The White River springfish (''Crenichthys baileyi'') is a species of fish in the family

Goodeidae Goodeidae is a family of teleost fish endemic to Mexico and some areas of the United States. Many species are known as splitfins. This family contains about 50 species within 18 Genus, genera. The family is named after ichthyologist George Brow ...

, the splitfins. It is a rare species of the

Great Basin The Great Basin () is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds, those with no outlets to the ocean, in North America. It spans nearly all of Nevada, much of Utah, and portions of California, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, and Baja Californi ...

of western United States, where it is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to isolated warm springs in the White River drainage of eastern

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

. Each side has two rows of dark blotches. The

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral (belly) surface of fish, and are the lower of the only two sets of paired fins (the other being the laterally positioned pectoral fins). The pelvic fins are homologous to the hi ...

s are entirely absent, while the

anal fin Fins are moving appendages protruding from the body of fish that interact with water to generate thrust and help the fish swim. Apart from the tail or caudal fin, fish fins have no direct connection with the back bone and are supported o ...

is large, with 14 rays. The

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates. Dorsal fins have evolved independently several times through convergent evolution adapting to marine environments, so the fins are not all homologous. They are found ...

is set far back on the body, just above the anal fin, and is somewhat smaller than the anal fin, with 11 rays.

Subspecies

FishBase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

records five subspecies:Froese, R. and D. Pauly, Eds
''Crenichthys''.
FishBase. 2016. * ''Crenichthys baileyi albivallis'' J. E. Williams &

Wilde Wilde is a surname. Notable people with the name include: In arts and entertainment In film, television, and theatre * Andrew Wilde (actor), English actor * Barbie Wilde (born 1960), Canadian actress * Brian Wilde (1927–2008), British actor * ...

, 1981 – Preston White River springfish * ''Crenichthys baileyi baileyi'' ( C. H. Gilbert, 1893) – White River springfish * ''Crenichthys baileyi grandis'' J. E. Williams & Wilde, 1981 – Hiko White River springfish * ''Crenichthys baileyi moapae'' J. E. Williams & Wilde, 1981 – Moapa White River springfish * ''Crenichthys baileyi thermophilus'' J. E. Williams & Wilde, 1981 – Mormon White River springfish

Etymology

The genus name is a compound of ''creno'' meaning "

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a he ...

", a reference to the desert springs this species occurs in, and ''ichthys'' which is

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

for "fish". The

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

honours the

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ethnologist Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Scien ...

and

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

Vernon Orlando Bailey Vernon Orlando Bailey (June 21, 1864 – April 20, 1942) was an American naturalist who specialized in mammalogy. He was employed by the Bureau of Biological Survey, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). His contributions to the Bureau ...

(1864-1942), who co-collected the

type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * ...

along with C. Hart Merriam.

Notes

References

* Sigler, W. F. and J. W. Sigler. ''Fishes of the Great Basin'' (Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1987), pp. 260–262 * La Rivers, I. ''Fishes and Fisheries of Nevada'' (Nevada State Fish and Game Commission, 1962) pp. 512–516 * Williams, J. E. and G. R. Wilde. (1981). Taxonomic status and morphology of isolated populations of the white river springfish, ''Crenichthys baileyi'' (Cyprinodontidae). ''Southwest. Nat.'' 485–503.

External links

White River springfish (''Crenichthys baileyi baileyi'').
Nevada Fish and Wildlife Office, United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

Nevada Fish and Wildlife Office, United States Fish and Wildlife Service. White River springfish Fish of the Western United States Fauna of the Great Basin Endemic fauna of Nevada Fish described in 1893 Taxa named by Charles Henry Gilbert {{Cyprinodontiformes-stub