Above: One of very few surviving photos of the San Marcos gambusia
No one has reported seeing a San Marcos gambusia fish since Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” was at the top of the musical charts. This fall, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) decided that was long enough to wait to declare the 2-inch mosquito-eater officially extinct.
Getting a species declared extinct, it turns out, is tough. In Texas and nationwide, there are many plant and animal species that haven’t been seen in decades but still have not been delisted.
