Spring Pygmy Sunfish
Elassoma alabamae
- Critically endangered
- Card rarity: Legendary
- Fish
The spring pygmy sunfish, Elassoma alabamae, is a species of pygmy sunfish endemic to springs in northern Alabama. It was historically known to occur in springs in North Alabama along the Tennessee River in Limestone and Lauderdale counties. The spring pygmy sunfish was first discovered in Cave Spring in Lauderdale County, Alabama in 1937 but in 1938, this site was flooded by the creation of the Pickwick Reservoir. The spring pygmy sunfish was considered extinct until its rediscovery in the Beaverdam Spring complex in 1973 by researchers from the University of Tennessee.
Classification
- Class
- Actinopterygii
- Order
- Centrarchiformes
- Family
- Elassomatidae
- Genus
- Elassoma