Accessibility Statement Skip Navigation
  • Why PRWeb
  • How It Works
  • Who Uses It
  • Pricing
  • Login
  • GDPR
  • Create a Free Account
Return to PRWeb homepage
  • News
  • Resources
  • Contact
When typing in this field, a list of search results will appear and be automatically updated as you type.

Searching for your content...

No results found. Please change your search terms and try again.
  • News in Focus
      • Browse News Releases

      • All News Releases
      • Multimedia Gallery

      • All Multimedia
      • All Photos
      • All Videos
  • Business & Money
      • Auto & Transportation

      • Aerospace, Defense
      • Air Freight
      • Airlines & Aviation
      • Automotive
      • Maritime & Shipbuilding
      • Railroads and Intermodal Transportation
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Transportation, Trucking & Railroad
      • Travel
      • Trucking and Road Transportation
      • View All Auto & Transportation

      • Business Technology

      • Blockchain
      • Broadcast Tech
      • Computer & Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Components
      • Electronic Design Automation
      • Financial Technology
      • High Tech Security
      • Internet Technology
      • Nanotechnology
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Semiconductors
      • View All Business Technology

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Financial Services & Investing

      • Accounting News & Issues
      • Acquisitions, Mergers and Takeovers
      • Banking & Financial Services
      • Bankruptcy
      • Bond & Stock Ratings
      • Conference Call Announcements
      • Contracts
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Dividends
      • Earnings
      • Earnings Forecasts & Projections
      • Financing Agreements
      • Insurance
      • Investments Opinions
      • Joint Ventures
      • Mutual Funds
      • Private Placement
      • Real Estate
      • Restructuring & Recapitalization
      • Sales Reports
      • Shareholder Activism
      • Shareholder Meetings
      • Stock Offering
      • Stock Split
      • Venture Capital
      • View All Financial Services & Investing

      • General Business

      • Awards
      • Commercial Real Estate
      • Corporate Expansion
      • Earnings
      • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
      • Human Resource & Workforce Management
      • Licensing
      • New Products & Services
      • Obituaries
      • Outsourcing Businesses
      • Overseas Real Estate (non-US)
      • Personnel Announcements
      • Real Estate Transactions
      • Residential Real Estate
      • Small Business Services
      • Socially Responsible Investing
      • Surveys, Polls and Research
      • Trade Show News
      • View All General Business

  • Science & Tech
      • Consumer Technology

      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Blockchain
      • Cloud Computing/Internet of Things
      • Computer Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Consumer Electronics
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Gaming
      • Financial Technology
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Multimedia & Internet
      • Peripherals
      • Social Media
      • STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math)
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Consumer Technology

      • Energy & Natural Resources

      • Alternative Energies
      • Chemical
      • Electrical Utilities
      • Gas
      • General Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Oil & Energy
      • Oil and Gas Discoveries
      • Utilities
      • Water Utilities
      • View All Energy & Natural Resources

      • Environ­ment

      • Conservation & Recycling
      • Environmental Issues
      • Environmental Policy
      • Environmental Products & Services
      • Green Technology
      • Natural Disasters
      • View All Environ­ment

      • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Aerospace & Defense
      • Agriculture
      • Chemical
      • Construction & Building
      • General Manufacturing
      • HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning)
      • Machinery
      • Machine Tools, Metalworking and Metallurgy
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Paper, Forest Products & Containers
      • Precious Metals
      • Textiles
      • Tobacco
      • View All Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Telecomm­unications

      • Carriers and Services
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Telecommunications Equipment
      • Telecommunications Industry
      • VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Telecomm­unications

  • Lifestyle & Health
      • Consumer Products & Retail

      • Animals & Pets
      • Beers, Wines and Spirits
      • Beverages
      • Bridal Services
      • Cannabis
      • Cosmetics and Personal Care
      • Fashion
      • Food & Beverages
      • Furniture and Furnishings
      • Home Improvement
      • Household, Consumer & Cosmetics
      • Household Products
      • Jewelry
      • Non-Alcoholic Beverages
      • Office Products
      • Organic Food
      • Product Recalls
      • Restaurants
      • Retail
      • Supermarkets
      • Toys
      • View All Consumer Products & Retail

