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Last modified
7/14/2009 5:02:35 PM
Creation date
5/20/2009 10:17:31 AM
Metadata
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UCREFRP
UCREFRP Catalog Number
9404
Author
Douglas, M. E. and P. C. Marsh.
Title
Ecology and Conservation Biology of Humpback Chub (Gila cypha) in the Little Colorado River.
USFW Year
1996.
USFW - Doc Type
Tempe.
Copyright Material
NO
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"The Colorado is probably the most utilized, controlled, and <br />fought over river in the world. It flows through lands of <br />incomparable beauty and includes nearly seven percent of the <br />nation's contiguous land mass, including parts of seven states. <br />From the time of early settlers to the present, the waters of the <br />Colorado River have been the key to development of the arid <br />region" (Crawford and Peterson, 1974:vi). <br />Waters of the Colorado River basin are not only economically <br />important, but also contain the most distinctive ichthyofauna in <br />North America, with species-level endemism approaching 75% <br />(Minckley, 1991) (93% if undescribed forms and subspecies are <br />included, as in Carlson and Muth, 1989). The parallel importance <br />of economic potential and ichthyofaunal diversity has initiated a <br />class-Lc and ongoing confrontation between development and <br />conservation (see Wydowski and Hamill, 1991). <br />From the conservation viewpoint, at risk is a unique and <br />endemic ichthyofauna of ancient origin, extending as far back as <br />the Miocene (Miller, 1959, 1961; Minckley et al., 1986). These <br />fishes possess remarkable adaptations to survive in a turbulent <br />environment. Foremost are a suite of morphological and anatomical <br />modifications which may act in concert to minimize the river's <br />impact upon the phenotype of the fish while optimizing the <br />abilities of the fish to negotiate boulder-strewn, high velocity <br />rapids. While alternative hypotheses may explain the evolution of <br />these phenotypes, morphological trends across numerous, unrelated <br />taxa speak for commonality in other than phylogeny, and the <br />selective arena of the river seems reasonable (Minckley, <br />1991:128). The majority of these fishes are endangered (or <br />candidates for such listing; see Minckley and Douglas, 1991), due <br />to numerous recent habitat modifications by modern humans. <br />The specialized morphologies of the mainstream Colorado <br />River fish fauna reach their culmination in the phenotype of <br />humpback chub (Gila cypha; Fig. 1--1), the most remarkably <br />specialized minnow in western North America and one of the most <br />bizarre in the world (Miller, 1964; Minckley, 1991; Douglas, <br />1993; and references therein). It is known only from the Colorado <br />River and its major, swift-flowing tributaries (Holden and <br />Minckley, 1980); it occurs only sporadically and is seldom <br />locally abundant, particularly when compared to other indigenous' <br />fishes. Gila cypha has been recorded from: (a) the gorge sections <br />of the Green and Yampa rivers in Utah and Colorado (Green River <br />Wilderness Area and Dinosaur National Monument, respectively); <br />(b) the Colorado River in Utah above Lake Powell (Canyonlands <br />National Park) ; and (c) the Colorado River above its junction <br />with the Green River [between confluences of the Dolores (in <br />eastern Utah) and Gunnison rivers (in western Colorado; Fig. 1-- <br />2a)]. Gila cypha was also within other canyon-bound reaches of <br />the Colorado River, as documented from archaeological remains <br />(Miller, 1955; Miller and Smith, 1984; Sigler and Miller, 1963). <br />1
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