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| Gila robusta | |
|---|---|
| Name | Gila robusta |
| Status | VU |
| Status system | IUCN3.1 |
| Regnum | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Classis | Actinopterygii |
| Ordo | Cypriniformes |
| Familia | Cyprinidae |
| Genus | Gila |
| Species | G. robusta |
| Binomial | Gila robusta |
| Binomial authority | (Baird & Girard, 1853) |
Gila robusta is a freshwater cyprinid fish native to southwestern North America, historically abundant in the Colorado River basin and adjacent river systems. It has been the subject of taxonomic revision involving institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution, American Fisheries Society, and researchers affiliated with universities like the University of Arizona and Arizona State University. Conservation assessments by the IUCN and management plans from agencies including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Reclamation have focused on its decline due to habitat alteration, invasive species, and water development.
Described by Spencer Fullerton Baird and Charles Frédéric Girard in 1853, the species was placed in the genus Gila within the family Cyprinidae. Taxonomic debate has involved museum collections at the Natural History Museum, London, the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History, and regional collections at the Museum of Northern Arizona. Molecular phylogenetic studies by researchers associated with the American Museum of Natural History, University of California, Davis, and Utah State University have compared mitochondrial markers against related taxa such as Gila seminuda and Gila elegans, prompting reevaluation by committees of the American Fisheries Society and proposals submitted to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.
The species is characterized by a robust, fusiform body, large head, and subterminal mouth noted in field guides produced by the Nevada Department of Wildlife, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, and the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Morphological descriptions appear in monographs published by the Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and the Copeia journal, with diagnostic counts compared to specimens in the Field Museum of Natural History and California Academy of Sciences. Coloration varies from olive-brown dorsally to silvery sides with a lighter belly, a pattern cataloged in surveys by the Bureau of Land Management and illustrated in regional guides from the University of New Mexico Press.
Historically widespread in the Colorado River system, including the Gila River, Salt River (Arizona), and tributaries in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah, the species’ range is documented in distribution maps by the U.S. Geological Survey, the Nature Conservancy, and the Desert Fishes Council. Preferred habitats include perennial riffles, runs, and pools with gravel or cobble substrates in rivers studied by researchers from the Desert Research Institute and monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency and state agencies like the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish. Alterations from projects by the Central Arizona Project, Hoover Dam, and water diversions overseen by the Bureau of Reclamation have fragmented populations across former strongholds such as the Virgin River and Bill Williams River.
Ecological studies by teams at the University of Colorado, Brigham Young University, and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum describe it as a midwater omnivore consuming invertebrates and algae, interacting with species like the channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) and nonnative Micropterus salmoides (largemouth bass). Behavioral observations published in journals like Ecology and Freshwater Biology document seasonal movement, schooling in riffles, and habitat partitioning with native taxa such as the Desert Pupfish and Apache Trout. Predation pressure from introduced species cataloged by the National Park Service and competitive displacement linked to gillnet and electrofishing surveys by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service influence local abundance.
Life-history research by biologists from the University of New Mexico, Utah State University, and the Arizona Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit indicates spawning occurs in spring to early summer with temperature cues similar to those reported for other cyprinids in publications by the North American Journal of Fisheries Management. Females produce multiple clutches, eggs adhere to coarse substrate in flows characterized in hydrological studies by the U.S. Geological Survey and managed flows from the Central Arizona Project. Larval development, growth rates, and age at maturity have been quantified using otolith analysis techniques developed at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and described in theses archived at the University of California system.
Assessments by the IUCN Red List, state wildlife agencies including the Arizona Game and Fish Department and Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, and federal reviews by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service list population declines attributable to habitat loss from dams such as Glen Canyon Dam, Hoover Dam, and river regulation by the Bureau of Reclamation. Threats include invasive species introduced via channels connected to projects by the Army Corps of Engineers, water quality degradation monitored by the Environmental Protection Agency, and climate change projections from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change affecting southwestern hydrology. Conservation plans have been informed by non-governmental organizations like the Nature Conservancy and the Desert Fishes Council.
Management actions coordinated among entities including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, state agencies, the Bureau of Reclamation, and academic partners at the University of Arizona and New Mexico State University involve habitat restoration, flow regime adjustments, and removal of nonnative predators using methods evaluated by the U.S. Geological Survey and published in outlets such as Conservation Biology. Public outreach and stakeholder engagement have involved the Nevada Department of Wildlife, tribal governments such as the Tohono O'odham Nation, and conservation organizations including the Wildlife Conservation Society and World Wildlife Fund. Captive propagation efforts have been conducted in hatcheries managed by the Arizona Game and Fish Department and research hatcheries at the University of Arizona to support reintroduction trials assessed under monitoring protocols developed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Category:Fish of North America Category:Cyprinidae