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Health

      • Biometrics
      • Biotechnology
      • Clinical Trials & Medical Discoveries
      • Dentistry
      • FDA Approval
      • Fitness/Wellness
      • Health Care & Hospitals
      • Health Insurance
      • Infection Control
      • International Medical Approval
      • Medical Equipment
      • Medical Pharmaceuticals
      • Mental Health
      • Pharmaceuticals
      • Supplementary Medicine
      • View All Health

      • Sports

      • General Sports
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Sporting Events
      • Sports Equipment & Accessories
      • View All Sports

      • Travel

      • Amusement Parks and Tourist Attractions
      • Gambling & Casinos
      • Hotels and Resorts
      • Leisure & Tourism
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Passenger Aviation
      • Travel Industry
      • View All Travel

  • Policy & Public Interest
      • Policy & Public Interest

      • Advocacy Group Opinion
      • Animal Welfare
      • Congressional & Presidential Campaigns
      • Corporate Social Responsibility
      • Domestic Policy
      • Economic News, Trends, Analysis
      • Education
      • Environmental
      • European Government
      • FDA Approval
      • Federal and State Legislation
      • Federal Executive Branch & Agency
      • Foreign Policy & International Affairs
      • Homeland Security
      • Labor & Union
      • Legal Issues
      • Natural Disasters
      • Not For Profit
      • Patent Law
      • Public Safety
      • Trade Policy
      • U.S. State Policy
      • View All Policy & Public Interest

  • People & Culture
      • People & Culture

      • Aboriginal, First Nations & Native American
      • African American
      • Asian American
      • Children
      • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
      • Hispanic
      • Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual
      • Men's Interest
      • People with Disabilities
      • Religion
      • Senior Citizens
      • Veterans
      • Women
      • View All People & Culture

  • Hamburger menu
  • Cision PRWeb provides efficient communication tools to continuously engage with target audiences across multiple online channels
  • Create a Free Account
    • ALL CONTACT INFO
    • Contact Us


      11AM ET Sunday – 8PM ET Friday

  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • News in Focus
    • Browse All News
    • Multimedia Gallery
  • Business & Money
    • Auto & Transportation
    • Business Technology
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Financial Services & Investing
    • General Business
  • Science & Tech
    • Consumer Technology
    • Energy & Natural Resources
    • Environ­ment
    • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing
    • Telecomm­unications
  • Lifestyle & Health
    • Consumer Products & Retail
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Health
    • Sports
    • Travel
  • Policy & Public Interest
  • People & Culture
    • People & Culture
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR

First endangered Barrens Topminnows raised through aquarium collaboration returned to the wild

Scientists with the Tennessee Aquarium have forged a new partnership with the Shedd Aquarium, The Maritime Aquarium, and the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium to save an endangered species. The Barrens Topminnow is a colorful fish that is only found in two locations in Middle Tennessee. By joining forces with other aquariums, the Tennessee Aquarium hopes the road to recovery is quicker for these aquatic animals.


News provided by

Tennessee Aquarium

Dec 03, 2020, 19:00 ET

Share this article

Share toX

Share this article

Share toX

An adult Barrens Topminnow at the Tennessee Aquarium. This colorful fish is an endangered species.
An adult Barrens Topminnow at the Tennessee Aquarium. This colorful fish is an endangered species.
Youtube
Youtube

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., Dec. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Unless you're a biologist, it might seem difficult to see what's especially noteworthy about the endangered Barrens Topminnow.

Like many freshwater fishes, the Barrens undergoes a fairy godmother-like glow up during the breeding season, when it takes on an emerald, iridescent shimmer. Usually, though, it's a drab yellowy-brown that helps it blend into the aquatic vegetation of the slow-moving streams it calls home.

