A small minnow may soon be added to teh state’s endangered species list. The Iowa Natyural Resources Commission will consider adding the “Topeka Shiner” to Iowa’s list of protected species. Iowa Department of Natural Resources zoologist Daryl Howell sats the Topeka shiner used to live in 22 counties, but it’s found in just a handful now. If the shiner is placed on Iowa’s endangered species list, it’ll be illegal to catch it. The Topeka shiner is already on the federal endangered species list as the minnow now lives in less than 10 percent of the small prairie streams it used to inhabit.
