A new study published in Current Biology refutes the existence of the snail darter (Percina tanasi) as a separate species. Researchers argue it's actually an eastern population of the stargazing darter (Percina uranidea), which isn't endangered.
The initial classification of the snail darter as a distinct species played a crucial role in temporarily halting the construction of the Tellico Dam in Tennessee during the 1970s. This decision stemmed from environmental concerns and legal battles involving environmentalists, lawyers, farmers, and the Cherokee Nation.
The study suggests that the initial designation of the snail darter as a separate species may have been influenced by the "conservation species concept," where species distinctions are made to achieve conservation goals. This raises questions about the objectivity of species classification in conservation efforts.
This research significantly impacts the understanding of the snail darter's taxonomic status and its role in a major environmental law case. It challenges previous assumptions and highlights the complexities involved in conservation biology and legal decisions.
For such a tiny fish, the snail darter has haunted Tennessee. It was the endangered species that swam its way to the Supreme Court in a vitriolic battle during the 1970s that temporarily blocked the construction of a dam.
On Friday, a team of researchers argued that the fish was a phantom all along.
“There is, technically, no snail darter,” said Thomas Near, curator of ichthyology at the Yale Peabody Museum.
Dr. Near, also a professor who leads a fish biology lab at Yale, and his colleagues report in the journal Current Biology that the snail darter, Percina tanasi, is neither a distinct species nor a subspecies. Rather, it is an eastern population of Percina uranidea, known also as the stargazing darter, which is not considered endangered.
Dr. Near contends that early researchers “squinted their eyes a bit” when describing the fish, because it represented a way to fight the Tennessee Valley Authority’s plan to build the Tellico Dam on the Little Tennessee River, about 20 miles southwest of Knoxville.
“I feel it was the first and probably the most famous example of what I would call the ‘conservation species concept,’ where people are going to decide a species should be distinct because it will have a downstream conservation implication,” Dr. Near said.
The T.V.A. began building the Tellico Dam in 1967. Environmentalists, lawyers, farmers and the Cherokee, whose archaeological sites faced flooding, were eager to halt the project. In August 1973, they stumbled upon a solution.
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