Blue chub | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Cypriniformes |
Family: | Cyprinidae |
Genus: | Gila |
Species: | G. coerulea |
Binomial name | |
Gila coerulea Girard, 1856 | |
The blue chub (Gila coerulea) is a cyprinid fish found in the Klamath River and Lost River drainages of far northern California and southern Oregon.
Relatively slender among chubs, it has larger eyes than most and a terminal mouth that extends back nearly as far as the forward edge of the eye. Color is a nondescript dusky shade on the back and silvery on the sides; the name comes from the males at breeding time, whose snout becomes noticeably blue, along with orange tinges on the sides and the fins. There are 9 rays in the dorsal fin, 8–9 in the anal fin, and 14–17 in each pectoral. Length ranges up to 41 cm.
Blue chubs have a varied diet, including both aquatic and terrestrial insects, crustaceans, and filamentous algae. They occur in a variety of habitats in their range; abundant in lakes, they are also found in streams and rivers. In Upper Klamath Lake, they generally prefer rocky margins and open water to marshy shores, while along Boles Creek, they are most abundant in shallow weedy reservoirs.
Spawning extends from May through August, typically over shallow gravelled areas, of depths of 0.5 meters or less. Each female is attended by two or more males, who agitate the water and thrust against her while she lays eggs in masses that adhere to shoreline rocks. (C. R. Hazel observed some males pushing females entirely out of the water in their excitement.)
Although not officially listed as a threatened species, and common within their range, Moyle says that there is cause for concern; the range is geographically limited, and the population dropped in the 1980s and 1990s, due to a combination of drought, pollution (agricultural runoff), and pressure from introduced fathead minnows.
The thicktail chub was a type of minnow that inhabited the lowlands and weedy backwaters of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers in the Central Valley of California. It was once abundant in lowland lakes, marshes, ponds, slow-moving stretches of river, and, during years of heavy run-off, the surface waters of San Francisco Bay. The thicktail chub was one of the most common fish in California. Within Native American middens it represented 40% of the fish.
The Sacramento blackfish is a species of freshwater fish in central California. A cyprinid, the blackfish is the sole member of its genus.
The shortnose sucker , also known as the koptu by the Klamath Tribes, is a rare species of fish in the family Catostomidae, the suckers. It is native to southern Oregon and northern California in the United States. This species and related ones were a major food source for local tribes, and are still considered to be sacred animals. It is a federally listed endangered species of the United States.
The Utah chub is a cyprinid fish native to western United States, where it is abundant in the upper Snake River basin and the Bonneville basin.
The Tui chub is a cyprinid fish native to western North America. Widespread in many areas, it is a highly adaptable fish that has historically been a staple food source for native peoples.
The California roach is a cyprinid fish species complex native to western North America and abundant in the intermittent streams throughout central California. Once considered a single species, it has recently been split into a number of closely related species and subspecies. It is closely related to the Hitch, and together they form a species complex. The California roach derives its common name from its visual similarities to the roach of Europe, however they are not closely taxonomically related.
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The inland silverside is a neotropical silverside native to eastern North America, and introduced into California. It is a fish of estuaries and freshwater environments.
The bonytail chub or bonytail is a cyprinid freshwater fish native to the Colorado River basin of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming in the southwestern United States; it has been extirpated from the part of the basin in Mexico. It was once abundant and widespread in the basin, its numbers and range have declined to the point where it has been listed as endangered since 1980 (ESA) and 1986 (IUCN), a fate shared by the other large Colorado basin endemic fish species like the Colorado pikeminnow, humpback chub, and razorback sucker. It is now the rarest of the endemic big-river fishes of the Colorado River. There are 20 species in the genus Gila, seven of which are found in Arizona.
The Klamath largescale sucker is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Catostomidae. It is endemic to the Klamath River basin in northern California and southern Oregon, within the Western United States.
The Gila chub is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found in Mexico and the United States. The Gila chub is closely related to the roundtail chub. This species is commonly found in association with the Gila topminnow, the desert and Sonora sucker, and the longfin and speckled dace.
The headwater chub is a species of fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found in Arizona and New Mexico.
The river chub is a minnow in the family Cyprinidae. It is one of the most common fishes in North American streams.
Mylocheilus caurinus, the peamouth, peamouth chub, redmouth sucker or northwestern dace, is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish from the family Cyprinidae, the carps and minnows, that is found in western North America. It is the only species in its genus.
The prickly sculpin is a species of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Cottidae, the typical sculpins. It is native to the river drainages of the Pacific Slope of North America from Seward, Alaska south to the Ventura River of Southern California. It extends east of the Continental Divide in the Peace River of British Columbia. It has also been introduced to several reservoirs in Southern California.
Squalius squalus, commonly known as the Italian chub, or the chubius chub or cavedano, is a species of freshwater fish in the carp family Cyprinidae. It is native to southeastern Europe being found in Italy, Switzerland and the former Yugoslavia.
The marbled sculpin is a species of sculpin found in the Klamath and Pit River drainages in northern California and southern Oregon. Three subspecies have been identified: the upper Klamath marbled sculpin, which occurs in the Klamath River watershed above Klamath Falls; the lower Klamath marbled sculpin, which occurs in the Klamath River watershed downstream of Iron Gate Dam; and the bigeye marbled sculpin, which inhabits the Pit River Watershed. However, genetic analysis performed in 2012 indicated minimal difference between individuals from each of these three regions.
Oregon & Northern California Coastal is a freshwater ecoregion in western North America. It includes the coastal rivers of Oregon and Northern California, from the Columbia River mouth in northwestern Oregon to northern Monterey Bay in Central California. It includes the Umpqua, Rogue, Smith River, Klamath, Mad, Eel, and lower Russian rivers, and many smaller coastal rivers and streams, including those on the coast side of the Marin and San Francisco peninsulas.