Of Loach Minnow Tiaroga Cobitis (Cyprinidae), in Arizona

Home , Desert sucker, Gila chub, Loach minnow, Longfin dace, Roundtail chub, Spikedace

48, no. 4 666 'fhe Strulhtuestm Naturalist vol.

NEW AND REDISCOVERED POPUIAIIONS OF LOACH MINNOW TIAROGA COBITIS (CYPRINIDAE), IN ARIZONA

Peur. C. Mensn,* BnraN E. BAGLEI GlnN W. KNowLls, GRpv ScnmrMILLER, AND Perrucre A. Sowxe

Sehool of I'ife Sciences, Arizona State IJniansitl, Tempe, AZ 85287-4501 (PCM) 113 West Interlacken, Phoenix, AZ 8502J (BEB) United States Fish and Wildlife Snvice, Phoenix, AZ 85021 (GWn (GS) Neu Mexico Enaironment l)epartmcnt, Surfoce Watet Qurtl;iry Bureau, Santa Fe, NM 87502 15) West Mountain Creek Road, Alberton, MT 59820 (PAS) + Correspondent: f's h' rl,r@asu. edu

AssrR{cr-We report collections of threatened loach minnow, Tiaroga cobitis, from 2 Gila River basin (Arizona) streams, one representing a rediscovery and the other a new record. The species had beerr taken in 1950 from Eagle Creek, but it was not seen again until 1994-1997 and, despite repeated attempts, has not been detected since. It likely persists in adjacent, unsampled areas. A new distribution recor

RlsulrtN-Reportamos colectas de la especie amenazada carpita locha, Tiarogtt cobitis, proven- ientes de 2 arroyos de la cuenca del Rio Gila (Arizona), una representa un redescubrimiento y la otra un nuevo registro. La especie fue colectada en 1950 en F)agle Creek, y no fue observada otra vez sino hasta 1994-1997 y, no obstante repetidos intentos, no se ha detectado desde entonces. Probablemente persiste en dreas adyacentes no muestreadas. Un nuevo registro de distribuci6n se anota para carpitas locha capturadas en 1996 del North Fork of East Fork Black River. Esta poblaci6n ha sido muestreada repetidas veces y parece estable. Un and,lisis gen6tico confirma la iingularidad de €stas y de la rnayoria de las otras poblaciones conocidas, y recomendamos la protecci6n y la conservaci6n de la carpita locha en estos 2 arroyos.

The loach minnow Tiaroga cobitis, is a small, turbulent riffles, where they live and feed stream-dwellinE; minnow (family Cyprinidae) among clean, loose, gravel-to-cobble substrates. endemic to the Gila River basin (lower Colo- Specific microhabitat usage varies seasonally, rado River drainage) of Arizona, New Mexico, ontogenetically, and geographically within this and Sonora (Miller and Winn, l95l; Minckley, general suite of characteristics (Propst and 1973, 1980; Propst, 1999). The species once oc- Bestgen, 1991). Because the species has a re- cupied suitable habitat throughout much of duced gas bladder, it is restricted to benthic the basin upstrearn from Phoenix, Arizona habitats, except for brief, darter-like swimming (Fig. 1), but water development and interac- movements (Minckley, 1973). During daylight, tion with nonnative species have eliminated it the species spends most of the time under pro- from most of its historical range. l,oach min- tective cover. Because coloration, size, and now is federally listed as threatened (United form cursorily resemble a related species, casual States Fish and Wildlife Service IUSFWSI , speckled dace (Rhinichthls osanlas), the 1986), and recognized as imperiled by the con- or untrained collector might not recognize servation community (Deacon et al., 1979; Wil- loach minnow in mixed collections. Loach liams et al., 1985;Johnson, 1987) and the states minnow hides under rocks, where it is relative- of Arizona (Arizona Game and Fish Depart- ly unsusceptible to traditional and widely used ment [AZGFD], 1988) and New Mexico (New sampling methods, such as electrofishing and Mexico Administrative Code Chapter 19, Sec- seining. For these reasons, loach minnow can tion 33.1. 1975). be difficult to detect, especially when popula- Loach minnow prefers shallow, swift, and tion density is low.

