Arizona Fish

Arizona’s native fish are adapted to limited habitats, drought, and flash floods.  One or possibly two minnow-sized natives occupy the uppermost stretch of perennial water in the Agua Fria River.  Massive summer floods occur in most years.  The floods seem almost certain to sweep away the tiny fish, but after the floods ebb, I always find the little guys in their small schools in the shallow water of the main channel.  Their technique for surviving the floods is simple.  As water rises, they swim out into the slow-moving, margins of the flood amidst the grass, shrubs and trees of the floodplain. Perhaps they look forward to these summer mini-vacations.

Arizona’s fish are not adapted to human civilization.  Our most lethal attacks on the fish include:  Introducing exotic species such as carp, bass, and trout; damming and diverting streams; removing the protective vegetation of the watersheds by logging and livestock grazing, and filling the streams with toxic chemicals.  “Out of the 36 fish species native to Arizona, one species is already extinct; 34 have been identified as Species of Greatest Conservation Need in Arizona; and, 20 have been federally listed as endangered or threatened. A special and irreplaceable part of Arizona could easily disappear if more native fish species are lost” (Arizona Game and Fish Department website).

______________

Robert Miller and Charles Lowe assembled a checklist of Arizona fish about 50 years ago.

      During the century 1850-1960, striking changes took place in the aquatic habitats and in the fishes of Arizona, and this upset of natural conditions is continuing undiminished.  Contraction and elimination of surface flows have restricted distributions, and the stocking of exotic species has resulted in replacement as well as reductions of native kinds (Miller 1961).  Although no indigenous fish is yet known to have been eliminated from the state, the following species are nearing extinctions in Arizona:  the native trout (Salmo gilae), humpback chub (Gila cypha), Colorado squawfish (Ptychocheilus lucius), Little Colorado spinedace (Lepidomeda vittata, restricted to Arizona), desert pupfish (Cyprinodon macularius), and Gila topminnow (Poeciliopsis occidentalis) (Miller and Lowe 1964:  133).

The species that concerned Miller and Lowe have hung on, but their prospects for survival have declined.  The effects of water pollution are especially well-documented in large, long-lived fish such as the introduced Largemouth Bass and Channel Catfish.  These species are often deformed, and contain hazardous levels of mercury.  Unfortunately, animals such as the Belted Kingfisher and the Bald Eagle, are dependent on the fish even though they might be too toxic for human use.

The checklist below is based on the work by Dale Turner and Michael List (2007), the Arizona Game and Fish Department, and the North American Native Fishes Association (NANFA).  The names follow Nelson et al. (2004).  The ASIH, AZGFD, and NANFA websites contain useful information.  The AZGFD website includes native fish distribution maps, but the maps do not show which species are the ones in the northernmost perennial stretch of the Agua Fria River in Dewey-Humboldt.

References and Notes

AZGFD, Arizona Game and Fish Department:  http://www.azgfd.gov .

ASIH, American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists:  http://www.asih.org.

Miller, R.R.  1961.  Man and the changing fish fauna of the American Southwest.  Papers Mich. Acad. Sci., Arts, and Lett. 46: 365-404.

Miller, R. R., and C.H. Lowe.  1964.  Fishes of Arizona.  Pages 133-151 in Lowe, C.H., ed.  The vertebrates of Arizona.  University of Arizona Press, Tucson. 270 p.

Nelson J.S., E.J. Crossman, H. Espinosa-Pérez, L.T. Findley, C.R. Gilbert, R.N. Lea, and J.D. Williams.  2004.  Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico, 6th ed. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, MD.  386 p.

North American Native Fishes Association:  http://www.nanfa.org.

Turner, D.S. and M.D. List.  2007.  Habitat mapping and conservation analysis to identify critical streams for Arizona’s native fish.  Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 17:  737-748.

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service:  http://www.fws.gov.

U. S. Forest Service.  2007.  Regional Forester’s list of sensitive animals:  http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsbdev3_021328.pdf.

Symbols Used in the Checklist

            An asterisk (*) in the left check box indicates Tier 1A “Species of Greatest Conservation Need” (Arizona State Game and Fish Department).  The letter S (S) in the check box indicates sensitive species (U. S. Forest Service).  The letter T indicates species that are candidates for federal protection and species that are threatened as defined by the U. S. Endangered Species Act.  The letter E indicates species that are endangered (E) as defined by the Act.  Black fill indicates species that are no longer present in Arizona.  A line is drawn through two former Arizona species that are now extinct globally.