Service Proposes to List the Headwater Chub and Roundtail Chub as Threatened Under the Endangered Species Act

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is proposing to list two minnows, the headwater chub and a distinct population segment (DPS) of the roundtail chub in the Lower Colorado River Basin (Arizona and New Mexico), as threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The headwater chub (Gila nigra) grows to about eight inches in length, is dark gray to brown with silvery sides, and lives in the upper and middle reaches of moderately sized streams. Headwater chub historically occur in a number of tributaries of the Verde River, most of the Tonto Creek drainage, much of the San Carlos River drainage, and parts of the upper Gila River in New Mexico. Today, they occur in the same drainages, but have a smaller distribution. The nine- to 14-inch roundtail chub (Gila robusta, also known as the Verde trout) is an olive-gray to silver minnow with a lighter belly. The species was historically considered common in deep pools and eddies of large streams throughout its range in the Upper and Lower Colorado River basins in Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. Today the roundtail chub occupies about 18 percent of its historical range in the Lower Colorado River Basin and is limited to Arizona’s Little Colorado, Bill Williams, Salt, San Carlos and Verde River drainages, Eagle and Aravaipa creeks, and New Mexico’s upper Gila River...Press Release