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 genera. The family is named after ichthyologist George Brown Goode ...

, the splitfins. It is a rare species of the

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

of western United States, where it is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found 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 found elsew ...

to isolated warm springs in the White River drainage of eastern

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. Each side has two rows of dark blotches. The

pelvic fin Pelvic fins or ventral fins are paired fins located on the ventral surface of fish. The paired pelvic fins are homologous to the hindlimbs of tetrapods. Structure and function Structure In actinopterygians, the pelvic fin consists of two en ...

s are entirely absent, while the

anal fin Fins are distinctive anatomical features composed of bony spines or rays protruding from the body of a fish. They are covered with skin and joined together either in a webbed fashion, as seen in most bony fish, or similar to a flipper, as se ...

is large, with 14 rays. The

dorsal fin A dorsal fin is a fin located on the back of most marine and freshwater vertebrates within various taxa of the animal kingdom. Many species of animals possessing dorsal fins are not particularly closely related to each other, though through conv ...

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 * ''Wilde'' a 1997 biographical film about Oscar Wilde * Andrew Wilde (actor), English actor * Barbie Wilde (born 1960), Canadi ...

, 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 ...

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

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ...

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

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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

and naturalist

Vernon Orlando Bailey Vernon Orlando Bailey (1864–1942) 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 of Biological Survey ...

(1864-1942), who co-collected the type along with

C. Hart Merriam Clinton Hart Merriam (December 5, 1855 – March 19, 1942) was an American zoologist, mammalogist, ornithologist, entomologist, ecologist, ethnographer, geographer, naturalist and physician. He was commonly known as the 'father of mammalogy', a ...

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 The White River springfish (''Crenichthys baileyi'') is a species of fish in the family Goodeidae, the splitfins. It is a rare species of the Great Basin of western United States, where it is endemism, endemic to isolated warm springs in the Whit ...

Fish of the Western United States Fauna of the Great Basin Endemic fauna of Nevada Fish described in 1893 {{Cyprinodontiformes-stub