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William Pflieger: River Crusader
| Article
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20520 |
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Section : |
NATURAL SCIENCE
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| Issue
Date : |
5 / 1992 |
2,994 Words |
| Author
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Vince Magers
Vince Magers is a science writer based in Greenwood,
Missouri. He wishes to thank the following for their
assistance: Alan Haney, dean of the College of Natural
Resources at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point;
Sheila Larrabee, naturalist with the Missouri Department of
Natural Resources (DNR) at Knob Noster State Park; Mike
Currier, natural resource steward, and Terry Callahan,
assistant natural resource steward, both of Missouri's DNR. |
William Pflieger pauses inside a large room lined with shelves holding scores of jars containing specimens of fish and crayfish he and others have collected over the years. He scans the identification labels and stops at Etheostoma nianguage, the Niangua darter. He plucks the jar off the shelf and holds it up to ponder the small brightly colored fish inside. After surviving for centuries in the creeks and streams of Missouri's Ozark region, the darter has fallen on hard times with more than a little help from mankind.
"It certainly existed here for thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of years before the white man settled this part of the country," Pflieger says of the darter, which he has studied a great deal over the last decade. The darter was declared a threatened species after its numbers declined all across its range, which consists solely of Missouri's Osage River basin. Pflieger's recovery plan for the darter is now guiding federal and state officials as they attempt to reverse the fish's slide toward extinction.
Working as an ichthyologist with the Missouri Department of Conservation, Pflieger has publicized the growing threats facing the darter and the state's other aquatic species as well as the need for protective measures. At a time when aquatic animals got scarce public attention, Pflieger championed the cause of imperiled species like the darter and more common ones by conducting crucial research detailing man's impact on them and their habitat. While much of his work has focused on the Missouri species, his studies hold important insights for drainage areas of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers far beyond the state of Missouri.
In a career spanning more than 30 years he has chalked up an impressive list of accomplishments. His first official act for the state conservation agency was to research and write the first definitive study on Missouri fishes and their distribution that still stands as the most comprehensive look at the state's nearly 200 wild fish species. He later published The Fishes of Missouri, which features detailed illustrations of each species and Pflieger's insights into the habits, range, habitat, and other details on each fish. Today, 15 years after being published, it is still regarded as the most complete book on the state's fish.
Pflieger has greatly expanded what was known of several of the state's fish species, including the orangethroat darter, redfin shiner, smallmouth bass, and the spring cavefish. In the late 1960s, when the introduction of nonnative species had become a
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