“Every species is important, whether it be a small fish like the Barrens Topminnow or something as large as an elephant. Losing even the smallest species can have a profound impact on an ecosystem." = Maritime Aquarium Aquarist Bert Sadler

Post this

Thanks to habitat degradation and competition with invasive Western Mosquitofish, the Barrens' range has been severely reduced. Now, isolated populations live in just a half-dozen nondescript, spring-fed streams in the "barrens," an equally nondescript region of rolling meadows in southeast middle Tennessee.

In short, it's an easy fish not to see or care much about, a biological example of "out of sight, out of mind."

And yet, despite its seeming mundanity, the Barrens Topminnow has become the focus of a collaborative partnership involving specialists at four aquariums located almost a thousand miles apart.

"You really can't do any conservation work in isolation," says Matt Hamilton, the curator of fishes at the Tennessee Aquarium, where work to save the Barrens Topminnow has been ongoing for more than 20 years. "These kinds of projects take partnerships and cooperative effort with multiple institutions and conservation groups coming together to work toward a common goal."

On a crystalline late fall morning, Hamilton and aquarist Adam Johnson left Chattanooga and drove down a steep mountain highway to the banks of a spring-fed creek winding its trickling way through Middle Tennessee pastureland. Parked on the side of a rural two-lane highway, the pair donned waders and unloaded a cooler carrying 100 juvenile Barrens Topminnows.

Carefully carrying oxygenated bags filled with the young fish, the pair descended to the creek to let their charges acclimate to the brisk 54-degree water. Despite barely cresting the top of their boots, the stream was alive with darting schools of Barrens Topminnows, all of them either released by or the offspring of fish introduced to the site as part of the Aquarium's long-term propagation effort.

The Barrens Topminnow drew national attention in October 2019 when it was federally listed under the Endangered Species Act. With this long-awaited announcement, additional federal resources and protections were made available to safeguard it. The fish in these bags, however, represent another important milestone in the long-running restoration effort.

The Barrens Topminnow project has been a focus at the Aquarium since 1998. However, in late 2018, Hamilton reached out to other accredited members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to see if anyone would be willing to lend their expertise to the project. The goal was to create an "ark," a large enough and genetically diverse enough population in human care to bolster the overall numbers and ensure no single institution was solely responsible for this endangered fish's survival.

Three other institutions signed up: Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, The Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, Connecticut, and National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium in Dubuque, Iowa.

About two-thirds of the bagged fish learning to love the chilly water of their soon-to-be home were offspring resulting from this new partnership. They arrived in Chattanooga earlier this year after being shipped hundreds of miles from The Maritime Aquarium and Shedd Aquarium. The National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium's propagation program is ongoing but has yet to produce offspring.

Despite being a species with no direct ties to the Windy City, to Illinois or to anywhere else in the Midwest, the decision to help save the Barrens Topminnow is perfectly aligned with Shedd Aquarium's mission.

"This was a no-brainer," says Keoki Burton, the Chicago institution's supervisor of special exhibits. "Yes, these are animals that are technically not in our backyard, but they're a lot closer to home than many of the other species we have here at Shedd Aquarium that we also care deeply about and want to educate people about.

"We want people to get in the mind-frame that we want to make sure we're taking care of all animals, regardless of whether they're found in our home state. That was an important part of why we wanted to join this effort."

Conservation scientists tend to operate under the maxim that "an ounce of preservation is worth a pound of cure." Or, more simply put, saving a species on the brink takes much more effort than protecting one that's already doing well.

Fortunately, sharing the load makes the otherwise monumental task of staving off extinction somewhat more manageable, says Maritime Aquarium Aquarist Bert Sadler.

"By spreading the effort, we can do more to help species that need assistance," Sadler says. "With more institutions helping, we can double or triple the effort and make that much more of an impact.

