Chucky madtom (Noturus crypticus)CONSERVATION FISHERIES INC
Last week, the US Fish and Wildlife Service cleared 374 plant and animal species from the southeastern United States for a more thorough review that will determine whether or not they should make the endangered species list. The list includes rare aquatic and wetland-dwelling species such as the Florida bog frog and the fish known as the chucky madtom, which has been spotted by scientists a mere 15 times in the past 70 years, ScienceInsider reported.
The initial decisions come as a result of a legal settlement struck earlier this summer between the government and several environments groups, which required the Service to address more than 700 endangered species petitions by the year 2018.