[clarification needed] Silvery minnows tend to skim the bottom of rivers and stream, and are prolific spawners.

It is no surprise that a species so programmed for survival once dominated a biological niche that spanned 3,000 meandering miles (4,825 kilometers) from New Mexico to Texas.

[8] Even with the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow’s listing in 1994, its population has continued to drop at a great rate.

This pollution can be originated from many factors, the major ones being, effluents by the military and industrial companies as well as wastewater from cities and nearby towns.

Captured adult minnows are induced to spawn, either at the Albuquerque Biological Park or the Service's New Mexico Fishery Resources Office.

[7] as taken from the Van H. Gilbert Architect PC official page: [10] Van H. Gilbert Architect PC, in association with FishPro, developed conceptual and final design for a naturalized refugium for propagation of the endangered Rio Grande silvery minnow at the City of Albuquerque's Biological Park.

The facility consists of a 50,000 gallon outdoor refugium as well as a 3,500 SF building with tiers of aquarium tanks that contain tens of thousands of baby minnows, each no more than a sixth of an inch long.