8101

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 8101
• Author: Lentsch, L. D., Y. Converse, P. D. Thompson, D. T. A. Crowl and D. C. A. Toline.
• Title: Bonytail Reintroduction Plan for the Upper Colorado River Basin - Final Report.
• USFW Year: 1996.
• USFW - Doc Type: Salt Lake City, Utah.
• Copyright Material: NO

Secondly, closely related species, such as humpback chub (Gila cypha)
and roundtail chub (Gila robusta), sustain wild populations in sections of the
upper Colorado River system, which suggests extirpated bonytail populations
could be successfully reintroduced if ecological requirements are fulfilled.
This rationale supports reintroduction of bonytail. In fact, without some
form of stocking, eventual loss of this species from its natural environment
in the UCRB is inevitable (Valdez and Clemmer 1982).
The following sections of the introduction are not intended as a
complete summary of the bonytail life history or its status. A more detailed
analysis of the ecological requirements of the bonytail are provided in the
Bonytail Chub Recovery Plan (USFWS 1987; USFWS 1990) and in several review
papers (i.e., Ferriole 1988; Valdez and Clemmer 1982).
Background
Taxonomy
The bonytail is an endemic cyprinid of the Colorado River system.
Because bonytail, humpback chub, and roundtail chub are closely related, any
references to 'bonytail' before 1970 can only be tentatively accepted as a
reference to G. elegans. In addition, potential hybridization makes positive
field identification sometimes difficult. Although, morphometric and genetic
studies suggest these fish may be discrete species, the taxonomic integrity of
the bonytail is still under debate (Holden and Stalnaker 1970; Smith et al.
1979; Douglas et al. 1989; Dowling and DeMarais 1993). Dowling et al. (1995)
reported that despite evidence of recent hybridization events, bonytail
mitochondrial DNA is rare, yet present, in the UCRB. Allozyme, mtDNA and