Clear Lake splittail

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Clear Lake splittail
Conservation status
Extinct (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Cypriniformes Family: Cyprinidae Genus: Pogonichthys Species: P. ciscoides
Binomial name
Pogonichthys ciscoides Hopkirk, 1974

The Clear Lake Splittail (Pogonichthys ciscoides) was endemic to California's Clear Lake and its tributaries until its numbers severely declined due to competition from the introduced bluegill and alterations to the flow of inlet streams. In greatly reduced numbers, the Clear Lake Splittail barely persisted until the 1967 introduction to surrounding lakes of the Inland Silverside as an experiment by the Department of Fish & Game. A fisherman supposedly introduced the silverside via bait bucket into Clear Lake. This dealt the final blow to the Clear Lake Splittail, which had similar feeding habits. No Clear Lake Splittails have been captured since the early 70s, and the species is presumed to be extinct.

[edit] References

• World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1996). Pogonichthys ciscoides. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006.
• Pogonichthys ciscoides (TSN 163602). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved on 30 January 2006.
• "Pogonichthys ciscoides". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. 10 2005 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2005.