7112

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 7112
• Author: Minckley, C. O.
• Title: Fishes of Arizona.
• USFW Year: 1973.
• USFW - Doc Type: Arizona State University,
• Copyright Material: YES

1
INTRODUCTION
Habitats of Arizona Fishes
Arizona is known throughout the world for its picturesque scenery,
and principally for its rugged topography .which has obviously been
shaped and maintained mostly by waters in which fishes live, or were
formerly present. Arizona is one of the most diversified areas in the Conti-
nental United States, with climate ranging from arid and hot at lower
elevations in the southwest, to cold, treeless tundra on the highest peaks
of major, north-central mountains. Intervening areas include almost all
conceivable kinds of habitat, from grassland through deciduous forest
to conifers (reviewed by Lowe, 196. Since waters are profoundly in-
fluenced by the climate and habitats in which they occur, or through
which they flow, the habitats of fishes in Arizona are almost equally
diverse. Development of the water resources, however, a necessity if
man is to use and flourish in the lower elevation, highly-productive desert
regions, has changed fish habitats severely, and has destroyed or vastly
modified most native fish environments in one manner or another.
Most fish habitats in Arizona, prior to modifications, consisted of
_ flowing streams. Springs, which are so important in adjacent states such
as Nevada and California, were (and are increasingly) uncommon and small
in size. Closed basins, also common in adjacent regions (Miller 1946a;
Hubbs & Miller, 1948), were essentially absent in times past (such as during
Glacial periods). Only two major areas of internal drainage are now
present, the Wilcox Playa (Pluvial Lake Cochise) in the southwest, and
the Hualapai (Red) Dry Lake in the northwest (Map 1). The former now
supports a few introduced fishes in artificial tanks, isolated springs, and
tributary streams, and appears to have had only a few native species
in the past. The latter was apparently fishless (Hubbs & Miller, 1948),
but now has a few introduced species living in artificial tanks within
its basin. A few other small areas, such as the closed-basin lakes along
the Mogollon Rim (Cole, 1963), were also fishless prior to their general
development for recreational purposes and stocking of trouts and associ-
a#ed game and forage species.
Most of the state is drained by the Colorado River and its tributaries.
The largest tributary is the Gila River in the south. Second largest is the
basin of the Little Colorado River, in the northeast. The Bill Williams River
system, north and west of the Gila, is third in size of drainage area.
Artificial impoundments created on these rivers, plus those on the main-
stream of the Colorado River, now make up the major surface waters
of Arizona, and provide living space for enormous numbers of fishes,
most of which are introduced from elsewhere. A number of smaller systems
(Map 1), such as Havasupai Creek, and the Paria, San Juan, and Virgin
systems, have insignificant drainage areas, or enter Arizona from an
adjacent state. They are nonetheless important since they provide dif-
ferent kinds of habitats, which are in part inhabited by different kinds
of fishes.