A few streams on the Cumberland Plateau northeast of Chattanooga are the only places where a small freshwater fish called the laurel dace lives in the wild, so when drought struck the Southeast last summer, the species faced the real possibility of extinction.
The laurel dace has lots of challenges, from invasive species to silty streams to parasites, but weather in summer 2024 was nearly the final straw. As drought cut off its streams, leaving the laurel dace stranded in disconnected, stagnant pools, conservation scientists were forced to take action and rescue individuals from two populations for safekeeping at the Tennessee Aquarium.
Now, a small population of the laurel dace is back in their native habitat, as research and advocacy through the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute (TNACI) give them a chance at survival…