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The common and scientific names applied to the squawfish and the chubs have led to many <br />misidentifications over the years. Historically, fishermen of the Colorado River Basin pursued <br />the fish they called white salmon, squawfish, bonytail chub, and roundtail chub. There was a <br />great deal of confusion concerning the identification of the native species because of the <br />inconsistent use of the common names. Roundtail chubs (Gila robusta) are still called white <br />salmon by some fishermen, as are Colorado squawfish. The name bonytail chub was an accepted <br />common name for Gila robusta by the American Fisheries Society until the early 1960s, and some <br />biologists still use this name. When the ESA was passed, many fisherman ceased fishing for the <br />roundtail chub because of the confusion with the endangered squawfish and the bonytail chub. <br />The confusion with the nomenclature is not limited to the general public. Authors of several of <br />the often referenced scientific sources concerning historic distribution of these fish were apparently <br />unable to distinguish roundtail chubs from Colorado squawfish. <br />After nearly 25 years of observing the fish of the Upper Colorado River Basin, the logic of <br />separating the three Gila (chub) species (robusta, elegans, and cypha) is not clear to Mr. Kidd. <br />Specimens which exhibit various combinations of characteristics typical of more than one of these <br />taxa have been collected at many different locations over the years. Integrades appear to be the <br />rule rather than the exception in the Upper Colorado. Splitting the group into three species does <br />not seem to be supported by long term field observations. At least for the Upper Colorado, fish <br />considered to be bonytail chub and humpback chub may actually be variants of the much more <br />common and widely distributed roundtail chub (Wiltzius, 1978). <br />Razorback suckers (Xyrauchen texanus) were commonly referred to as humpback suckers by the <br />public and by professional fish biologists until about 1975. At that time, the common name <br />humpback sucker was abandoned to help prevent confusion with the humpback chub (Gila cypha). <br />9C nWPORT&BAWPP-C.WWE 4