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U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE Fish & Wildlife Service For more information contact: Public Affai.s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 6 P.O. Box 25486. DFC Denver, CO 80225 303-236-7904 Bony tail chub (Gila elegans) 18 Inches Status: o Listed as endangered by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1980 o Endangered under Colorado law since 1976 o listed as .protected" in Utah since 1974 o On Arizona list of threatened and endangered species since 1975 o listed as rare by Califomia since 1971 o listed as .a.e by Nevada since 1969 o Bonytail Chub Recovery Plan approved May 16. 1984; revised September 4, 1990 Descriotion: Bony tail chub have large fins and a streamlined body that becomes thin in front of the tail. This minnow has a gray or olive-colored back. silver sides and a white belly. Bony tail can grow to 24 inches or more and have been known to live nearly 50 years. Bony tail chub are thought to have evolved about 10.000 years ago. The bony tail is the rarest of the endangered fish in t!1e upper Colorado River Basin and is nearly extinct in the wild. Distribution: Once reported to be abundant in parts of the upper and lower Colorado River Basin. the bony tail chub is eJ<tremely rare. Only a handful have been captured in the last decade. The most recent captures of bonytail chub have occurred in Lake Mohave and Lake Havasu in the Lower Basin. Other recent captures were in the Vampa River in Dinosaur National Monument, from the Green River in Desolation and Gray canyons, on the Colorado River at the Colorado/Utah Border. and at the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers upstream of lake Powell, Utah. Habitat: Bonytail chub are thought to spawn during late June and early July in water temparatures around 1 B degrees Celsius. No reproducing populations are known in the wild. Available information suggests that bonytail chub may use flooded. ponded, or inundated riverine habitats. In reservoirs. this fish occupies the open water areas. Recently, the bonytail chub numbers in lake Mohave were augmented by introducing the fish in a protected cove.