6001

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 6001
• Author: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, C. R. F. R. T.
• Title: Colorado Squawfish Recovery Plan.
• USFW Year: 1978.
• USFW - Doc Type: \
• Copyright Material: NO

Historical Distribution and Abundance '
Colorado squawfish are found only in the Colorado River basin. Early
records indicate they were abundant throughout the mainstream and most

of the major tributaries from Green River, Wyoming to Yuma, Arizona, ,
including the Gila River Basin in Arizona (See Fig. 1). Specific
localities include:
,.
'
1. Arizona: Gila River and its tributaries the San Pedro, Salt,
White and Verde rivers; throughout the Colorado River mainstream
from the Mexican border to Lake Powell (Hinckley 1973).
2. Utah: Once found along the entire reach of the Colorado and Green
rivers, the San Juan, White, Dolores and probably numerous smaller

streams (Holden 1973). '
3. Nevada: Only in the Colorado River Mainstream (La Rivers 1962).

4. California: Found only in the mainstream Colorado River from the
Mexican border to the Nevada state line (Hinckley 1973).
5. New Mexico: Once found in the San Juan and Animas rivers (Koster '
1957; Conway 1975).
6. Colorado: The Colorado River and lower reaches of the Gunnison, '
White, Yampa, Dolores, San Juan, Uncompahgre and Animas rivers
(Jordan 1891; Lemons 1954; Johnson 1976).

An indication of the prior abundance of Colorado squawfish was their use
as fertilizer when they became stranded in drainage ditches (_Miller
1961). Another was their widespread reputation as a food fish. Dis-
cussions with long-time residents from Colorado to Arizona indicate
squawfish or "white salmon" were well known by early settlers.
Present Distribution and Abundance '
Present distribution of Colorado squawfish is difficult to determine
because of the isolated nature of several of the river reaches they
are known to inhabit (i.e., Grand, Desolation and Yampa canyons). In
addition, high salinities,~sw2ft, variable currents and high turbidity
make these rivers difficult to inventory effectively. In the lower
basin Miller and Lowe (1964) and Hinckley and Deacon (1968) have re-
ported them as probably extinct in the Gila River basin, and Hinckley
(1973) expanded this classification to all Arizona's waters. The 1958
record of this species from the Salt River, Arizona (Branson, et al, ,
1966) is based upon a misidentification of the roundtail chub, Gila
robusta (R. R. Miller pers. comm., XII: 1976). In the Upper Basin of
the Colorado River, Holden and Stalnaker (1975-b) classified