Abstract
Species recovery efforts generally focus on in situ actions such as habitat protection. However, captive breeding can also provide critical life history information, as well as helping supplement existing or restoring extirpated populations. We have successfully propagated nine species in captivity, including blackside dace, spotfin chubs, bloodfin darters, and boulder darters. Threatened blackside dace, Phoxinus cumberlandensis, were induced to spawn in laboratory aquaria by exposing them to milt from a reproductively mature male stoneroller, Campostoma anomalum or river chub, Nocomis micropogon. The latter are nest-building minnows, with which Phoxinus may spawn in nature. Eggs are broadcast among gravel and pebbles. Blackside dace individuals reared in captivity were used for translocation. Threatened spotfin chubs, Cyprinella monacha, fractional crevice spawners, deposited eggs in laboratory aquaria in the spaces created between stacks of ceramic tiles. Captively produced spotfin chubs were used as part of a larger stream restoration and fish reintroduction project in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The bloodfin darter, Etheostoma sanguifluum, was first used as a surrogate to develop techniques for spawning a closely related species, the endangered boulder darter, E. wapiti. Both darter species mated in a wedge created between two ceramic tiles. Our efforts have had variable but generally high success, with survival rates of 50–90% of eggs deposited. Captive production of nongame fishes can aid recovery of rare species or populations, aid in watershed restoration, and can help to refine water quality standards. In addition, captive breeding allows discovery of important behavioral or life history characteristics that may constrain reproduction of rare species in altered natural habitats.
Similar content being viewed by others
References cited
Biggins, R.G. 1987. Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants; determination of threatened status for the blackside dace. Fed. Reg. 52: 22580-22584.
Biggins, R.G. 1988. Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants; determination of threatened status for the boulder darter. Fed. Reg. 53: 33996-33998.
Burkhead, N.M. & R.E. Jenkins. 1991. Fishes. pp. 321-410. In: K. Terwilliger (coordinator) Virginia's Endangered Species, McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company, Blacksburg. 672 pp.
Burr, B.M. & M.L. Warren, Jr. 1986. A distributional atlas of Kentucky fishes. Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission Scientific and Technical Series No. 4, Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission, Frankfort. 399 pp.
Cicerello, R.R. & E.L. Laudermilk. 1996. Nesting association of the cyprinid fishes Phoxinus cumberlandensisand Semotilus atromaculatus(Cyprinidae). Trans. KY Acad. Sci. 57: 47-48.
Etnier, D.A. 1994. Our southeastern fishes —-what have we lost and what are we likely to lose. S.E. Fish. Council Proc. 29: 5-9.
Etnier, D.A. & W.C. Starnes. 1993. The fishes of Tennessee. The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville. 681 pp.
Etnier, D.A. & J.D. Williams. 1989. Etheostoma (Nothonotus) wapiti(Osteichthyes: Percidae), a new darter from the southern bend of the Tennessee River system in Alabama and Tennessee. Proc. Biol. Soc. WA 102: 987-1000.
Freeman, B.J. & M.C. Freeman. 1994. Habitat use by an endangered riverine fish and implications for species protection. Ecol. Freshw. Fish. 3: 49-58.
Gale, W.F. 1986. Indeterminate fecundity and spawning behavior of captive red shiners —-fractional, crevice spawners. Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc. 115: 429-437.
Jandebeur, T.S. 1982. A status report on the spring pygmy sunfish, Elassomasp., in northcentral Alabama. Assoc. S.E. Biol. Bull. 29: 66.
Jenkins, R.E. & N.M. Burkhead. 1984. Description, biology and distribution of the spotfin chub, Hybopsis monacha, a threatened cyprinid fish of the Tennessee River drainage. Bull. AL Mus. Nat. Hist. 8: 1-30.
Jenkins, R.E. & N.M. Burkhead. 1993. Freshwater fishes of Virginia. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda. 1080 pp.
Johnston, C.E. 1991. Spawning activities of Notropis chlorocephalus, Notropis chiliticus, and Hybopsis hypsinotus, nest associates of Nocomis leptocephalusin the southeastern United States, with comments on nest association (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae). Brimleyana 17: 77-88.
