Discovery of a New Population of Devils River Minnow (Dionda Diaboli), With Implications for Conservation of the Species

Response of Devils River minnow and other fish in Pinto Creek, Kinney County, Texas during a severe drought

“…In contrast to Garrett et al (2004), adult D. diaboli densities in Pinto Creek were quite low, suggesting declines in relative and absolute abundance. By the end of the study, most of our sample sites were dry and no D. diaboli could be found in the remaining pools despite high detection probability.…”

“…By the end of the study, most of our sample sites were dry and no D. diaboli could be found in the remaining pools despite high detection probability. Garrett et al (2004) found that D. diaboli were the thirdmost abundant species (10%) in the section of Pinto Creek upstream of the Texas State Highway 90 bridge, after Mexican tetra (A. mexicanus) and Tex-Mex gambusia (G. speciosa). In contrast, we found that D. diaboli adults were only 1% of the sample.…”

“…The study by Kollaus and Bonner (2012) indicates less dependence on flowing water, which may be critical for persistence during drought. Aside from temperature and flow, other water-quality needs have been noted but poorly explored (Edwards, 2003;Robertson and Winemiller, 2003;Garrett et al, 2004;Phillips et al, 2011;Kollaus and Bonner, 2012).…”

Habitat associations of a semi-arid fish community in a karst spring-fed stream

“…Among larger karst streams, regionally endemic fishes are generally concentrated in the stenothermal, headwater sections of streams, whereas fishes with more ubiquitous distributions are generally concentrated in the more abiotically variable, downstream sections of streams (Hubbs, 1995). Because of their limited distributions in or near a spring source, these regionally endemic fishes are often described as spring-associated; however, exact factors leading to their restricted range as well as their segregation with riverine taxa remain unclear (Garrett et al, 2004). Several biotic (e.g., competition, fecundity) and abiotic (e.g., temperature, salinity, stream order, stream gradient) factors are hypothesized to regulate fish distributions and segregation among fish assemblages (Garrett et al, 2004;Gido et al, 1999;Ingersoll and Claussen, 1984;Taylor and Lienesch, 1996).…”

“…Because of their limited distributions in or near a spring source, these regionally endemic fishes are often described as spring-associated; however, exact factors leading to their restricted range as well as their segregation with riverine taxa remain unclear (Garrett et al, 2004). Several biotic (e.g., competition, fecundity) and abiotic (e.g., temperature, salinity, stream order, stream gradient) factors are hypothesized to regulate fish distributions and segregation among fish assemblages (Garrett et al, 2004;Gido et al, 1999;Ingersoll and Claussen, 1984;Taylor and Lienesch, 1996). Among abiotic factors, constant temperature is most often identified as the explanatory variable of fish assemblage segregation in larger karst streams (Bonner et al, 1998;Gehlbach et al, 1978;Hubbs, 2001).…”