Rare ice age fish thriving at Grey Mare’s Tail - National Trust for Scotland
A survey conducted at Grey Mare’s Tail Nature Reserve in Dumfries & Galloway has confirmed that the UK’s rarest freshwater fish continues to thrive at Loch Skeen in the Moffat Hills.
Vendace is a northern fish species which dates back to the ice age and requires deep, cold, and well-oxygenated lochs to survive, making Loch Skeen a suitable habitat. The species became extinct in Scotland during the 20th century and has only been known to exist at four sites across the UK: Bassenthwaite Lake and Derwent Water in the Lake District, and the Castle and Mill Lochs in Lochmaben, Dumfriesshire.
Vendace were successfully reintroduced to Loch Skeen at the Trust’s Grey Mare’s Tail Nature Reserve from Lake Bassenthwaite and Derwentwater in the late 1990s by Scottish Natural Heritage (now NatureScot) with the ambition to establish a thriving population. Loch Skeen was one of 108 lochs assessed for habitat suitability, and it is now home to a healthy population of vendace, with only one natural population currently remaining in Derwentwater.
Posted On: 04/11/2025
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