The relict dace (''Relictus solitarius'') is a

cyprinid Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family and the largest ver ...

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

of the Great Basin of western North America. It is the sole member of its genus. Relict dace coloration is variable, but generally dusky overall, with olive and brassy shades dorsally. An obvious speckling pattern with patches ranging from brown to green, and yellowish narrow stripes appear on the back and belly. Lower fins are often yellow, and may be a bright golden shade. The oblique mouth is terminal, and lacks horny cutting edges. The fins are rather small and rounded, with the pelvic fins being especially notable for their paddle shape. The variations on the basic cyprinid plan seem to be characteristic of desert fishes evolving in isolation, with the body adapting for midwater swimming in quiet water. The relict dace occurs in only a handful of habitats in eastern Nevada, all of which were once covered by the prehistoric

Lake Lahontan Lake Lahontan was a large endorheic Pleistocene lake of modern northwestern Nevada that extended into northeastern California and southern Oregon. The area of the former lake is a large portion of the Great Basin that borders the Sacramento Rive ...

. Locations include the springs of Buttle and Ruby Valleys, and the drainage systems of Franklin Lake and Gale Lake.

References

* William F. Sigler and John W. Sigler, ''Fishes of the Great Basin'' (Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1987), pp. 200–203 {{Taxonbar, from=Q3232230 Leuciscinae Fish of the United States Monotypic fish genera Fish described in 1972