7617

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7617
• Author: Platania, S. P. and K. R. Bestgen.
• Title: Survey of the Fishes of the Lower San Juan River, New Mexico.
• USFW Year: 1987.
• USFW - Doc Type: Albuquerque, New Mexico.
• Copyright Material: NO

above that point, but the species was very common in the rest of
the study area. Flannelmouth sucker, bluehead sucker, common
carp, channel catfish, speckled dace, and brown trout were, in
descending order, the six most abundant forms on all three trips.
The only deviation from this pattern of species abundance was on
the October trip when more channel catfish than common carp were
taken.
Seine samples
Seine collections were made in backwater habitats from the
confluence of the Animas-San Juan rivers (Farmington.) downstream
to the Colorado-New Mexico border. A total of 16,793 specimer)s
was collected in 25 backwater collections during the October
survey (Tables 7 and 8). Due to time constraints, nine samples
from the October survey remain unsorted. An additional 34
samples (not required by the contract) collected in the August
survey also remain unsorted. All samples made in October from
the lowermost 20 river miles have been sorted and those data are
included in this report.
The catch was dominated by non-native species. Eleven of
the sixteen species (69%) and 87% of the total catch in the seine
samples analyzed were introduced forms. Red shiners ranked first
in abundance and were taken in all but two of the 25 collections.
Fathead minnow were the second most common species collected and
were found at all but one site. The mosquitofish ranked third in
total abundance, but was the most cosmopolitan species, as it was
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