December 2003

--- new records post 1980 records o 50 1oo Km

Frc. l-New, recent, and historical collection localities represented by museum specimens for loach minnow, Tiaroga eobitis, in the Gila River basin of Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico. Numbered localities are l) Eagle Creek, 2) North Fork of East Fork Black Rivet and 3) Pace Creek.

We encountered loach minnow in 2 streams, been proposed for listing as endangered where they were presumed absent, while con- (USFWS, 2002). An undescribed native salmonid ducting fish surveys in the Apache-Sitgreaves (Oncorhynchw) that once occupied the headwa- National Forest in eastern Arizona. The first ters is extirpated (Marsh et al., 1990). Other na- instance was rediscovery of a population not tive fishes known fiom the strearn are longfin verified for almost 50 years, and the second dace, Agosia chrysogastry roundtail chub, Gln ro- represented a new distributional record for the bustq a problematic, G. intamcdilrlike Cz@ speck- sPecies. led dace; Sonora sucker, Catostorurts insignis, and Eagle Creek is a small tributary to Gila River, desert sucker, Pantostan clnrki. Eagle Creek has draining diverse, mountainous-to-desert land- been contaminated by a suite of 12 nonnative scapes in Graham and Greenlee counties, Ari- fishes: cutthroat trout, Oncarh.ynchtn clnrki (pre- zona (Ma"rsh et al., 1990). The stream is region- sumably stocked by AZGFD but heretofore un- ally distinct in being among those few still har- reported); rainbow trout, O. myhiss, colrrrlron boring a largely intact native ichthyofauna of 9 carp, Cypritrus carpia red shiner, Cyprinelln lutrm- species (Marsh et a1., 1990). Two resident native seg fathead minnow, Pimephalcs pronzkts, black species (spikedace, Med.a fulgida; loach minnow) bullhead, Am,eiunn mela,s, yellow br;Jlhead, A. na- are federally listed as threatened, a third is listed talis, claarnel catfish, Ictahtrus puncntus, fla1dtead as endangered (razorback sucker, Xyrauchzn tex- catfish, rybdictis oliuaris, western mosquitofish, anus, has been repatriated with limited success), Gambusia ffinis, srnalknouth bass, Microptm.r's dn and a fourth (Gila chub, Gla internzdia) has lnmicu; zrld largemouth bass, M. salrnoi.dcs. The Sruthuestm Naturahsl vol.48, no.4

