{"id":4686,"date":"2026-07-15T15:05:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T15:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4686"},"modified":"2026-07-15T15:05:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T15:05:13","slug":"it-took-60-years-to-name-this-rare-nc-fish-now-the-state-can-act-to-save-it-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4686","title":{"rendered":"It took 60 years to name this rare NC fish. Now the state can act to save it."},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

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\u200bGlowing with amber-orange hues and fitted with lips only a mother could love, several rare sucker fish sit in jars of ethanol at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences.<\/p>\n

Read more Johnston County man pleads guilty 4 months after domestic violence murder<\/a><\/p>\n

Scientists first collected this species in 1961, yet it remained nameless for over 60 years, becoming rarer and rarer<\/a> in its natural habitat.<\/p>\n

That all changed in April, when scientists from the Raleigh museum formally described<\/a> the fish, meaning they published a scientific paper to prove it\u2019s distinct from other closely related species and gave it a Latin name.<\/p>\n

The scientists named this sucker the Carolina redhorse<\/a> (Moxostoma carolina) because it is the only redhorse native exclusively to the Carolinas. The fish inhabits deep water in the sluggish currents of the Cape Fear and Yadkin-Pee Dee river basins south of Raleigh.<\/p>\n

While naming a species may seem unimportant, it\u2019s a crucial step in helping save it from extinction, said Gabriela Hogue<\/a>, manager of the museum\u2019s fish collections and first author of the species description.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur state agency will not accept our word that it\u2019s a new species unless it has a scientific Latin name,\u201d Hogue said. \u201cThey just don\u2019t want to take our word that, \u2018Oh this fish is different,\u2019 so if we give this fish a name, then \u2026 it can now get additional protection. So putting that Latin name on it is everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Redhorses<\/a>, known as suckers, use their unique mouths to vacuum and scrape food from the bottom of rivers. The Carolina redhorse consumes insect larvae and small crustaceans and can grow up to 2 feet long.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful fish, and it has really great lips,\u201d Hogue said.<\/p>\n

The Carolina redhorse is now listed as a \u201cstate threatened\u201d species, the second-highest classification of protection under the State Endangered Species Act.<\/a> This listing means the fish is likely to become endangered in most or all of its range in the near future.<\/p>\n

Fish biologist Robert Jenkins, nicknamed \u201cDr. Redhorse<\/a>\u201d by his colleagues for his expertise on the group, first suspected in the early 1990s that the fish was something new \u2014 not simply a hybrid of two closely related species as he originally thought. He spent decades collecting data to prove it, but Jenkins died in 2023 before the Carolina redhorse was formally recognized.<\/p>\n

But before his death, he had shared his decades of data with a colleague, who eventually connected with Hogue. She picked up the project with Bryn Tracy<\/a>, a North Carolina fish biologist and co-author of the species description. They added the genetic work Jenkins\u2019 data was missing \u2014 and finished what he\u2019d started.<\/p>\n

Read more Jurors fail to reach a verdict in the murder trial of NC\u2019s \u2018King Blood\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Tracy explained that it took so long for the fish to be named due to the increasingly difficult task of proving a new species is, well, new.<\/p>\n

\u201cYears ago, you could describe an animal just based on a few characteristics, like color or the number of scales,\u201d Tracy said. \u201cNow, you need to do morphological<\/a> work. You need to do geographical work. You need to do genetics work and statistical work. It takes a lot of work to describe a new species of animal these days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tracy has continued to use some of Jenkins\u2019 data to carry on his legacy, describing another rare fish in 2024 that also occurs mostly in North Carolina. The Siouan thinlip chub<\/a>, which occurs in the Yadkin, Lumber and Cape Fear river basins, is now listed as a species of special concern and is currently being considered to move up to the threatened classification.<\/p>\n

For Tracy, that protection through description is the point.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s part of our natural heritage to protect what we have here,\u201d Tracy said. \u201cWe\u2019ve just done our little part of protecting what\u2019s here in North Carolina, and hopefully it will stick around for the next 1,000 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the work is not without challenges. Funding a single graduate student to describe a species can run $60,000 to $100,000 a year, according to Tracy \u2014 money state wildlife agencies are reluctant to spend. Hogue shared how this creates a misalignment between funding and public perception.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though the public and everyone is so excited when a new species is described, it\u2019s not like there was ever any funding or backing to get to that point,\u201d Hogue said. \u201cWe want to know what\u2019s out there \u2026 but there\u2019s nothing to help us get there, so that can be difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

This can lead to descriptions occurring as side projects to regular research projects. Tracy, for example, has been volunteering to assist with these descriptions, even though he retired in 2017.<\/p>\n

Still, Hogue says the reward for this type of work isn\u2019t financial.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s our passion that carries us through getting these things done,\u201d Hogue said. \u201cTo me, it\u2019s like I was a part of telling the story of this species, and that to me is incredible\u2026 not just the specimens that I\u2019ve cared for, but the species itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more NC school district removes sexual orientation and gender identity from policies<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published July 14, 2026 at 11:07 AM.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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