REPRINT FROM CALIFORI\trIA FISH and GAME O .WTLDLIFE "coNsERvAfioN oF rHRoucrr EDUCATToN"

VoLUME 36 SAN FRANCISCO, OCTOBER, 1950 No. 4 NOTES ON FISIIES BECENTLY INTRODUCED INTO SOUTHER,N CALIFOBNIA' By \Yrr,r,rs A. Evlws ancl Psrr,rp A. Douor,le

""o3#t?bi"tr"Tin"8"fi.";'""X'i"4"-. During the past two years several species of exotia fishes have been brought into as bait fishes and may now be established in natural waters of the State. For purposes of record, these species are Iisted below. Agosi,a chrgsogaster Girard. I.longffn Dace. This species is a member of the family Cypriniclae. Specimens were obtained on April 2,1948 by Warden Leo Rossier at Shorty's Bait Shop, Topock, . Fishing concession operators along the River in the Parker area are also hanclling it for live bait use. Reliability of information cannot be vouchecl for, but reportecl sources of fish shipments containing this species were the following: (1) Upper Bill Williams River, Arizona; (2) A creek tributary to the , (an obvious error) ; (3) Ilassayampa River, just below'Wickenburg, Arizona. Dr. Carl I-r. Hubbs, who identified. one of the fish obtained on April 2,7948, believes that they may have been obtained from the BilI'Williams River or possibly from the in Arizona, where this species is abundant. Regarding this, Dr. Ilubbs states, "It is certain that the species was not introduced., at least not directly, from Utah, since the species is one of the lower system and. surely does not occur as far upstream as Utah. " Many of the specimens were heavily parasitized by a large tapeworm. Pi,mephal,es gromel,as confertus (Girarct). Southwestern Fathead Minnow. On March 23,1950, specimens of this cyprinid, together with those 'Williams' of the two species listed below, were examined at Bob Bait Shop, Yuma, Arizona, by Carl Lr. Ilubbs and Robert R. Miller. These three bait fishes were being imported from Truth or Consequences (formerly Eot Springs), New , where they were being reared in bait tanks adjacent to the Rio Grande below Elephant Butte Dam. They have been used as bait aloug the lower Colorado River and it is not improbable that intlividuals have escaped alive into tbe strea,m. Eow- ever, no specimens have as yet been taken directly from the Colorado River or other Califdrnia waters. Dr. Ifubbs considers the Fathead Minnow to be the most valuable forage fish of the three, and believes that the tetra may be rather dangerous because of its carnivorous nature. Gi-ttt"al for publtcauon June, 19b0. (435) 436 oAT,IFoRMA FISE AND oAME

Astyanar fasciatus menicanus (Filippi). Texas Banded Tetra. The Texas Banded Tetra is the only representative of the family Characinidae found in the Unitecl States. Its possible presence in the natural waters of California has been described above. Funduhts zebrinus Jordan and Gilbert. Southern Plains Killiffsh. This species is a member of the family Cyprinodontidae. Notes on its possible presence in the natural waters of California have been given above. Gil,lich,thgs d,etrusus Gilbert and Scofield. GuIf Mudsucker. The Gulf Mud.sucker, a member of the family Gobiidae, is a close relative of the I-rong-jawed Mudsucker, G. mirabilis, which for many years has been a popular bait fish in Southern California, especially in the San Diego region. Several records are now at hand of its sale by live bait dealers in the lower Colorado River area of Arizona and California and there is some evidence that the speeies has become established in the . (1) On May 77,1949 one of the writers (P.A.D.) obtained a dried specimen of. Gillichthgs detrusus (identiffcation by Carl L. Hubbs) from C. Roy Hunter, resort owner at Desert Beach, at the northeast end of the Salton Sea. It had been pickecl up along the beach and reportedly was alive at the time. (2) On June 13, 1949 six specimens were obtained from Brownie's Bait Shop, Winterhaven, California, and one from Shorty's Landing, Topock, Arizona. These specimens were also identified by Dr. Ilubbs. (3) On July 23, 1949 Kirby H. Walker obtained. dried specimens from islands inhabited by pelicans in the southwest end of the Salton Sea. Identification was made by Dr. Hubbs. No specifie information regarding introductions of this species into the Salton Sea is available, but several possibilities have been suggested. (a) The possibility of natural introduction through the irrigation system from the lower Colorado River received early consid.eration by Hubbs and others but may now be discounted, since recent collecting in the Salton Sea and from Laguna Dam to tidewater failed to secure specimens, other than a series from near the head of tidewater, below the mouth of Hardy River. (b) An introduction may have resulted from escaped or dumped bait. Brownie's Bait Shop reports selling mudsuckers to several persons for bait use in the Salton Sea. (c) It may have escaped from rearing ponds reportedly operated on the shore of the Salton Sea. (d) A pelican flyway exists between the Salton Sea and the titlal flats in the , where the species is native, a distance of about 100 miles. It is possible, but not probable, that pelicans have carried live specimens into the Salton Sea from this souree.

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