Tim Savidge, an Envrionmental Supervisor with The Catena Group, has reported back to RS with some very exciting news about the site of the former Carbonton Dam.  His crew delved into the Deep River yesterday to monitor the site and found Cape Fear Shiner at multiple sites (where colonization was originally expected) within the upper part of the former reservoir pool between Glendon Carthage Road and Carbonton Road.  Some sites had several individuals (>15).  The crew will continue to work the stretch from Carbonton Road to the former dam today and will report back shortly with their findings.

A little background on the Cape Fear Shiner 

The Cape Fear shiner (Notropis mekistocholas), listed on the U.S. Fish & Wildlife’s Endangered and threatened species list, was first described as a new species in 1971.  It is a small (approximately 2 inches long), yellowish minnow with a black band along the sides of its body. The shiner’s fins are yellow and somewhat pointed.  It has a black upper lip, and the lower lip bears a thin black bar along its margin. The Cape Fear shiner is known to consume plant and animal material

The Cape Fear shiner is endemic to the upper Cape Fear River Basin in the Central Piedmont of North Carolina.  The species is known from tributaries and mainstreams of the Deep, Haw and Rocky Rivers in Chatham, Harnett, Lee, Moore and Randolph counties.  Only five populations of the shiner are thought to exist.  A population is designated when groups are separated by natural barriers or manmade obstructions such as dams.  Two of the five remaining populations are very small and unstable and therefore at risk of extirpation.  The precise number of shiners in each population is not known, but effective population sizes in the other three populations are estimated to be between 1500 and 3000 individuals.  However, effective population sizes only consider the number of available breeding individuals.

To read more about the Cape Fear Shiner on the the U.S. Fish & Wildlife website, please click here.