Loach minnow previously was known in Ea- also captured loach minnow from similar plac- gle Creek from a single collection in 1950 of es and from long pools with cobble and silt 12 adults by R. R. Miller and parry (UMMZ bottoms in Pace Creek (New Mexico, Catron 162744). Despite intensive sampling efforts County; ASU f 7711), a Dry BIue Creek tribu- since the 1970s throughout the stream by a tary (Blue River drainage). number of collectors (Marsh et al., 1990), it Co-occurring fishes in NFEF Black River was not subsequently encountered until July were native speckled dace, desert sucker, and 1994. We captured the fish in a swift-water, Sonora sucker; nonnative brown trou.t, Salmo gravel riffle near 1,550 m elevation, where 10 trutta; and. hybrids between native Apache adults (ASU 17146), including males exhibit- trout ( O. apache) and nonnative rainbow ing secondary sexual characters of coloration trout. Northern crayfish was common and tuberculation, were collected in fewer throughout the area. Ironically, this was one than 30 minutes using a backpack electrofish- of the first streams in Arizona (1958; Rinne er. The site was about 20 km upstream from and Turner, 1991) treated with rotenone to the site visited 44 years earlier by Miller, and enhance the introduced trout fishery by re- subsequently by others. Extensive sampling up moving "rough" fish (i.e., native cyprinids stream and downstream did not yield addition- and catostomids). al specimens. Other fishes in our sample were The nearest population of loach minnow to native longfin dace, speckled dace, desert suck- the Black River site is more than 208 km down- er, and Sonora sucker, and nonnative rainbow stream in White River. In addition to distance, trout. Nonnative northern cra1fish, Orconectes nonnative, piscivorous smallmouth bass and airilis, was common at the site. One year later several species of trout inhabiting Black River we collected 12 loach minnow (ASU 16502) make it unlikely that loach minnow moved up- plus the same complement of other species at stream from White River, at least within recent the same place, and subsequent collections times. We attribute its absence from reports of with similar results were made in 1996 and NFEF Black River samples to its rarity and to 1997. Annual sampling by ourselves and others failure by collectors to recognize the species in since 1997 has not captured loach minnow in mixed collections with speckled dace. Eagle Creek, but it likely persists in unsampled Loach minnow persists only as disjunct pop suitable habitats, some on private lands, which ulations in the locales described herein, plus Ar- extend several kilometers both upstream and avaipa and Campbell Blue creeks and White, downstream of the collection site. San Francisco. and Blue rivers in eastern Ari- Loach minnow was recorded for the first zona, and Gila, San Francisco, and Tularosa riv- time in North Fork of East Fork (NFEF) Black ers, and Dry Blue Creek in southwestern New River (Salt River drainage) in June 1996. The Mexico (USFWS, 1991; Propst, 1999). Loach species was common at multiple sites through- minnow distribution is patchy and numbers are out more than 3.6 km of stream, from 0.4 km generally low within each of these streams. With above Three Forks downstream to the conflu- exception of loach minnow from White River, ence ofOpen Draw (ASU 17147,I7I48,17149, Arizona, which has been unavailable for study, 17187 , 17192) . The site above Three Forks rep- all of these populations are genetically distinct, resents the highest known elevation for the based upon mtDNA and allozyme surveys, and species (2,509 m). The area was resampled by represent evolutionarily independent lineages others and us over the next 5 years, and loach (Tibbets and Dowling, 1996; Tibbets, unpubl. minnow was found each time. In 2002, loach data). Each population thus represents an irre- minnow was taken about 1.5 km upstream of placeable resource that might be critical to fu- Three Forks and from the lower 0.5 km of Coy- ture management of the species and, as such, ote Creek, a tributary that enters NFEF Black should be protected and conserved. River about 1.6 km downstream from Three Our findings are not unique (Marsh et al., Forks (M. Lopez, AZGFD, pers. comm.). Hab- 1991; Varela-Romero et al., 1992; Mayden and itats where loach minnow was collected includ- Kuhajda, 1996), but their implications are ed swift riffles with cobble substrates and rela- broad and reler,ant to native fish conservation. tively slow runs with silt bottoms. The latter is Most important is an admonition that a species uncharacteristic for the species, although we not be declared extirpated (or extinct) until December 2003 Notes documentation of its absence is beyond quev Mmcxrnv, W. L. 1973. Fishes of Arizona. Arizona tion, rather than as litde as ayear or 2 after its Game