Biogeography of Freshwater Fishes of Northwestern
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* BIOGEOGRAPHY OF FRESHWATER FISHES OF NORTHWESTERN MEXICO by Heidi Blue Blasius A Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY December 1996 ABSTRACT Northwestern Mexico provides the connecting link in a broad geographic transition between continental ichthyofaunas of the Western Hemisphere. A. biotic assemblage with diversified relationships results from a varied biogeographic history involving two much larger regions, Nearctic in the north and Neotropical to the south. This thesis delineates and analyzes relationships of the regional ichthyofauna within this broader pattern of transition. Three levels of specimen records were used (Level I, those in museums; II, peer-reviewed literature; and HI, "gray" literature) to address two questions: 1) are within-region distributions more a function of ecologic or geologic history, or 2) are ecologic and geologic histories so inexorably intertwined they cannot be separated one from the other? The fauna proved strongly northern in affinity, comprised of three Nearctic (salmonids, catostomids, cyprinids), one transitional Nearctic (ictalurids), two transitional Neotropical (poeciliids, cichlids), and two shared (cyprindontids, clupeids) families that occur across diverse geologic structure and through temperate and tropical habitats to form a distributional mosaic most closely attuned to latitudinal and altitudinal ecology of the region. 111 DEDICATION For my Mom, Sondra Katherine Blasius and Dad, Gary Lee Blasius who loved and supported me throughout graduate school, and my beautiful daughter Nashashibi Tahara Blasius whom I love dearly. I love you all. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank my committee members, Dr. M. J. Fouquette, Jr., and Dr. D. J. Pinkava for their critical review and comments on this manuscript, and Dr. W. L. Minckley who greatly assisted and supported me during the duration of this thesis. I am particularly indebted to Dr. W. L. Minckley, my major professor, who accepted me as his graduate student and allowed me to pursue the Master of Science Degree. During this time I was provided with continuous direction, answers to my many questions, and the confidence to think and learn on my own. Dr. Minckley was also very instrumental in the preparation and finalization of this thesis. Thank you. I would also like to thank Jana Frye, who developed and implemented the GIS system used for this study; Peter Unmack who patiently and diligently perfected the distribution maps contained within this manuscript; and Tim Hurst and Connie Fontes who assisted with digitizing. I thank the following individuals and institutions that provided me with level one data (museum specimens and locality data), Barbara Brown, American Museum of Natural History (AMNH); Mary Anne Rogers, The Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH); Dan Hough, The University of Oklahoma (UOMZ); Cynthia Klepadlo, Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO); Douglas W. Nelson, The University of Michigan (UMMZ); Jeff Williams, U. S. National Museum of Natural History (USNM); Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (ANSP), and Arizona State University (ASU). Special thanks goes to my dear friend Rick Olson, with whom I shared many lunches and confidences. I will always remember the loyalty, encouragement, V and kindness he showed me during some very trying and unhappy times while pursuing this degree. My sincerest gratitude and much love goes to my very special mom who loved and believed in me. During my graduate studies my mom provided me with emotional and financial support, and sacrificed time and many years in helping me raise my daughter. This was done with one goal in mind, for me to have a better life than she has had. I love you. Much love, appreciation, and graditude goes to David D. Oakey who spent many hours helping me with maps, proofreading sections of my thesis, and talking to me about fishes and geology. This help and encouragement was much needed and appreciated. Many thanks goes to Jeffery Alan Conn who patiently put in the page numbers that I spent months trying (unsuccessfully) to figure out. I sincerely thank Dean Gary Kraenbuhl who personally made sure that I would have funding during the duration of my graduate work. Without this continuous support this work would not have been completed. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................................... v ii LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. ix LIST OF MAPS ...................................................................................................................... INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 1 STUDY AREA ........................................................................................................................ 3 Geologic History .............................................................................................................. 3 Physiography .................................................................................................................... 4 Vegetation ........................................................................................................................ 5 Aquatic Habitats .............................................................................................................. 5 MATERIALS AND METHODS ............................................................................................. 9 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................................................. 12 Distribution of Sampling Sites ....................................................................................... 12 Accounts of Native Species .......................................................................................... 1 3 Nonnative Fishes ............................................................................................................. 21 Species Richness ............................................................................................................. 22 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................... 23 LITERATURE CITED ........................................................................................................... 26 APPENDIX A TABLES .................................................................................................................. 34 B FIGURES ................................................................................................................ 39 C MAPS ....................................................................................................................... 48 vii LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Scientific and English and Spanish common names of native freshwater fishes of northwestern Mexico mentioned in text 35 2. Nonnative fishes recorded from rivers of northwestern Mexico. Species marked with an asterisk (*) are known to have been planted one or more times in the United States in drainages of the dos Yaqui, de la Concepcion, or Sonoyta, which does not imply an absence of additional introductions in Mexico .......................................................................................................... 37 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Map of the study area, and environs showing major river basins ........................................................................................................ 40 2. Fish collection sites upon which this report is based, 1854-1994 ......................................................................................................... 42 3. Fish collection sites in the study area, southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico from: A) 1854-1930; B) 1931-1960; C) 1961-present; and D) 1978 ...................... 44 4. Regressions of river basin size and numbers of fish taxa for: A) 11 river basins in southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico; and B) the same area, but with the two largest basins excluded .................................................... 46 ix LIST OF MAPS (Distributions of inland fishes in northwestern Mexico) Map Page 1. Distribution of inland fishes in northwestern Mexico: squares, trout(s) (Oncorhynchus sp.) and triangles, Pacific shad (Dorosoma smithi) .............................................................................. 49 2. Distribution of inland fishes in northwestern Mexico: longfin dace (Agosia chrysogaster) ....................................................... 5 1 3. Distribution of inland fishes in northwestern Mexico: Mexican stoneroller (Campostoma ornatum) .................................... 53 4. Distribution of inland fishes in northwestern Mexico: ornate minnow (Codoma ornata) ............................................................. 55 5. Distribution of inland fishes in northwestern Mexico: beautiful shiner (Cyprinella formosa) ................................................... 57 6. Distribution of inland fishes in northwestern Mexico: squares, Sonoran chub (Gila ditaenia); dots, undescribed chub (Gila sp.) of upper Rio Yaqui; and triangles, Yaqui chub (. purpurea) 59 7. Distribution of inland fishes in northwestern Mexico: desert chub (Gila eremica) ........................................................................ 61