Supported by the IUCN SSC Freshwater Fish Specialist Group, today IUCN has released the updated European Red List of Freshwater Fishes – the most comprehensive assessment in 15 years of Europe’s aquatic biodiversity. It finds that nearly six in ten native European freshwater fish species are now of elevated conservation concern, with 42% threatened with […]
Author: freshwaterfish
Accounting for Non-native Freshwater Fish in the Mekong River: Towards a Better Understanding for Management
New research led and funded by the IUCN FFSG finds approximately 7% of fish species recorded in the Mekong to be non-native. Totalling 107, these non-native fishes mostly originate from aquaculture and the aquarium trade and add an additional threat to the many already faced by the Mekong’s native fishes. The report recommends continuous monitoring […]
New Species 2025 Report Released
This World Wildlife Day, SHOAL release their fifth annual New Species report: New Species 2025, containing the third highest number (309) of species descriptions in any year since records began way back in 1758!! New species include the beautiful Black Arrow Tetra, the Sicklefin Redhorse, which is the largest new native fish found in North […]
2025: SHOAL: Tiny Fishes: the miniature marvels that slip through the net
2025: SHOAL: Tiny Fishes: the miniature marvels that slip through the net This report is built around the idea that tiny fishes are doubly neglected: firstly, by being in a species group that has historically received very little attention, and secondly by being often overlooked even within that overlooked and underfunded group. Yet although they rarely […]
Africa’s Forgotten Fishes – and the Emergency Recovery Plan to save them
Sewellia pudens, a new species of loach from Dakchung Plateau, southern Laos (Teleostei: Gastromyzontidae)
Sewellia pudens, new species, is described from the Xe Kaman watershed on Dakchung Plateau, SekongProvince, southern Laos. Kottelat, M. (2025). Sewellia pudens, a new species of loach from Dakchung Plateau, southern Laos (Teeostei: Gastromyzontidae). Raffles Bulletin of Zoology, 73: 304 – 317. https: //doi.org/10.26107/RBZ-2025-0022
Remembering Paul Loiselle – FFSG Regional Chair
We learned with great sadness in April of the passing of Freshwater Fish Specialist Group member and Regional Chair for Madagascar, Dr Paul Loiselle. Paul was legendary for his knowledge of freshwater fish species, especially those from Africa and including Madagascar. He was an excellent photographer and produced so many stunning images of freshwater species, […]
New Species 2024 Report Released
This World Wildlife Day, SHOAL release their fourth annual New Species report. New Species 2024 draws attention the the 260 freshwater fish species described throughout the year, and celebrates the taxonomists who work so hard to bring these fishes to the light. New Species 2024 is a collaboration between SHOAL, the IUCN Freshwater Fish Specialist […]
1st International Conference on the Cultural Significance of Fish
Taking place on 10-11th June 2025 in Ely, Cambridgeshire, this conference will seek to explore the myriad ways in which fish have influenced, shaped and been depicted in cultures throughout history and around the world. It will bring together speakers and delegates from across Europe and further afield for two days of presentations, posters and […]
One-quarter of freshwater fauna threatened with extinction
Global Freshwater Fauna Assessment (fishes, crabs, crayfish, shrimps, dragonflies and damselflies) just published in Nature, shows that 25% of freshwater fishes are threatened with extinction: https://iucn.org/press-release/202501/one-quarter-freshwater-animals-risk-extinction-iucn-red-list.
FFSG Annual Report 2023 Published
Our Annual Report for 2023 is now available Read more here …
Indigenous method used for freshwater fish conservation efforts
In a recent conservation effort at Zealandia Te Māra a Tāne, a traditional Māori method known as whakaweku proved successful in collecting freshwater fish for relocation. Using bundles of rārahu/bracken fern, this method facilitated the collection of 139 toitoi/common bully (Gobiomorphus cotidianus) from Kōhangapiripiri in the Parangārahu Lakes area during late April and early May. […]
White Sturgeon receives California State Protection
The White Sturgeon, (Acipenser transmontanus), the biggest freshwater fish in North America, its population dwindling due to freshwater quantity and quality depletion as well as recreational fishing, has been accepted as a candidate for protection under California’s Endangered Species Act. A coalition of environmental groups and the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance petitioned for the species […]
Shade cloth and poisonous dust: how the red-finned blue-eye was brought back from the brink
The Red-Finned Blue-Eye (Scaturiginichthys vermeilipinnis) is no longer Australia’s rarest freshwater fish. The last of its tiny kind – all but bullied to extinction by introduced Eastern Mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki), an invasive fish that grows to twice the size and eight times the body mass – were a few years ago confined to a lone […]
FFSG Spring Newsletter
The Spring 2024 edition of the FFSG newsletter is now availableRead here
Utah Nursery Gives Endangered Fish a Place to Grow
A Nature Conservancy preserve in Moab, Utah offers hopeful news for endangered razorback suckers: this fall, 51 juvenile suckers were recorded on the property’s fish nursery, which began operation in 2020. “When we survey the river, we find adult suckers. We find baby suckers,” says Sam Brockdorff, a biologist with Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. […]
Keli bladefin catfish rediscovered in discovered in small Singapore swamp
The small, air-breathing catfish (Encheloclarias kelioides) had only ever been seen and recorded twice: once way back in 1934, and again in 1993. It has been fojnd again, , about 300km away from the other locations! Read more on SHOAL …
Devils Hole pupfish spring population at 25-year high
191 fish counted! AMARGOSA VALLEY, Nevada – Agency biologists are excited to report increased numbers of one of the world’s rarest fishes. Scientists counted 191 Devils Hole pupfish, which is the most fish observed during annual spring season counts in 25 years. This is good news for the critically endangered fish living in Death Valley […]
Mekong’s Forgotten Fishes Report
FFSG is proud to have supported the delivery of the new Mekong’s Forgotten Fishes Report. Led by FFSG Co-Chair Kathy Hughes (FFSG Co-Chair), with support from Chavalit Vidthayanon (FFSG South-east Asia Chair), Catherine Sayer (FFSG Biodiversity Adviser) and Zeb Hogan (FFSG member). The Mekong is a global hotspot for freshwater fishes, with over 1200 recognised […]
New Species 2023
FFSG is proud to have supported this fantastic new species report from Shoal: There are some fantastic stories of amazing fishes in this year’s edition, including a fish named after a Hobbit that went on an ‘unexpected journey’, the world’s largest cavefish, and an incredible seven species described from Central European lakes! Read all about it […]