A beautiful minnow found in Chattanooga’s backyard — and literally nowhere else on Earth — is a fin’s-width away from disappearing. From invasive predators and a plague of parasites to streams withered away by extreme drought, the critically endangered Laurel Dace is in about as bad a position as it’s possible to be.
In the face of such challenges, extinction might seem an inevitability for the Laurel Dace, but there’s a world of difference and a sea of hope separating a species on the brink from one that’s past the point of no return.
On Giving Tuesday (Dec. 3), the Aquarium is turning to the public for help safeguarding this embattled minnow with the launch of the Race for the Laurel Dace.
Casey Phillips – Tennessee Aquarium