Rio Grande silvery minnow

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Rio Grande silvery minnow
Rio Grande silvery minnow 2.jpg
Status TNC G1.svg
Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe) [2]
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Cyprinidae
Subfamily: Leuciscinae
Clade: Pogonichthyinae
Genus: Hybognathus
Species:
H. amarus
Binomial name
Hybognathus amarus
(Girard, 1856)
Synonyms
  • Algoma amaraGirard, 1856
  • Algoma fluviatilisGirard, 1856

The Rio Grande silvery minnow or Rio Grande minnow (Hybognathus amarus) is a small herbivorous North American fish. It is one of the seven North American members of the genus Hybognathus , in the cyprinid family.

Contents

The Rio Grande silvery minnow is one of the most endangered fish in North America, according to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). They were classified as endangered in the U.S. in 1994, and now are found in less than 5 percent of their natural habitat in the Rio Grande. Historically, the minnow was found from Española, New Mexico, to the Gulf of Mexico in Texas. Now it can only be seen between Cochiti Dam and Elephant Butte Reservoir.they can also be found in a small pond in North Carolina

Description

It is a stout silvery minnow with moderately small eyes and a small mouth. Adults may reach 3.5 inches (89 mm) in total length. [3]

Diet and behavior

Rio Grande silvery minnows are herbivores whose diet is believed to consist of river plants and benthic macroinvertabrates, though there is little research into their diet due to the difficulty of getting into their stomachs. [4] They play a role in keeping water clean by eating bad algae.[ clarification needed ]

Silvery minnows tend to skim the bottom of rivers and stream, and are prolific spawners. They serve as food source for other animals. [5]

Reproduction

The Rio Grande Silvery Minnow's eggs hatch in about 24 hours into larvae that can swim in just 3 to 4 days. It is no surprise that a species so programmed for survival once dominated a biological niche that spanned 3,000 meandering miles (4,825 kilometers) from New Mexico to Texas. [6]

Classification under the Endangered Species Act

The Rio Grande silvery minnow was first listed on July 20, 1994. It is currently designated as Endangered in the Entire Range. [7] The population decline of the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow has been almost directly proportional to recent alterations to the Rio Grande over the past century. There have been multiple diversions for municipal and agricultural use; alteration of the natural hydrograph (no spring runoff to cue spawning); habitat degradation from river narrowing and canalization; and construction of diversion dams which prevent migration. [8] Even with the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow’s listing in 1994, its population has continued to drop at a great rate. The minnow now numbers way below its 1994 population, and is found in only 5 percent of its former habitat.

Alterations of the Rio Grande include not only the modification of the flow of water by dams and channels but also the unintentional polluting of the quality of the water. This pollution can be originated from many factors, the major ones being, effluents by the military and industrial companies as well as wastewater from cities and nearby towns. [9]

Restoration efforts

In 2000, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service initiated a silvery minnow egg salvage pilot project. Biologists from the Service, Bureau of Reclamation, and University of New Mexico collect minnow eggs as well as reproductively-ready adult minnows near Elephant Butte, where these efforts do not disturb upstream populations. Captured adult minnows are induced to spawn, either at the Albuquerque Biological Park or the Service's New Mexico Fishery Resources Office. Biologists then either return the resulting fish to the Rio Grande or hold them for captive propagation. [7]

The silvery minnow refugium

as taken from the Van H. Gilbert Architect PC official page: [10]

Van H. Gilbert Architect PC, in association with FishPro, developed conceptual and final design for a naturalized refugium for propagation of the endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow at the City of Albuquerque's Biological Park. The facility consists of a 50,000 gallon outdoor refugium as well as a 3,500 SF building with tiers of aquarium tanks that contain tens of thousands of baby minnows, each no more than a sixth of an inch long. The donut-shaped outdoor pond varies in depth from about one inch to two feet. Pumps control the current to mimic the natural flows of the Rio Grande. The bottom surface is a mixture of sand, gravel and silt. The breeding goal of the $1.7 million facility was to produce 50,000 minnows this year - with 25,000 minnows to be returned to the river and 25,000 to be retained for future captive spawning. The actual numbers are much higher. This project is the recipient of the Association of Conservation Engineers 2003 Award of Excellence (top honor/national design award) and the Best Civil/Infrastructure New Mexico Project for the Best of 2003 Awards from Southwest Contractor magazine.