and Fish Department, Phoenix. Tiaroga cobitis Girard, loach last appearance (e.g., Rinne, 1999; USFWS, MtNcxI-rv, W. L. 1980. minnow. In: Lee, D. S., C. R. Gilbert, C. H. Ho- 2002). Repeated sampling over many decades cutt, R. E. Jenkins, D. E. McAllister, and J. R. (nearly 50 years in our case, longer in others) Stauffer, Jr., editors. Atlas of North American might fail to detect persistent populations, even freshwater fishes. North Carolina State Museum in relatively small strearn habitats. Failure to of Natural History, Raleigh. Pp. 365. capture a species in larger, more complex sys- PRopsr, D. L. 1999. Threatened and endangered tems imparts additional uncertainty. Thus, his- fishes of New Mexico. Technical Report Number torical localities should be considered occupied l, New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, wherever suitable habitat for a species persists, Santa Fe. PRopsr, D. L., eNo K. R. BnsrcrN. 1991. Habitat and regardless of the interval between collections. biology of loach minnow, Tiaroga cobitis, in New Mexico. Copeia 199l:29-38. Eagle Creek and Black River fish surveys were RtNNn, J. N. 1999. The status of spikedace in the funded in part by United States Bureau of Recla- Verde Rivet 1999: implications for management mation and United States Forest Service (USFS) and research. Hydrology and Water Resources in through the respective efforts of R. W. Clarkson and Arizona and the Southwest 29:.58-64. T. Myers. R. C. Bradford, P. A. Chase, T. C. Inman, RTNNE, J. N., aNo P. R. TupNER. 1991. Reclamation B. R. Kesner (ASU), and R. Csargo (USFS) assisted and alteration as management techniques, and a in the field. R. W. Clarkson, T. E. Dowling, W. L. review of methodology for stream renovation. In: Minckley, P.J. Unmack, and an anonymous reviewer Minckley, W. L., andJ. E. Deacon, editors. Battle read and improved the manuscript; P. J. Unmack against extinction: native fish management in the produced the map in Fig. l. Collections were under American West. University of Arizona Press, Tuc- permit authority of AZGFD, New Mexico Depart- son. Pp. 219-246. ment of Game and Fish, and USFWS. Tregsts, C. A., eNo T. E. DowuNG. 1996. Effects of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on population frag- mintation in three species of North American Lrrenarunr Crrro minnows (Teleostei: Cyprinidae). Evolution 50: 7280-1292. ARrzoNA Gaur eNo Frsn Drpan:rnawr. 1988. Threat- UNTTED Sreres Frsn AND WILDLIFE SER!'IcE. 1986. En- Arizona. Arizona Game ened native wildlife in dangered and threatened wildlife and plants; de- and Fish Department, Phoenix. termination of threatened status for the loach E., G. KoBETrcH, D. Wtluaus, eNo S. Du.rcoN, J. J. minnow. Federal Register 51 :39468-39478. Fishes of threat- Covrnrnas. 1979. North America UNTTED Srerrs Ftsn AND WILDLIFE SERVICD. 1991. ened, endangered, or of special concern. Fish- Loach minnow, Tiaroga cobitis, recovery plan. eries 4;2944. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Albu- JoHNSoN, J. E. 1987. Protected fishes of the United querque, New Mexico. States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, UNTTED Srerrs FIsn AND WILDLIFE SER!'IcE. 2002. En- Bethesda, Maryland. dangered and threatened wildlife and plants; list- MARsH, P. C., J. E. Bnooxs, D. A. HrNlrucKsoN, AND ing the Gila chub as endangered with critical W. L. MINcKLEv. 1990. Fishes of Eagle Creek, Ar- habitat; proposed rule. Federal Register 67: izona, with records for threatened spikedace and 51948-51985. loach minnow (Clprinidae). Journal of the Ari- Varuu-Rorrarno, A., C. GauNoo-DuanrE, E. SAUCE- zona-Nevada Academy of Science 23:107-l 16. Do-MoNAReuE, L. S. ANonnsoN, P. WARREN, S. MARSH. P. C., M. E. DoucLAs, W. L. MINCKT"EY, AND Srurrrnul, J. Srerrrruo, S. RurMAN, T. Trserrs R. J. TTMMoNS. 1991. Re-discovery of Colorado AND J. MALUSA. 1992. Rediscovery of Gila intn- squawfish, Ptychochzilus lucius (Cyprinidae) in Wy- m.edia and G. purpurea in northern Sonora, Mex-

oming. Copeia 1991 : l09l-1092. ico. Proceedings of the Desert Fishes Council MATDEN, R. L., eNn B. R. KUHAJDA. 1996. Systematics, 22(l 990) :33 (abstract). taxonomy, and conservation status of the endan- WTLLTAMS, J. E., D. R. BowuaN, J. E. BRooKs, A. A. gered Alabama sturgeon, Scaphirhynchus suttkusi Ecurr-r-e, R. J. Eowex.ns, D. A. HrNonrcKsoN, AND Williams and Clemmer (Actinopterygii, Acipen- J. J. I-ANDrc. 1985. Endangered aquatic ecosys- seridae). Copeia 1996:241-273. tems in North American deserts with a list of van- fishes region. of the Arizo- Mrlr-en, R. R., AND W E. WrNN. 1951. Additions to ishing of the Journal Academy of Science 20:l-62. the known fish fauna of Mexico: three species na-Nevada and one subspecies from Sonora.Journal of the Subnitted 6 August 20O2. Accepted' 19 Decembn 2002. Washington Academy of Science 4l:83-€4. Associate Ed,itm uas Dadd L. Probst.