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Changing Fish Fauna of the Southwest 385
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<br />
<br /> scribed from Rush Creek, a small tributary of Ash Creek, near Adin,
<br /> Modoc County, California, in the upper basin of Pit River, a part of
<br /> the Sacramento River system. Three specimens were collected there
<br /> on September 1, 1898 (Rutter, 1908, pp. 120-121, fig. 1). So far as I
<br /> am aware, this sucker was not taken again until August 16, 1934,
<br /> when Carl L. Hubbs secured 27 specimens (UMMZ 130643) from
<br /> Rush Creek about 6 miles above Adin; no additional collections have
<br /> tome to my attention. In response to my request for information on
<br /> the status of this species, J. B. Kimsey (letter of May 4, 1960) wrote
<br /> that the California Department of Fish and Game failed to take any
<br /> suckers in the 3.7 mile section of lower Rush Creek that was used as
<br /> a test stream from 194:7 to 1951. This, however, is not the part of the
<br /> stream from which the Modoc sucker has been collected. An effort
<br /> should be made to determine whether this extremely localized fish still
<br /> survives and, if so, to provide the means for its protection.
<br /> Chasmistes horus Jordan, June sucker.-The status of this species,
<br /> known only from Utah Lake, Utah, is not clear. Tanner (1936, p. 166)
<br /> tentatively synonymized it with Catostomus f ecundus Cope and Yar-
<br /> row, but these 2 suckers, as well as C. ardens Jordan and Gilbert, are
<br /> beat regarded as valid, pending critical study of the types and all
<br /> available material. The species was formerly common, as was the
<br /> trout of Utah Lake. The severe drought of the mid-1930'x, coupled
<br /> with domestic use of the waters of Provo River (the principal source
<br /> of Utah Lake), so severely reduced the sucker population of the lake
<br /> that in 1935 commercial fishing was abandoned, and, according to
<br /> Tanner (1936, p. 167), there was no spring spawning migration up
<br /> Provo River for the first time in history. However, a few fish of this
<br /> type, or possibly hybrids, were collected in this stream by Carl L.
<br /> Hubbs in 1942, and an adult was captured in Utah Lake by B. Arnold
<br /> (Utah Dept. of Fish and Game) on March 21, 1959. If not yet extinct,
<br /> this species is certainly seriously threatened.
<br /> Chasmistes cujus Cope, cui-ui.-This species formerly spawned in
<br /> the lower Truckee River, Nevada, and was abundant in deep water
<br /> in the two lakes-Pyramid and Winnemucca-at the terminus of the
<br /> river. During the spectacular spawning run, this large sucker provided
<br /> a major source of food for the Indians and was of great importance in
<br /> their tribal economy. Snyder (1917, p. 53) wrote: "The flesh of this
<br /> species is highly prized by the Indians. In former times the coming of
<br />the `cui-ui' was a great event, not only for the Pyramid Lake tribe
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