Blog: Hiding in plain sight – newly described freshwater fishes from the Los Angeles area and elsewhere in California
This blog is an announcement that the Santa Ana Speckled Dace exists, and now has an official name, which includes its new scientific name, Rhinichthys gabrielino (Moyle et al. 2023). Rhin-ichthys means “snout-fish” while gabielino honors the native peoples who lived comfortably with Santa Ana Speckled Dace for thousands of years. Today this fish is missing from about half its historic habitats in the Los Angeles, San Gabriel, and Santa Ana rivers [see map below]. Because it now has an official name, it is more likely to gain the attention of conservation agencies, much like the Santa Ana Sucker (Pantoseus santannae), which is listed as a Threatened species under state and federal Endangered Species Acts. … Moyle et al. (2023) used genomic (DNA) analyses as a major basis for providing, not only a name for Santa Ana Speckled Dace, but for all dace populations in California.