The phrase "snail darters" refers to a type of small fish that lives in rivers. These fish are called snail darters because they eat snails and resemble darters, which are small, quick-swimming fish. Full definition
At present, we may worry about snail darters and red squirrels in abstract terms. (discovermagazine.com)
However, Judge Taylor was on the side of Tennessee's Tellico Dam vs. the snail darter, and still says, with evident pain, «the thing had cost $ 116 million!» (si.com)
So little of it has been explored, she says, and it is so much harder than on land to see what is going on that there is no way to be sure that mining is not extinguishing species; we haven't had time to discover the snail darters and spotted owls. (discovermagazine.com)