The latest news headline from the babbling brooks....
The southern redbelly dace is a small, colorful fish found in scattered locations throughout northwestern Pennsylvania. It is largely an inhabitant of the pools along clear, cold brooks, but has been recorded from only about two dozen streams in the state.
Years
ago, the southern redbelly dace was not considered to be a rare fish in
Pennsylvania, but more recent stream inventories have failed to locate
this species and it appears as though it might have declined for some
unknown reason. Fortunately, just last month, three streams were documented
to harbor populations of this species. As part of WPC's Crawford County
Natural Heritage Inventory, our ecologists worked with wildlife expert
Rob Criswell to carry out more survey work for this species. Two small
streams in the area of Pymatuning Swamp near Hartstown were found to support
this species. Pictured today, is one of Rob's photographs of two males
that were captured during that study.
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