Banff longnose dace

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Banff longnose dace
Drawing of Banff Longnose Dace.png
Drawing of the Banff longnose dace by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans
Status TNC TX.svg
Presumed Extinct  (1987)  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Cyprinidae
Genus: Rhinichthys
Species:
Subspecies:
R. c. smithi
Trinomial name
Rhinichthys cataractae smithi
Nichols, 1916

The Banff longnose dace (Rhinichthys cataractae smithi) was a diminutive subspecies of the longnose dace. Its endemic range was restricted to a small marsh fed by two hot springs at Cave and Basin National Historic Site [2] on Sulphur Mountain in Banff National Park in Banff, Alberta, Canada. [3]

Contents

Taxonomy

A study conducted by Claude B. Renaud and Don E. McAllister of the National Museum of Natural Sciences (now the Canadian Museum of Nature) in Ottawa, and published in 1988, concluded that the Banff longnose dace was a distinct subspecies. [4]

Banff longnose dace may have been more closely related to the eastern longnose dace than the westslope longnose dace, based on factors like modal vertebrae counts and lateral line scale count. [4]

Evolution

Minimally the subspecies may have evolved postglacially from populations that survived glaciation in Southern Alberta or Montana in the upper Missouri drainage basin, and be younger than 9500 BP. [4] Maximally it may have survived the Wisconsin glaciation in a local or larger eastern slope Alberta refugium and be much older. [4]

Etymology

The subspecies is named after the collector Harlan I. Smith, of the Victoria Memorial Museum (now part of the Canadian Museum of Nature) in Ottawa who collected the type specimen on July 21, 1915. [2]

Description

The fish's back was olive black, its sides were light, and the undersides were a silvery-white. [3] [5] When viewed from the side its head was in the shape of a wedge. Adults reached a maximum length of 54 mm, which is smaller than most other populations of longnose dace. [3] [5] They were said to resemble the western longnose dace, but possessed less scales in the lateral line (50-60). [2]

There was a black stripe starting from the tip of the snout and ending near the base of the tail in the fish's young. [3] [5]

Distribution and habitat

This fish's range was limited to an outlet marsh that the Cave and Basin Hotsprings drain into, and that lead into the Bow River. [3] [5]

Vegetation in the marsh was present on the muddy bottom, the water had a slight current, and the water was shallow. [3] The marsh had an average depth of 1 meter, some of the deeper pools could reach 2 meters. [5] Emergent vegetation was present in the shallow areas of the marsh, and submergent vegetation present throughout the marsh. [5] The substrate of the marsh was mud. [5] The pH at the Cave hotspring inflow was 8.5, at the Basin hotspring inflow it reached 9. In the centre it was 8, and reached 9 at the outlet of the Bow River. [5]

Ecology and behaviour

Reproduction

Spawning occurred in May, June, or early July. [3] One parent would guard the nest and a territory would be established. [3] [5] The species would grow very slowly. [3] The dace would breed once a year. [5]

Extinction

The dace has been considered extinct since 1986, and was declared extinct in April 1987 by COSEWIC. [3] This status was re-examined and confirmed in May, 2000. [3] No specimens have been collected since the 1970s. [3]

Decline

The dace was first recorded in the area by ichthyologist Carl H. Eigenmann in 1892, and were noted to be very abundant at the time. [6] The species is recorded by him as "Rhinichthys dulcis" which is a name that refers to the westslope subspecies of longnose dace. [6]

There were still pure Banff longnose dace present in 1925. [4]

In a 1988 study, investigating the taxonomic status of the dace, about 32% of the 1920-40? samples were confidently assignable to the Banff longnose dace. [4] At the most 14% of the 1971-81 samples, from the same 1988 study, were considered to be Banff longnose dace. [4] These results were based on the presence of 48-58 lateral line scales, 6-7 dorsal rays, or both. [4] This study posits that based on these results most of the Banff longnose dace were either extirpated or hybridized between the years of 1925-1971. [4]

A collection survey conducted, on behest of Don E. McAllister, in a marsh below the hotsprings on June 1, 1968 did not report any Banff longnose dace. [7]