"Every species is important, whether it be a small fish like the Barrens Topminnow or something as large as an elephant. Losing even the smallest species can have a profound impact on an ecosystem. As such, we should do all we can to help any species that needs assistance."

While the participation of multiple zoological institutions to save this fish may be a relatively recent development, the campaign to save the Barrens is rooted in a partnership that started in the late '90s. Long-time collaborators in the Barrens Topminnow Working Group include Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the Nature Conservancy and Knoxville, Tennessee-based Conservation Fisheries, Inc.

Since the group's formation, more than 44,000 Barrens Topminnows have been reintroduced to suitable locations in the wild.

Back in Middle Tennessee, the newest additions to this tally have finally adjusted their new stream conditions. Carefully dipping the bags below the water's surface, Hamilton and Johnson watch as the young fish enter into their ancestral waters for the first time. Many dart for cover in bankside vegetation or under the shadowy lee of rocks, looking — for all intents and purposes — as if they had been there all along.

After so many years spent working to save the Barrens, Hamilton says he welcomes any additional help in that effort. That that assistance is coming from those with no direct connection to Tennessee or its native species just makes it even more meaningful.

"For them to care and be willing to join in helping us to raise animals and send them back to us so we can release them as part of the recovery effort — that's huge," he says. "I'm just so thankful that they were willing to take the time and put forth the effort and resources to work with us to help be a part of this project.

"If you have healthy fish in the creeks where the water is coming out of the ground, that's how you know you have a healthy river system. That benefits all of us, having clean water with thriving wildlife. That's what we should all strive for."

Learn more about the Barrens Topminnow.

Additional information about Shedd Aquarium's effort to save the Barrens Topminnow can be found online.

Details of the Barrens Topminnow's federal listing as an endangered species can be found online.

Media Contact

Thom Benson, Tennessee Aquarium, 423-785-3007, [email protected]

SOURCE Tennessee Aquarium

Modal title

Curator of Fishes Matt Hamilton left and Aquarist II Adam Johnson carry oxygenated bags filled with endangered Barrens Topminnow to a Middle Tennessee release site
Curator of Fishes Matt Hamilton left and Aquarist II Adam Johnson carry oxygenated bags filled with endangered Barrens Topminnow to a Middle Tennessee release site
Juvenile Southern Appalachian Brook Trout acclimating to the water temperature at the release site
Juvenile Southern Appalachian Brook Trout acclimating to the water temperature at the release site
A juvenile endangered Barrens Topminnow is moved by net from a propagation pool at the Tennesse Aquarium before transport to a release site in Middle Tennessee
A juvenile endangered Barrens Topminnow is moved by net from a propagation pool at the Tennesse Aquarium before transport to a release site in Middle Tennessee
Curator of Fishes Matt Hamilton left and Aquarist II Adam Johnson carry oxygenated bags filled with endangered Barrens Topminnow to a Middle Tennessee release site Juvenile Southern Appalachian Brook Trout acclimating to the water temperature at the release site A juvenile endangered Barrens Topminnow is moved by net from a propagation pool at the Tennesse Aquarium before transport to a release site in Middle Tennessee

Contact PRWeb

  • 11AM ET Sunday – 8PM ET Friday
  • Contact Us

About PRWeb

  • About PRWeb
  • Partners
  • Partnership Programs
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Resources

Why PRWeb

  • Why PRWeb
  • How It Works
  • Who Uses It
  • Pricing

Accounts

  • Create a Free Account
  • Log in
  • Contact Us

Do not sell or share my personal information:

  • Submit via [email protected] 
  • Call Privacy toll-free: 877-297-8921

Contact Cision

Products

About

My Services
  • All News Releases
  • Online Member Center
  • ProfNet
Cision Distribution Helpline
888-776-0942
  • Legal
  • Site Map
  • RSS
  • Cookie Settings
Copyright © 2025 Cision US Inc.