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INTRODUCTION About 80 species of fish are found in Colorado, a tiny fraction of the 40,000- plus species as described by man throughout the world. Approximately 30 of the species in Colorado are commonly sought by anglers for food or sport. The remaining 50 species are, for the most part, little known or poorly understood. Often termed :'Rough" or "Trash" fish, nothing could be further from the truth. Somis represent untapped sources of pro- tein available for human consumption. Others are abundant enough, and suit- able, for harvest and sale as bait species. Still others are beautiful in form and color. All are important in the intricate inter- weavings of the complex aquatic ecosystem. This book deals with the various spe- cies, minnow, sucker, darter, and others, 50 in all, not commonly sought by the angler. Descriptions, county distribution maps and brief life history notes are pro- vided. Several of these species are suit- able for use as bait fish. Fishermen inter- ested in gathering their own bait fish can use this publication to identify suitable Historic Studies of Colorado's Fish Fauna Throughout the years there have been few studies of the fish fauna of Colorado. Notable are the studies of David Starr Jor- dan (1891) entitled "Report of Explora- tions in Colorado and Utah During the Summer of 1889 with an Account of the Fishes Found in each of the River Basins Examined," and by Max M. Ellis (1914) en- titled "Fishes of Colorado". Neither these, or other early workers, had time or equip- ment to completely sample all streams within a specific river basin. As a result, not all species in a given drainage may have been collected. With the work of later investigators, additional species were found, but, by this time an extensive fish stocking program by governmental and private entities had introduced many exotic species. Thus, it is impossible in several cases to determine if a species is native to the state, or a result of accidental introduction. Only recently have studies been per- formed in specific drainage basins which included sampling of all tributaries, large and small, permanently flowing as well as intermittant in nature. Propst (1982) analyzed the fish fauna of the North and South Platte rivers. Cancalosi (1980) reported on the fish fauna of the Republi- can River Basin in eastern Colorado. Cur- rently, studies are being done on the Arkansas and Rio Grande river systems. Both early and recent studies have shown that fish communities of each river basin differ in species composition. Also, the historic distribution of fish species has been greatly changed by habitat altera- tion, man's modification of the physical and chemical environment, and fish stocking programs. A list of the species included in this book is presented in Table 1. The reader is referred to the individual descriptions for information pertaining to each species. TABLE 1 Fishes of Colorado Included in this publication Ictaluridae Stonecat Noturus f lauus Osmeridae Rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax Gasterosteidae Brook stickleback Culaea inconstans species and determine what habitat types support the species they want. Other indi- viduals may be interested in the commer- cial possibilities that exist in terms of some of the species. Commercial fisher- men can harvest some species for sale as bait or feed. Two minnow species can be reared in ponds, harvested, and sold profitably as bait fish. Prior to discussing individual species, an overview of Col- orado's fish fauna is required to under- stand the current distributional status of fish species in Colorado. Cyprinidae Carp Cyprinus carpio Goldfish Carassius auratus Stoneroller Campostoma anomalum *Northern redbelly dace Phoxinus eos *Southern redbelly dace Phoxinus erythrogaster Longnose dace Rhinicthys cataractae Speckled dace Rhinicthys osculus *Colorado squawfish Ptychocheilus lucius Roundtail chub Gila robusta *Humpback chub Gila cypha *Bonytail Gila elegans Rio Grande chub Gila pandora Creek chub Semotilus atromaculatus Flathead chub Hybopsis gracilis Suckermouth minnow Phenacobius mirabilis Fathead minnow Pimephales promelas Brassy minnow Hybognathus hankinsoni *Plains minnow Hybognathus placitus Colorado's Little Fish