Don E. McAllister suggests in a 1970 publication that the Banff longnose dace may be extinct, and posits the cause as the introduction of tropical fish. [8]

Don E. McAllister and Charles G. Gruchy remark that the dace is still surviving in 1971. [9]

Jacqueline Lanteigne states in a 1988 publication that the dace is considered extinct. [5]

Causes

Habitat Degradation and Alteration

The development of a popular thermal swimming pool at the Cave and Basin National Historic Site eventually led to chlorine leakage into the dace's habitat. [10] Human waste from heavy usage of the springs, coupled with a lack of adequate treatment facilities, may have had a negative impact on the dace's habitat. [4] De-icing salt and pesticides may have also been pollutants. [4] Hotspring flow may have been altered during construction, repair, cleaning, and filling of the baths. [4] Reductions or stoppages of flow may have caused sudden alterations of temperature, lowering water levels, stranding eggs, or stranding young and adults. [4]

Construction of a beaver dam at the end of the marsh may have also obstructed the dace's movement. [3] The dam was supposedly built after 1918. [4]

Introduced Species

Deliberate introduction of western mosquitofish for mosquito control in 1924 [7] was followed by the release of various tropical fish including the sailfin molly, green swordtail, angelfish, guppies, zebra cichlid, Siamese fighting fish, blue gourami, and African jewelfish [11] [4] (and aquarium plants). [7] Non-tropical fish like brook trout were also introduced. [4] Results and enquiries made during a collection survey done on June 1, 1968 suggested that the introduction of tropical species, other than the mosquitofish, may have occurred from 1958-1967. [7] The introduced exotic fish competed with the dace for food, nesting sites, and preyed on unhatched eggs. [3] [5] The introduction of these species may have also introduced diseases and parasites that the dace were not previously exposed to. [4] The introduced species also bred more often than the dace, increasing their numbers at a faster rate. [5]

Hybridization

A 1988 study presented evidence that Banff longnose dace had hybridized with eastern longnose dace from the nearby Bow River, and by the time of the study few if any unhybridized individuals of the original Banff subspecies remained. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Rhinichthys</i> Genus of fishes

Rhinichthys, known as the riffle daces, is a genus of freshwater fish in the carp family (Cyprinidae) of the order Cypriniformes. The type species is Rhinichthys atratulus, the blacknose dace. Rhinichthys species range throughout North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sulphur Mountain (Alberta)</span> Mountain in Canada

Sulphur Mountain is a mountain in Banff National Park in the Canadian Rocky Mountains overlooking the town of Banff, Alberta, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Deer River</span> River in Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada

The Red Deer River is a river in Alberta and a small portion of Saskatchewan, Canada. It is a major tributary of the South Saskatchewan River and is part of the larger Saskatchewan / Nelson system that empties into Hudson Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Longnose dace</span> Species of fish

The longnose dace is a freshwater minnow native to North America. Rhinicthys means snout fish and cataractae means of the cataract. Longnose dace are small, typically less than 100 mm and characterized by their fleshy snout that protrudes past the mouth. They are well adapted for living on the bottom of fast-flowing streams among stones. Longnose dace eat algae and aquatic insects and are important forage minnows for larger predatory fish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cave and Basin National Historic Site</span> Historic site in Banff, Alberta, Canada

The Cave and Basin National Historic Site of Canada is located in the town of Banff, Alberta, within the Canadian Rocky Mountains, at the site of natural thermal mineral springs around which Canada's first national park, Banff National Park, was established.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speckled dace</span> Species of fish

The speckled dace, also known as the spotted dace and the carpita pinta, is a member of the minnow family. It is found in temperate freshwater in North America, from Sonora, Mexico, to British Columbia, Canada.

