Banff longnose dace
Encyclopedia
The Banff longnose dace
, Rhinichthys cataractae smithi, was a diminutive (about five cm. long) version of the eastern longnose dace, its range restricted to a small marsh fed by two hot springs on Sulphur Mountain in Banff National Park
in Banff, Alberta
.
The development of a popular thermal swimming pool at the Cave and Basin
eventually led to pollution of the dace's habitat. Deliberate introduction of mosquitofish
in the 1920s was followed by various tropical fish (and aquarium plants) which reproduce year-round in the marsh, while the Banff longnose dace only spawned once a year. The exotic fish also out-competed the dace for food and preyed on unhatched eggs. The few remaining Banff longnose dace hybridized with the Eastern longnose dace from the nearby Bow River. In 1981 a research study showed that the habitat destruction and the introduction of the non-native fish threatened the dace. It is hypothesized that this Banff subspecies' unique genetic structure was irreversibly mixed with another subspecies (termed introgressive hybridization), and by 1986 it had disappeared and was declared extinct in 1987 by COSEWIC. Currently a study is underway to clarify the taxonomic classification of this putative subspecies.
Dace
A dace is any of a number of species of small fish. The unmodified name is usually a reference to the Common Dace . This, like most fishes called "daces", belongs to the family Cyprinidae, mostly in subfamily Leuciscinae....
, Rhinichthys cataractae smithi, was a diminutive (about five cm. long) version of the eastern longnose dace, its range restricted to a small marsh fed by two hot springs on Sulphur Mountain in Banff National Park
Banff National Park
Banff National Park is Canada's oldest national park, established in 1885 in the Rocky Mountains. The park, located 110–180 kilometres west of Calgary in the province of Alberta, encompasses of mountainous terrain, with numerous glaciers and ice fields, dense coniferous forest, and alpine...
in Banff, Alberta
Banff, Alberta
Banff is a town within Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. It is located in Alberta's Rockies along the Trans-Canada Highway, approximately west of Calgary and east of Lake Louise....
.
The development of a popular thermal swimming pool at the Cave and Basin
Cave and Basin National Historic Site
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....
eventually led to pollution of the dace's habitat. Deliberate introduction of mosquitofish
Mosquitofish
The mosquitofish is a species of freshwater fish, also commonly, if ambiguously, known by its generic name, gambusia. It is sometimes called the western mosquitofish, to distinguish it from the eastern mosquitofish . It is a member of the family Poeciliidae of order Cyprinodontiformes...
in the 1920s was followed by various tropical fish (and aquarium plants) which reproduce year-round in the marsh, while the Banff longnose dace only spawned once a year. The exotic fish also out-competed the dace for food and preyed on unhatched eggs. The few remaining Banff longnose dace hybridized with the Eastern longnose dace from the nearby Bow River. In 1981 a research study showed that the habitat destruction and the introduction of the non-native fish threatened the dace. It is hypothesized that this Banff subspecies' unique genetic structure was irreversibly mixed with another subspecies (termed introgressive hybridization), and by 1986 it had disappeared and was declared extinct in 1987 by COSEWIC. Currently a study is underway to clarify the taxonomic classification of this putative subspecies.