that, and it's designed according to the individual species' needs. The FWC created the new listing process and management plan requirement in 1999, including a provision to establish a petition procedure, in which anyone can ask the agency to reassess a species' listing. The whole purpose was to make protection and conservation issues focus on habitat protection and other requirements for individual species, rather than impose a single set of regulations for all animals within a particular classification. Protection measures for the endangered Florida panther would not be the same as measures for endangered birds or marine mammals, so the FWC intentionally detached the list from the management plan. In fact, many of the FWC's regulations afford special protection measures for species that are not on the list at all. The following list includes all of the freshwater fishes that are endangered, threatened or of special concern (species whose numbers are adequate but frequently depend on a critical and fragile habitat) in Florida. (Note: Photos on this page were taken by FWC biologists, special thanks to Gray Bass for most of them, or borrowed from the Native Fish Conservancy with the approval of Robert Rice. Drawings are from Duane Raver or the National Marine Fisheries Service, with approval of their web master.) Endangered
Threatened
Species of Special Concern
| Index By Common Name Airbreathing catfish    
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Shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) --Sturgeon are primitivefishes, with a heterocercal tail (the upper lobe is much longer than the lower lobe) like many sharks. The body is covered with 5 rows of large bony plates. These fish have a tube-like mouth located on the underside of the head. The mouth protrudes several inches when the fish is feeding. Shortnose sturgeon range in color from grayish-olive to brownish above, shading to white on the belly. Shortnose sturgeon have wider mouths (inside the lips; the width is greater than 60 percent of the distance between the eyes, while Atlantic sturgeon have small mouths that measure 50 percent or less) and the snout is more U-shaped in the shortnose than in the Atlantic. Shortnose sturgeon are restricted to the east coast of North America, from the St. John River in Canada, to the Indian River in Florida.
Crystal darter (Crystallaria asprella; see also Ammocrypta) --Originally crystal darters existed in the Mississippi River basin from Ohio to Minnesota and south to southern Mississippi, northern Louisiana, southeastern Oklahoma and the Gulf Slope in Escambia, Mobile Bay and Pearl River drainages. However, it is now extirpated from Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois.
Key silverside (Menidia conchorum) --Up to about two inches in length, making them the smallest of the silversides, the key silverside are pelagic and inhabit brackish water areas and ponds of varying salinity in the lower Florida Keys. Often found around black mangroves.
Atlantic sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus) --The Gulf sturgeon is a subspecies of the Atlantic sturgeon. The Gulf Sturgeon is a large fish with an extended snout, vertical mouth, chin barbels. Adults reach 95 inches in length, with adult females larger than males. The skin is scaleless but imbedded with 5 rows of bony plates. They are brown along the back and light colored underneath. Adults are bottom feeders, consuming invertebrates such as, insect larvae, mollusks, worms and crustaceans. Gulf sturgeon mature in the Gulf but reproduce in fresh water, returing to breed in the river where they hatched. Spawning depends on deeper water with clean (rock and rubble) bottoms. Eggs are sticky and adhere in clumps to various clean surfaces. Sexual maturity is reached after at least 8 years for females and 7 years for males. Gulf sturgeon still occur from the Mississippi River to Charlotte Harbor, Florida, their historic range, but are becoming quite rare. Dams have been a major factor in the decline of the Gulf sturgeon by preventing use of upstream areas for spawning. The Gulf sturgeon do not pass through dam and lock systems. Dredging, removal of snags and rocks and spoil deposition associated with channelization further threaten
Lake Eustis pupfish (Cyprinodon variegatus hubbsi)--A freshwater variant (subspecies) of sheepshead minnow. These fishes in general are less than 10 inches long and reside in fresh water, brackish and marine habitats. Although the sheepshead minnow is rather widely dispersed in North and Central America, the subspecies C. v. hubbsi is known from Lake Eustis and five other central Florida lakes.
Saltmarsh topminnow (Fundulus jenkinsi) --The saltmarsh topminnow is one of the smallest topminnows seldom exceeding 1.5-2.0 inches. It is believed the species only lives for one to two years, making this species vulnerable to drastic year class variations and susceptible to local extinctions. Saltmarsh topminnows breed in shallow flooded marshes from the north-central coast of the Gulf of Mexico to western Florida. It is believed that specimens can be found in the Perdido, Escambia, and East Bays of Florida. They are generally associated with salt marshes and brackish water, but can survive in fresh water.
Rivulus (Rivulus marmoratus) --Mangrove rivulus are small fishes generally less than 3 inches in total length, with a dark spot surrounded by yellow ring on side of caudal peduncle, just ahead of upper part of caudal fin base. They inhabit fresh and brackish water and have survived well historically because the population can double in less than 15 months. They are relatively widely distributed in Central and South America. However, the North American population is confined to the eastern coast of Florida (Indian River to Key West). They inhabits shallow, mud-bottomed ditches, bays, salt marshes and other brackish-water environments; and often associate with crab burrows and often in water with low oxygen. Either male or hermaphroditic, females don't seem to exist. Only about 5% of a population are born as males; after 3-4 years about 60% of the (self-fertilizing) hermaphrodites transform into secondary males by losing female structure and function. The proportion of males depends on the environmental temperature. Below 20°C, majority are males, above 25°C all are hermaphrodites. It is the only known naturally occurring, self-fertilizing vertebrate
Southern tessellated darter (Etheostoma olmstedi maculaticeps) --A member of the perch families these fish are generally less than 4.0 to 4.5 inches and found near the bottom of sandy and muddy pools of headwaters, creeks and small to medium rivers; and shores of lakes.
Our mission: Managing fish and wildlife resources for their long-term well-being and the benefit of people.
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