The Nooksack dace is a small cyprinid fish occurring in streams in southern British Columbia and western Washington state. It has not yet been formally described taxonomically. It is considered a genetically distinct subspecies of longnose dace but may be a distinct species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern blacknose dace</span> Species of fish

Eastern blacknose dace is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Rhinichthys. Its name originates from the Old French word "dars" which is the nominative form of the word "dart" in reference to their swimming pattern. The western blacknose dace formerly was considered conspecific. While morphologically the two species are not significantly different, they are allopatric. The eastern blacknose dace is found across the southeast portion of Canada and down along the United States' east coast. It is dark brown to olive on its dorsal surface and silvery white below, the two shades separated by the darkly pigmented lateral line. In the breeding season, males develop darker pigmentation and an orange lateral line. Blacknose dace live in rocky streams and rivers where they feed upon small invertebrates and microscopic biological matter and provide forage for larger fish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheat minnow</span> Species of fish

The cheat minnow is a demersal, freshwater fish endemic to the United States, most commonly found in the Ohio River basin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Redtail chub</span> Species of fish

The redtail chub is a freshwater fish found in the U.S. states of Tennessee and Kentucky.

The river chub is a minnow in the family Cyprinidae. It is one of the most common fishes in North American streams.

<i>Strophitus undulatus</i> Species of bivalve

Strophitus undulatus is a species of mussel in the Unionidae, the river mussels. It is native to eastern Canada and the eastern United States. Its common names include creeper, squawfoot, sloughfoot, and strange floater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kendall Warm Springs dace</span> Speckled minnow endemic to Wyoming

The Kendall Warm Springs dace is a speckled minnow subspecies of the speckled dace endemic to the Kendall Warm Springs in Wyoming; the only fish to inhabit the temperate freshwaters. Adults often only reach 2 inches in length. The fish was originally designated as a subspecies due to its distinct morphological features from other Rhinichthys osculus, which arose from its isolation in the Kendall Warm Springs within which lies its only habitat. The springs can be located in Western Wyoming within the Bridger-Teton National Forest at an elevation of 7,800 feet.

References

  1. "Rhinichthys cataractae smithi". NatureServe Explorer An online encyclopedia of life. 7.1. NatureServe. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Nichols, John T. (John Treadwell); Smith, Harlan Ingersoll (1916). "On a new race of minnow from the Rocky Mountains Park. Bulletin of the AMNH ; v. 35, article 8". Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 35 (8): 69. Archived from the original on 2020-05-09.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Banff Longnose Dace (Rhinichthys cataractae smithi)". Species at risk public registry. Government of Canada. 2019-09-24. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Renaud, Claude B.; McAllister, Don E. (1988-09-01). "Taxonomic status of the extinct Banff longnose dace, Rhinichthys cataractae smithi, of Banff National Park, Alberta". Environmental Biology of Fishes. 23 (1): 95–114. doi:10.1007/BF00000740. ISSN   1573-5133.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Lanteigne, Jacqueline (1988). "Status of the Banff Longnose Dace, Rhinichthys cataractae smithi, in Canada". The Canadian field-naturalist. 102 (1): 170––176. doi: 10.5962/p.356523 .
  6. 1 2 Eigenmann, Carl H.; Eigenmann, Carl H. (1894). Results of explorations in western Canada and the northwestern United States. Washington: G.P.O. ISBN   978-0-665-06612-2. Archived from the original on 2009-03-25.
  7. 1 2 3 4 McAllister, Don E.; McAllister, Don E. (1969). "Introduction of Tropical Fishes into a Hotspring near Banff, Alberta". The Canadian field-naturalist. 83 (1): 31––35. doi: 10.5962/p.364067 .
  8. McAllister, Don E.; McAllister, Don E. (1970). "Rare or Endangered Canadian Fishes". The Canadian field-naturalist. 84 (1): 5––8. doi: 10.5962/p.342913 .
  9. Theodore Mosquin, Cecile Suchal (1977). Canada’s Threatened Species and Habitats : Proceedings of the Symposium on Canada’s Threatened Species and Habitats : Co-Sponsored by the Canadian Nature Federation and the World Wildlife Fund (Canada), Held in Ottawa, May 20-24, 1976. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Nature Federation. pp. 151–157.
  10. "Canadian Biodiversity: Species: Species at risk: Banff Longnose Dace". canadianbiodiversity.mcgill.ca. Retrieved 2024-12-27.
  11. "Focus on fisheries management - Focus on fisheries management - Open Government". open.alberta.ca. Retrieved 2024-12-27.