n 3 3 Reprint from THE JOURNAL OF SCIENCE, VOL XIV, No. 1, March, 1962

Gila pandora, a Cyprinid New to the Texas Fish Fauna

by ROBERT RUSH MILLER and CLARK HUBBS The University of Michigan and The University of Texas

The genus Gila, comprising minnows chiefly confined to western United States and northern Mexico, has been recorded several times from Texas. Fowler (1925) questionably cited a specimen of Leuciscus nigrescens from "Upper Medina River, Texas." Miller (1945 and 1952) listed Gila nigrescens from the drainage of Texas. Knapp (1953) and Moore (1957) both recorded G. nigrescens from the state, probably on the basis of a specimen at Michigan (U1VIMZ 86940) collected in 1854 reportedly from Texas. Eddy (1957) also included Texas in his range statement for this species. None of these represents valid records. There can be no doubt that Gila has not in- habited the Medina River within historic time, and there is no evi- dence that it ever lived there. All of the other "records" are presum- ably based, directly or indirectly, on the 1854 material, part of which is at Harvard (see below) . The junior author discussed the possible occurrence of G. nigrescens in Texas (Hubbs, 1954) and implied that the Michigan specimen might have come from the basin in what is now New Mexico. The species ( =Gila pandora, see below) is common in New Mexican tributaries of the Pecos. The 1854 specimen at Michigan is 1 of 6 (vide notes of C. L. Hubbs, 1928) originally catalogued as Tigorrza pulchella (Baird and Girard) in two lots at Harvard (MCZ 1671-72). Careful study of five of these specimens (all now available) discloses that this material came from neither the Rio Grande nor the Pecos River basins, but rather probably from a tributary of Lago de Guzman (which lies in extreme northwestern Chihuahua, Mexico) and very possibly from the Mimbres River north of Deming, New Mexico. Gila nigrescens was collected there in 1851, but is now re- stricted to streams of interior drainage that flow into several isolated basins of northern Chihuahua (Miller, 1961). Gila pandora was described by Cope (as Clinostomus pandora) from Sangre de Cristo Pass, New Mexico, in the basin of the upper Rio Grande. It differs in part from G. nigrescens (Girard) in having 8 rather than 9 dorsal rays, 8-8 (Pecos) or 9-9 (Rio Grande) versus 9-9 pelvic rays, 51 to 67 rather than 67 to 78 lateral-line scales, and 6 to 10 versus 9 to 14 gill rakers (total) on the first arch. Although the 111 112 THE TEXAS JOURNAL OF SCIENCE 1854 specimens are in poor condition, the following corresponding counts were obtained: dorsal rays 8 (1), 9 (4) ; pelvic rays 9-9 in all; 67 to 71 lateral-line scales (1 not countable) ; and 10 to 13 gill rakers (the specimen with 10 had 11 rakers on the other arch) . These data firmly align the material with Gila nigrescens (sensu stricto); the dental formula is 2,5-4,2 (2 examined) as it typically is also in G. pandora. Gila pandora has not been previously recorded, authentically, from the Texan part of the Pecos River basin, and it is also unknown in the middle or lower Rio Grande drainage. The first valid record for Texas is from Nations Canyon, Jeff Davis County, in the Davis Mountains, about 25 miles southwest of Balmorhea (Reeves County). Its existence was first made known to us through the interest of Dr. Robert E. Miles, of Pecos, who caught 4 specimens in Nations Canyon on May 30, 1960, that are now deposited in the Texas Natural History Collection at The University of Texas (No. 6649). In order to confirm the identification, Clark Hubbs and Jim Miles seined 24 juvenile to adult specimens (UMMZ 178947), 49 to 81 mm. in standard length, in the canyon on June 29, 1961. Also known as Little Aguja Canyon, Nations Canyon joins with Madera and Big Aguja canyons to form Toyah Creek, in turn a flood tributary of Pecos River. Normally no surface flow of the stream in Nations Canyon extends below the Buffalo Trail Boy Scout ranch house at the upper end of the road, and only to this point during years of exceptional rainfall. The population of Gila pandora is thus effectively isolated from access to other canyons or to the Pecos River. The species is not known to occur elsewhere in the Davis Mountains or in Texas, and has lived in Nations Canyon "as long as the old timers can remember" (letter of Oct. 8, 1960, from Dr. Miles to Texas Game and Fish Comm.). Meristic data for these specimens are as follows: dorsal rays 7 (2), 8 (21), injured (1) ; anal rays 8 (24) ; pectoral rays 12 (1), 13 (2), 14 (39), 15 (6) ; pelvic rays 8 (48). Both pectoral and both pelvic fins were counted and all rudimentary rays were included. Lateral- line scales 59 to 65 in 15; total sensory pores on one side of head (sum- mation of pores in preoperculomandibular, infraorbital, and supra- orbital canals) 43 to 50 in 15; gill rakers 6 to 9 in 15; pharyngeal teeth 2,5-4,2 in 6, 2,5-4,1 in 1, 1,5-4,2 in 5, and 1,5-4,1 in 1. These data fall within the range of variation recorded (Miller and Uyeno, MS) for samples of Gila pandora from the Pecos River drainage in New Mexico except that the pectoral rays are reduced (modal number 16, range 15 to 18, in New Mexico), the gill rakers average slightly fewer (7 to 10 in New Mexico) and there are fewer pharyngeal teeth in the Gila pandora, A CYPRINID NEW TO TEXAS FISH FAUNA 113 minor row (the formula is reduced from 2,5-4,2 in only 2 of 40 New Mexican specimens, in which the counts are 2,5-4,1 and 1,5-4,2). We are greatly indebted to Dr. Robert E. Miles for calling atten- tion to these fish, for supplying us with a map and instructions leading to our collection, and for providing valuable data on the distribution of Gila pandora in Nations Canyon.

LITERATURE CITED

EDDY, SAMUEL, 1957—How to know the freshwater fishes. Wm. C. Brown Co.: 253 pp. FOWLER, HENRY, 1925—Notes on North American cyprinoid fishes. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 76: 389-416. Hums, CLARK, 1954—Corrected distributional records for Texas fresh-water fishes. Tex. Jour. Sci., 6: 277-291. KNAPP, FRANK T., 1953—Fishes found in the fresh waters of Texas. Ragland Studio and Litho Printing Co., New Brunswick, Georgia: 166 pp. MILLER, ROBERT R., 1945—A new cyprinid fish from southern Arizona, and Sonora, Mexico, with the description of a new subgenus of Gila and a review of related species. Copeia, 1945: 104-110. , 1952—Bait fishes of the lower from Lake Mead, Nevada, to Yuma, Arizona, with a key for their identification. Calif. Fish and Game, 38: 7-42. , 1961—Man and the changing fish fauna of the American Southwest. Pap. Mich. Acad. Sci., Arts, and Letters, 46 (1960 meeting): 365-404. MOORE, GEORGE A., 1957—Fishes. In: W. F. Blair et al., Vertebrates of the United States. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc.: 31-210.