Species of Greatest Conservation Need

**Species of Greatest Conservation Need** (Updated: 02/18/2025)
Common Name	Scientifc Name	Taxonomic Group	Federal Status	State Status	Global Rank	State Rank	Endemic	General Habitat Type(s)
Chihuahua shiner	Notropis chihuahua	Fish	Not Listed	T	G3	S2	False	Limited to smaller tributaries of the Rio Grande in the Big Bend region; Mid-water or bottom-dwelling species, usually found over gravel to sand substrate, in clear, cool, moving waters; also collected over rubble bottom with some boulders, bedrock and mud; vegetation may be present
Arkansas River shiner	Notropis girardi	Fish	T	T	G2	S2	False	Canadian River. Typically found in turbid water over mostly silt and shifting sand substrates. Generally inhabits shallow water; found in slower currents in areas having high conductivity and low turbidity.
Rio Grande shiner	Notropis jemezanus	Fish	Not Listed	T	G3	S1	False	Rio Grande drainage. Occurs over substrate of rubble, gravel and sand, often overlain with silt
taillight shiner	Notropis maculatus	Fish	Not Listed	Not Listed	G5	S1	False	Restricted to the Sulphur and Cypress drainages in northeast Texas; Quiet, usually vegetated oxbow lakes, ponds, or backwaters.
West Texas shiner	Notropis megalops	Fish	Not Listed	Not Listed	GNR	SNR	False	In Texas occurs in the lower Pecos River, San Felipe Creek, Devils River and Sycamore Creek. No studies of habitat requirements.
sharpnose shiner	Notropis oxyrhynchus	Fish	E	E	G3	S1S2	True	Range is now restricted to upper Brazos River upstream of Possum Kingdom Lake. May be native to Red River and Colorado River basins. Typically found in turbid water over mostly silt and shifting sand substrates.
chub shiner	Notropis potteri	Fish	Not Listed	T	G4	S2	False	Brazos, Colorado, San Jacinto, and Trinity river basins. Flowing water with silt or sand substrate
Sabine shiner	Notropis sabinae	Fish	Not Listed	Not Listed	G4	S3	False	Inhabits small streams and large rivers of eastern Texas from San Jacinto drainage northward along the Gulf Coast to the Sabine River Basin; Habitat generalist with affinities for shallow, moving water and rarely found in pools and backwater areas;<br />closely restricted to substrate of fine, silt free sand in small creeks and rivers having slight to moderate current.
silverband shiner	Notropis shumardi	Fish	Not Listed	Not Listed	G5	S4	False	In Texas, found from Red River to Lavaca River; Main channel with moderate to swift current velocities and moderate to deep depths; associated with turbid water over silt, sand, and gravel.
Guadalupe darter	Percina apristis	Fish	Not Listed	T	G4	S2	True	Endemic to the Guadalupe River Basin; Found in riffles; most common under or around 25-30 cm boulders in the main current; seems to prefer moderately turbid water.
blackside darter	Percina maculata	Fish	Not Listed	T	G5	S1	False	Restricted to the Red River Basin in the northeast part of the state although specimens have been taken in the lower Trinity and San Jacinto rivers; Often found in clear, gravelly streams.
river darter	Percina shumardi	Fish	Not Listed	Not Listed	G5	S4	False	In Texas limited to eastern streams including Red River southward to the Neches River, and a disjunct population in the Guadalupe and San Antonio river systems east of the Balcones Escarpment. Confined to large rivers and lower parts of major tributaries; usually found in deep chutes and riffles where current is swift and bottom composed of coarse gravel or rock.
suckermouth minnow	Phenacobius mirabilis	Fish	Not Listed	Not Listed	G5	S4	False	In Texas, occurs in limited numbers in Canadian, Red, Sabine, Trinity and Colorado river drainages. Riffles and shallow runs with clean sand, gravel, or larger substrate bottoms. May move into shallow riffles at night.
flathead chub	Platygobio gracilis	Fish	Not Listed	Not Listed	G5	S2	False	Likely extirpated from Texas. Known from the Canadian River in the Panhandle in Texas. Found in strong currents over sandy bottoms and in shallow pools.
paddlefish	Polyodon spathula	Fish	Not Listed	T	G4	S3	False	Species occurred in every major river drainage from the Trinity Basin eastward, but its numbers and range had been substantially reduced by the 1950�s; recently reintroduced into Big Cypress drainage upstream of Caddo Lake. Prefers large, free-flowing rivers but will frequent impoundments with access to spawning sites.
