<br />Stanton's Cave is 51 river kilometers below Lees Ferry,
<br />Coconino County, Arizona, in the inner gorge of Mar-
<br />ble Canyon, and lies at an elevation of 927 meters. Here
<br />the river makes an abrupt S-bend some 50 river kilo-
<br />meters north of the mouth of the Little Colorado River.
<br />The entrance to the cave lies 44 meters above the river
<br />and measures about 6.1 meters wide and 9.1 meters
<br />high; passageways extend almost 61 meters into the
<br />limestone bluff. The site is designated Ariz. C:5:3 in
<br />the archeological survey records of Grand Canyon
<br />National Park.
<br />The fish remains recovered from Stanton's Cave by
<br />Robert C. Euler (Table 5-1) represent nearly all of the
<br />species known to be native to this part of the Colo-
<br />rado River: the humpback chub, Gila cypha Miller;
<br />bonytail, Gila elegans Baird and Girard; and Colorado-}
<br />squawfish, PVhocheilus lucius Girard, orinidae
<br />(minnows); the flannelmouth sucker, Catostomus lati-
<br />pinnis Baird and Girard, and bluehead sucker, Catos-
<br />tomus discobolus Cope, of the Catostomidae (suckers).
<br />Among the large riverine fishes, only the razorback
<br />sucker, Xyrauchen texanus (Abbott), is missing. The
<br />roundtail chub, Gila robusta Baird and Girard, is rare
<br />in the main river, but does occur in the Little Colorado
<br />River. The only mainstream records are from near and
<br />well above Lees Ferry (Holden and Minckley 1980).
<br />Notes on Gila cypha, Humpback chub
<br />Bones of the humpback chub in Stantoes Cave pro-
<br />vide evidence for the ancient distinctiveness of this
<br />species. This large, bizarre minnow is known to attain
<br />a maximum size of 320 mm S.L. Its type locality is in
<br />Grand Canyon near the mouth of Bright Angel Creek
<br />(Miller 1946). It has since been recorded as far down-
<br />river as Boulder Canyon, 39 km below Hoover Dam
<br />(from archeological material, Miller 1955), and as far
<br />up the Colorado River drainage as Flaming Gorge and
<br />Hideout Canyon on the Green River, to just north of
<br />the Wyoming border (Smith et al. 1979). We may spec-
<br />ulate that it once occurred up, the San Juan giver at
<br />least as far as the Goosenecks, which begin a few kilo-
<br />meters west of Mexican Hat, Utah.
<br />The humpback chub is now known to be present in
<br />the Colorado drainage at (1) the canyon region of the
<br />lower Yampa and Green rivers in Dinosaur National
<br />Monument, (2) Desolation and Gray canyons in the
<br />lower Green River, (3) the Black Rocks area in Ruby
<br />Canyon, and Westwater Canyon, both on the Colorado
<br />River not far above and below the Utah-Colorado state
<br />line, and (4) the Grand Canyon region, chiefly the lower
<br />21 km of the Little Colorado River (Behnke and Benson,
<br />1980, and supplementary information).
<br />The controversy over the recognition of the hump-
<br />back chub as a full species (Miller 1955; Minckley and
<br />Deacon 1968; Holden and Stalnaker 1970) has been dis-
<br />cussed by Smith et al. 1979, who dealt with morpho-
<br />metric and meristic traits. One potentially valuable
<br />organ system, the skeleton, has heretofore remained
<br />almost unexplored for systematic characters that might
<br />help to resolve the uncertainty over recognizing the
<br />humpback chub as a full species. Because the Stanton's
<br />Cave material co nnrisec bones only we have exan1-
<br />ined the skeletons of big-river members of the genus
<br />Gila that inhabit the middle and upper parts of the Col-
<br />orado River basin: Gila robusta, G. elegans, and G. cypha.
<br />Our observations are summarized below.
<br />The cave material (Table 5-1) is from: (1) the surface
<br />of antechamber 1 (June 17, 1969, R.C. Euler, J. Ware,
<br />B. Harrill, collectors), an incomplete neurocranium with
<br />Weberian apparatus attached (Figure 5-11)), plus 9
<br />attached vertebrae and 3 ribs; and (2) a pack rat's nest
<br />adjacent to FS #14 (June 1969,"L. Powers, collector), a
<br />left pectoral girdle (Figure 5-3B). All of these remains
<br />are non-mineralized; their age may be as great as 4000
<br />years B.P.(Robert C. Euler, personal communication,
<br />1971).
<br />One of the best osteological features that distinguish
<br />Gila cypha from its relatives is the prominent supra-
<br />occipital process (Figure 5-1C,D), which is expanded
<br />so that the dorsal border lies above the dorsal profile
<br />of the skull (consistent in 5 skulls examined). This
<br />enlarged process, evidently developed for muscle attach-
<br />ment associated with the prominent fleshy hump, is
<br />also readily seen on radiographs (58 examined, repre-
<br />senting materials from widely separated localities)
<br />where it is well developed in specimens that have
<br />attained 200 mm S.L. In Gila robusta (Figure 5-1A) the
<br />process is elongate but not elevated, and in G. elegans
<br />(Figure 54B) it is higher than in robusta but does not
<br />extend above the dorsal profile of the skull.
<br />The angle of the neural and hemal spines to the cen-
<br />tre of the posterior caudal vertebrae is a useful feature
<br />used to separate Gila cypha and its close relatives (Gehl-
<br />bach and Miller 1961; Minckley and Alger 1968). The
<br />vertebral spines of G. robusta are least parallel and those
<br />of G. elegans are most parallel with the centra (Figure
<br />5-2A-D).
<br />The anterior arm of the pectoral girdle is distinctive
<br />in Gila cypha. A strong dorso-lateral ridge forms a deep
<br />sulcus at the base of the posterior (vertical) arm, where-
<br />as in both G. elegans and G. robusta this ridge is weak
<br />or obsolete (Figure 5-3A,B).
<br />in a m en?a? y, I- Specie recovered i- m Stanton
<br />Cave include, among the minnows (family Cyprinidae),
<br />Gila cypha, humpback chub, with a weight to nearly 1
<br />kg, locally common; Gila elegans, bonytail, with a
<br />weight to nearly 1 kg, rare; and PVhocheilus lucius, Col-
<br />orado squawfish, with a weight to over 20 kg, rare.
<br />Among the suckers (family Catostomidae) are Catos-
<br />tomus latipinnis, flannelmouth sucker, with a weight to
<br />over 1 kg, locally common; and Catostomus discobolus,
<br />bluehead sucker, with a weight to ca. 5 kg, locally
<br />common.
<br />Acknowledgments
<br />We are grateful to Ted Hatch, of Hatch River Expe-
<br />ditions, for facilitating our river survey in 1968 from
<br />Lees Ferry to Diamond Creek. In 1975, the first author
<br />was sponsored for a similar trip by the National Park
<br />Service. In both years, permits to collect were kindly
<br />arranged by the Arizona Game and Fish Department
<br />and the Superintendent of Grand Canyon National
<br />Park. Michael L. Smith determined several of the sucker
<br />bones. We thank George Junne for preparing Figures
<br />5-1-3. To Frances H. Miller we are indebted for typing
<br />and editing the manuscript.
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