The Long Valley Speckled Dace is a small desert fish native to the Long Valley Caldera in the Eastern Sierras of California. The fish are often less than three inches long and have adapted to life in warm springs due to the volcanic activity in the region.

The spotted dace subspecies used to live in about seven locations in the valley. Now there is only one wild population in Whitmore Marsh near the town of Mammoth Lakes. There is also a population that was brought into the Inyo National Forest from a protected area in Bishop and is being monitored.

Nathan Hurner

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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The FWS said the fish is endangered due to several threats that are reducing population sizes, including disease, invasive fish species, recreational activities, geothermal use and climate change. However, they are unsure which of these threats is the primary cause.

“One of the main indicators that these impacts were playing a negative role was that Long Valley Speckled Dace populations had declined from these seven historic sites in the Long Valley Caldera to just one population in Whitmore,” said Sam Luginbuhl, a fish and wildlife biologist with the FWS office in Reno.

She said subspecies are important for conservation because they help maintain biodiversity and can reveal historical patterns of movement in populations. She added that the fish is also unique in terms of its habitat.

“It’s a really pretty little fish that lives in a kind of geothermal water where not many other fish thrive,” Luginbuhl said.

According to Luginbuhl, the 60 days public comment period is important to gain new insights into the fish, especially because the subspecies has not yet been very well researched. The comment period ends on October 7, 2024.

Sydney Peerman is a student reporter for KUNR and the Hitchcock Project for Visualizing Science, part of the Reynolds School of Journalism.