Mexican blindcat	Prietella phreatophila	Fish	E	E	GNR	S1	False	Subterranean freshwater cave environments in the northern Coahuila, Mexico and Val Verde County, Texas portions of the Edwards-Trinity Aquifer. Usually found associated with a silt substrate in still pools at water temperatures of 21 - 31.5 Celsius.
bluehead shiner	Pteronotropis hubbsi	Fish	Not Listed	T	G3	S1	False	Mainstem and tributaries of Big Cypress Bayou and Caddo Lake in Texas. Quiet backwater areas of small to medium-sized, sluggish streams and oxbow lakes having mud or mud-sand substrate; water typically tannin-stained; heavy growth of submergent or semi-emergent vegetation often present.
longnose dace	Rhinichthys cataractae	Fish	Not Listed	Not Listed	G5	S2	False	Can only be found in the Big Bend portion of the Rio Grande. Occasionally taken in lakes and clear pools of rivers but prefers clear, flowing water in gravelly riffles.
widemouth blindcat	Satan eurystomus	Fish	PE	T	G1G2	S1	True	Restricted to five artesian wells penetrating the San Antonio Pool of the Edwards Aquifer; found at depths of 305-582 m.
shovelnose sturgeon	Scaphirhynchus platorynchus	Fish	SAT	T	G4	S2	False	Found only in the Red River below Denison Dam (Lake Texoma). Evidence of the presence of this species in the lower Pecos River, during prehistoric times, strongly suggests that it likely occurred in many Texas rivers. Inhabits flowing water over sandy bottoms or near rocky points or bars.
toothless blindcat	Trogloglanis pattersoni	Fish	PE	T	G1G2	S1	True	Restricted to five artesian wells penetrating the San Antonio Pool of the Edwards Aquifer; found at depths of 305-582 m.
fat snook	Centropomus parallelus	Fish - Bays and Estuaries	Not Listed	Not Listed	G5	S3?	False	Occupies freshwater, estuarine, and marine areas near mangroves, rocky overhangs or protected riverbanks, but is most commonly found inshore (freshwater). Spawning occurs from March-August in freshwater. After hatching, larvae disperse with the currents to estuarine areas (Gilmore et al. 1983, McMichael and Parsons 1989). Juveniles migrate from freshwater to estuarine areas based on flow and salinity regimes.
snook	Centropomus undecimalis	Fish - Bays and Estuaries	Not Listed	Not Listed	G5	S3?	False	Juvenile common snook are generally restricted to the protection of riverine, salt marshes, seagrass beds, and estuary environments. These environments offer shallow water and an overhanging vegetative shoreline. Juvenile common snook can survive in waters with lower oxygen levels than adults. Adult common snook inhabit many fresh, estuarine, and marine environments including mangrove forests, beaches, river mouths, nearshore reefs, salt marshes, sea grass meadows, and near structure (pilings, artificial reefs, etc.). Adult common snook appear to be less sensitive to cold water temperatures than larvae or small juveniles. The lower lethal limit of water temperature is 48.2�-57.2� F (9�-14� C) for juveniles and 42.8�-53.6� F (6�-12� C) for adults (Hill 2005, Press 2010).
Mexican goby	Ctenogobius claytonii	Fish - Bays and Estuaries	Not Listed	T	GNR	S1	False	Southern coastal area; brackish and freshwater coastal streams; tidal freshwater associated with silty sandbars and grass beds.
saltmarsh topminnow	Fundulus jenkinsi	Fish - Bays and Estuaries	Not Listed	Not Listed	G3	S1	False	Occupies estuaries and the edges of saltmarsh habitats along the Gulf coast in salinities of 4-20 ppt in Spartina dominated tidal creeks and wetlands (Peterson & Ross 1991; Peterson & Turner 1994; Lopez et al. 2010; and Griffith 1974). Requires access to small interconnected tidal creeks for feeding and reproduction. Spawning occurs from March to August during high tide events (Robertson Thesis, 2016). Non-migratory.