Service Proposes to Protect the Spring Pygmy Sunfish and Designate Critical Habitat under the Endangered Species Act

Current evidence suggests that the spring pygmy sunfish may become threatened with extinction in the foreseeable future, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today. As a result, the Service has proposed to protect the species under the Endangered Species Act, and is seeking new information from the public and the scientific community that will assist the agency in making a final determination.

The spring pygmy sunfish is a spring-associated fish which has a restricted range and is currently only found in a single spring system (Beaverdam Spring/Creek) in the Tennessee River drainage in Limestone County, Alabama.