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<i>Hybognathus</i> Genus of fishes

Hybognathus is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. Its members are collectively known as the silvery minnows. Hybognathus are pelagophils that are native to North America. The populations of such pelagophils, including species of Hybognathus, continue to decrease in their natural habitats.

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The plains minnow is one of the 324 fish species found in central United States. It is a large minnow that was once a common bait fish. The plains minnow requires shallow, slow-moving streams to complete its life cycle. Pollution, dams, and introduced sport fish have caused populations to decline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District</span>

The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD) was formed in 1925 to manage the irrigation systems and control floods in the Albuquerque Basin. It is responsible for the stretch of river from the Cochiti Dam in Sandoval County in the north, through Bernalillo County, Valencia County and Socorro County to the Elephant Butte Reservoir in the south. It manages the Angostura, Isleta and San Acacia diversion dams, which feed an extensive network of irrigation canals and ditches.

The San Acacia Diversion Dam is a structure built in 1934 for the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD) near to San Acacia, New Mexico, United States. It diverts water from the Rio Grande into irrigation canals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isleta Diversion Dam</span> Dam in near Isleta, New Mexico

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<i>Rio Grande Silvery Minnow v. Bureau of Reclamation</i> Supreme Court case

Rio Grande Silvery Minnow v. Bureau of Reclamation, called Rio Grande Silvery Minnow v. Keys in its earlier phases, was a case launched in 1999 by a group of environmentalists against the United States Bureau of Reclamation and the United States Army Corps of Engineers alleging violations of the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. The case resulted in significant changes to water and river management in the Middle Rio Grande Basin of New Mexico in an effort to reverse the damage that had been done to the habitat of two endangered species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rio Grande sucker</span> Species of fish

The Rio Grande sucker is a North American freshwater fish in the family Catostomidae. It has a typical bottom-feeding phenotype and fills lower trophic levels alongside Rio Grande cutthroat trout and Rio Grande chub species. It is smaller sized in comparison to its other family members, with females being the larger between sexes. Coloration tends to benefit the species due to counter-shading patterns. It is endemic to the Rio Grande basin and was once common throughout. The species has maintained a population in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Northern Mexico, but has faced challenges from the pressure of non-native species, habitat loss, degradation, and a variety of other aquatic ecosystem changes. There is current pressure from environmental organizations to federally list the species as threatened or endangered.

References

  1. Hendrickson, D.; NatureServe (2019). "Hybognathus amarus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2019: e.T10277A131004813. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T10277A131004813.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. "Hybognathus amarus". NatureServe Explorer An online encyclopedia of life. 7.1. NatureServe. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-26. Retrieved 2022-02-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. Hugo A Magana (2009). "Feeding Preference of the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow (Hybognathus amarus)" . Reviews in Fisheries Science. 17 (4). Reviews in Fish Science: 468–477. doi:10.1080/10641260902985096. S2CID   85768265 . Retrieved 2018-09-16.
  5. "Environmental Science Field Guide to New Mexico Page Author: Ashley Kirkpatrick". Archived from the original on 2012-02-05. Retrieved 2007-01-17.
  6. "Forest Service Endangered Species Bulletin on the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 January 2007.
  7. 1 2 "US Fish and Wildlife Service Page on the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow". Archived from the original on 8 December 2006.
  8. Forest Guardian's Page on the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow
  9. Bestgen, K.R. and Platania, S.P. 1991. Status and conservation of the Rio Grande silvery minnow, Hybognathus amarus. Southwestern Naturalist 36: 225-232.
  10. http://www.vhgarchitect.com/projects/ABQSilveryMinnow/ABQSilveryMinnow.htm The Van H. Gilbert Architect PC page on the Silvery Minnow Refugium