Key silverside
Menidia conchorum
Overall vulnerability:
Conservation status:
State ThreatenedGeneral Information
The Key silverside is a small, silver fish with distinct large eyes. Key silversides primarily feed on small insects and crustaceans. This species spawns in winter, using surrounding substrate as its site to lay eggs. The silverside attaches the eggs to the substrate through thin fibers attached to a central stem. This species has an expected life span of about one year in the wild.
Habitat Requirements
Key silversides are endemic to the middle and lower Florida Keys where they inhabit calm saline lagoons. Silversides prefer areas with limited tidal activity and exchange. This species is known to be tolerant of various salinities. Despite having a small geographic range, silversides are abundant within the limited areas where they occur.
Habitats:
Climate Impacts
Despite the Key Silverside’s relative abundance within their habitat, these fish face many challenges due to climate change. Sea Level rise poses a serious threat to the Key silverside. As waters rise, their calm lagoons face risk of inundation, introducing additional competition in a less than ideal habitat. Increasingly intense weather patterns could cause flooding and storm events that further damage silverside habitat. In addition to climatic threats, these fish are threatened by habitat loss stemming from human activities and coastal development.
More information about general climate impacts to species in Florida.
Vulnerability Assessment(s)
The overall vulnerability level was based on the following assessment(s):
Standardized Index of Vulnerability and Value Assessment
Vulnerability: Slightly vulnerableThe primary factors contributing to vulnerability of the Key silverside are sea level rise, presence of barriers, and habitat fragmentation.
Adaptation Strategies
- Conservation and restoration of existing coastal habitat, including preventing over-development near silverside habitat, is critical to increase habitat and species health and resilience at the onset of intensifying climate change.
- Avoiding shoreline hardening methods in favor of nature-based solutions for shoreline protection such as living shorelines may benefit this species.