Johnston, C.E. 1994a. The benefit to some minnows of spawning in the nests of other species. Env. Biol. Fish. 40: 213-218.
Johnston, C.E. 1994b. Nest association in fishes: evidence for mutualism. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 35: 379-383.
Johnston, C.E. & J.R. Shute. 1997. Spawning behavior of the blue shiner (Cyprinella caerulea) and the holiday darter (Etheostoma brevirostrum), two rare fishes of the Conasauga River, Georgia and Tennessee. S.E. Fish. Council Proc. 35: 1-2.
Johnston, C.E. 1999. The relationship of spawning mode to conservation of North American minnows (Cyprinidae). Env. Biol. Fish. 55: 21-30.
Mayden, R.L. 1992. An emerging revolution in comparative biology and the evolution of North American freshwater fishes. pp. 864-890. In: R.L. Mayden (ed.) Systematics, Historical Ecology, and North American Freshwater Fishes, Stanford University Press, Stanford.
Mayden, R.L. 1993. Elassoma alabamae, a new species of pygmy sunfish endemic to the Tennessee River drainage of Alabama (Teleostei: Elassomatidae). Bull. AL Mus. Nat. Hist. 16: 1-14.
Meffe, G.K. 1987. Conserving fish genomes: philosophies and practices. Env. Biol. Fish. 18: 3-9.
Meffe, G.K. & R.C. Vrijenhoek. 1988. Conservation genetics and management of desert fishes. Cons. Biol. 2: 157-169.
Noss, R.F. 1994. Hierarchical indicators for monitoring changes in biodiversity: various spatial and temporal scales. pp. 79-80. In: G.K. Meffe & C.R. Carroll (ed.) Principles of Conservation Biology, Sinauer Associates, Sunderland.
O'Bara, C.J. 1990. Distribution and ecology of the blackside dace, Phoxinus cumberlandensis(Osteichthyes: Cyprinidae). Brimleyana 16: 9-15.
Page, L.M., M.E. Retzer & R.A. Stiles. 1982. Spawning behavior in seven species of darters (Pisces: Percidae). Brimleyana 8: 135-143.
Pister, E.P. 1999. Professional obligations in the conservation of fishes. Env. Biol. Fish. 55: 13-20.
Raven, P.H. 1992. A 50-year plan for biodiversity surveys. Science 258: 1099-1110.
Rice, R. 1996. Keeping the southern redbelly dace (Phoxinus erythrogaster). Tropical Fish Hobbyist 45 (November 1996): 156-160.
Simbeck, D.J. 1990. Distribution of fishes of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. M.S. Thesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. 128 pp.
Snyder, F.L. 1993. An egg transfer device for pond culture of spotfin shiners. Progr. Fish-Cult. 55: 128-130.
Starnes, W.C. & L.B. Starnes. 1978a. Status report on a new and threatened species of Phoxinusfrom the upper Cumberland drainage. S.E. Fish. Council Proc. 2: 1-3.
Starnes, W.C. & L.B. Starnes. 1978b. A new cyprinid of the genus Phoxinusendemic to the Upper Cumberland River Drainage. Copeia 1978: 508-516.
Starnes, W.C. & L.B. Starnes. 1981. Biology of the blackside dace, Phoxinus cumberlandensis. Amer. Midl. Nat. 106: 360-370.
Tear, T.H., J.M. Scott, P.H. Haywood & B. Griffith. 1995. Recovery plans and the Endangered Species Act: are criticisms supported by data? Cons. Biol. 9: 182-195.
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service 1977. Endangered and threatened wildlife and plants; final threatened status and critical habitat for five species of southeastern fishes. Fed. Reg. 42: 45526-45530.
Vives, S.P. 1993. Choice of spawning substrate in red shiner with comments on crevice spawning in Cyprinella. Copeia 1993: 229-232.
Warren, M.L., Jr. & B.M. Burr. 1994. Status of freshwater fishes of the United States: overview of an imperiled fauna. Fisheries 19(1): 6-18.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rakes, P.L., Shute, J.R. & Shute, P.W. Reproductive Behavior, Captive Breeding, and Restoration Ecology of Endangered Fishes. Environmental Biology of Fishes 55, 31–42 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007531927209
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007531927209