Ash Meadows Speckled Dace

Originally included with the Amargosa speckled dace group in 1893, this subspecies is now referred to as the Ash Meadows speckled dace since it occurs only in the Ash Meadows area of the Amargosa River Basin in southern Nye County following extinction of speckled dace populations now considered to have been a separate species, Rhinichthys deaconi, in the Las Vegas area. Although previously known from at least ten springs and outflows in the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, by 1985 this rare fish was present in only three spring systems. It prefers fast-moving outflows and is omnivorous, feeding primarily on insects and algae. Like other Ash Meadows fishes, it is threatened by habitat modifications and introduction of non-native species such as bullfrogs, crayfish, largemouth bass, and snails.