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

n
TL), initially identified as a Colorado squawfish, was collected
from River Mile 139 while electrofishing in a deep, swift,
shoreline run. Additional YOY chub were noted in unsorted
backwater collections made in August.
There are no records of the humpback chub from the New
Mexico portion of the San Juan River drainage. There are,
however, two supposed records of bonytail from the San Juan River
in San Juan and Rio Arriba counties, New Mexico. One collection
(UNM 2945; n=1) was made near Turley in 1957 and the other (UNM
3524; n=9) was from near Rosa in 1960. Additional examination of
these specimens indicate that the original identifications were
in error and that they are actually roundtail chub.
SUMMARY
A study was undertaken in 1987 to survey the fish fauna of
the San Juan River from Farmington, New Mexico to the New Mexico-
Colorado border. The main emphases of the study were to
determine the presence/absence of rare or endangered fish species
in the San Juan River and provide an updated inventory of the
ichthyofauna and the aquatic habitats of that area. Sampling was
conducted in May, August, and October. Raft electrofishing was
employed on all three trips and backwaters were seine-sampled for
YOY fishes in October. A total of 21,852 fishes (18 species and
1 hybrid) were taken by all sampling methods. While non-native,
fishes were most abundant in seine samples, electrofishing
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