Brassy Minnow (Missouri population): Consultations on listing under the Species at Risk Act
Current status: Closed
This consultation ran from March 15, 2024 to May 14, 2024.
Species at Risk Act (SARA) provides legal protection for wildlife species at risk to conserve biological diversity. It also acknowledges that all Canadians have a role to play in the conservation of wildlife species.
Before deciding whether Brassy Minnow (Hybognathus hankinsoni) (Missouri population), will be added to the List of Wildlife Species at Risk as special concern, we would like to hear your opinion, comments, and suggestions regarding the possible ecological, cultural, and economic impacts of listing or not listing this species under SARA.
Join in: How to participate
Share your ideas online
The Government of Canada is engaging with Canadians on whether Brassy Minnow (Hybognathus hankinsoni) (Missouri population) should be added to the List of Wildlife Species at Risk.
Please fill out the online survey. Thank you.
Changing the status of a species on the List of Wildlife Species at Risk
The process of relisting a species under SARA consists of several steps:
- status assessment by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC)
- public consultations to gather the opinions of Canadians
- Government of Canada decision on whether or not to add the species on the List of Wildlife Species at Risk
Long description
Figure 1 is an image of Brassy Minnow. Brassy Minnow is moderately deep-bodied and compressed, olive-green dorsally and brassy-yellow to dull silver laterally. The head is broad, and the snout overhangs a small mouth that does not extend back as far as the front margin of the eye. It has large cycloid scales, no barbels, a complete lateral line, and a black peritoneum and long, complexly coiled gut.
Facts about Brassy Minnow
Brassy Minnow is a minnow species that is moderately deep-bodied and compressed, with olive-green colouring dorsally and brassy-yellow to dull silver colouring laterally. The head is broad, and the snout overhangs a small mouth that does not extend back as far as the front margin of the eye. It has large circular scales, no barbels, a complete lateral line, and a long, complexly coiled gut.
Brassy Minnow inhabits small headwater lakes, quiet pools, small slow-moving streams, beaver ponds, and drainage ditches with submerged aquatic vegetation. Brassy Minnow appears tolerant of a range of water quality conditions, but occupancy and abundance are highest in large, deep, backwater habitats that likely improve survival during droughts and over winter, and where there are few or no predatory fishes. Because it typically occurs in waterbodies with low fish species diversity, it is likely an ecologically significant fish in these systems. As a low-level consumer of phytoplankton and other algae, its transfer of energy and nutrients up the food chain is important.
Status designation of Brassy Minnow
The Missouri population of Brassy Minnow was most recently assessed as special concern by COSEWIC in May 2022. Under SARA, a special concern species is defined as one that may become a threatened or an endangered species because of a combination of biological characteristics and identified threats.
Long description
Figure 2 is a partial map of southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan. The border of the United States of America is located to the south. Pakowki Lake is shown in the centre of the map. The west portion of the distribution of Brassy Minnow, Missouri population is located southeast, south, southwest, and east of Pakowski Lake, as well as along the provincial border of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Long description
Figure 3 is a partial map of southeastern and southwestern Saskatchewan. The border of the United States of America is located to the south. The west portion of the distribution of Brassy Minnow, Missouri population is located southeast, south, southwest, and east of the map, as well as along the border of Saskatchewan and the United States of America.
Key questions for discussion
Why is Brassy Minnow assessed as special concern?
Within the Missouri population, drought is considered the most serious threat to Brassy Minnow abundance and distribution. Brassy Minnow is also affected by the degradation of habitat or habitat quality over the medium-long term and other multifaceted threats that are likely cumulative. These threats are further affected by natural fragmentation in the species’ distribution. Brassy Minnow likely have a limited ability to move downstream and colonize other headwater tributaries. The species’ short generation time make it susceptible to events or habitat changes that affect its population and abundance.
What happens if Brassy Minnow is listed as a special concern species under the SARA?
If Brassy Minnow is listed as special concern, the species will not be subject to prohibitions under SARA (including killing, harming, harassing, capturing, possessing, buying, selling, or trading). However, the Government of Canada will be required to produce a management plan which outlines measures that will contribute to the conservation of Brassy Minnow. The management plan will be prepared in cooperation with Indigenous organizations and stakeholders. There may also be increased access to funding for scientific research and stewardship activities.
Eastern Sand Darter is a small, translucent freshwater fish of a yellowish or silvery shade with a series of 10 to 14 dark spots (figure 1). These spots are usually located below the lateral line scale row. The spots are slightly smaller than the pupil and are frequently rounded anteriorly and oblong posteriorly. The median fins are not pigmented. The average total length of adults ranges from 46 mm to 71 mm.
Related information
Contact us
Species at Risk Program
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Ontario and Prairie Region
501 University Crescent
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N6
DFO.CASARAConsultations-CALEPConsultations.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
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