Threatened fish gets 524 miles of habitat in Mississippi

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — More than 500 river miles have been designated critical habitat for a threatened fish species once found in Louisiana and Mississippi but now known only in part of its historic Mississippi range. The Center for Biological Diversity and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Wednesday that the new habitat designation affects the Pearl darter, a 2½-inch-long fish named for the Pearl River, but which is no longer found there or in any of its tributaries. Instead, remaining populations are found along the Pascagoula River system in southeast Mississippi. The critical habitat designation includes a section in the Pearl River basin where the fish can be reintroduced and other areas across 13 Mississippi counties.